How appliable is aikido for self-defense?

[kehcorpz]

Is aikido more about competitions and not really focused on real self-defense?

And how long does it take to learn enough aikido stuff so that you could defend yourself?

Does aikido also offer solutions for ground fighting?

Also, how hard is aikido on the body? Are you likely to hurt yourself when you're being thrown over
someone's shoulder? Since I'm rather fragile I don't know if I could even withstand such a training.

I think aikido looks pretty interesting but I don't know if it's good for self-defense.

 

[Flying Crane]

Aikido is no good for you.

Move along.

 

[kehcorpz]

Really, why?

My list of possible martial arts for self-defense is getting really short now.

 

[Flying Crane]

There is no possibility for you. Throw your list away.

 

[Tez3]

This is not the martial art you are looking for.

 

[Paul_D]

This is not the martial art you are looking for.

You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookiee to me.

 

[Flying Crane]

"If the door is locked, move on to the next one."

That was actually said by one storm trooper to another, while going door-to-door searching for R2D2 and C3PO in the spaceport on Tattooine. Who would have guessed it would be so easy to evade the Empire?

 

[Flying Crane]

"Luke, at that speed do you think you can pull out in time?"

"You came in THAT thing? You are braver than I thought."

Ya know, just because.

 

[pgsmith]

"Luke, at that speed do you think you can pull out in time?"

"You came in THAT thing? You are braver than I thought."

Ya know, just because.

So .... were those from the 'X' rated version that I didn't see, or do I just have a dirty mind?

 

[Flying Crane]

So .... were those from the 'X' rated version that I didn't see, or do I just have a dirty mind?

No, those are real quotes from the original.

What you may read into them, taken out of context, is entirely up to you...

 

[JR 137]

You really mean to tell us you haven't yet found an aikido sucks video?

You're better than that.

 

[Jenna]

Is aikido more about competitions and not really focused on real self-defense?

And how long does it take to learn enough aikido stuff so that you could defend yourself?

Does aikido also offer solutions for ground fighting?

Also, how hard is aikido on the body? Are you likely to hurt yourself when you're being thrown over
someone's shoulder? Since I'm rather fragile I don't know if I could even withstand such a training.

I think aikido looks pretty interesting but I don't know if it's good for self-defense.

Most Aikido with the exception of Shodokan is not competitive. It is generally not the ethos of Aikido as it was designed by Ueshiba to be competitive.

How long does it take to learn Aikido to defend your self? How long is the definition of pi? That is a facetious answer, however it is a question with many inherent variables to make a clearer answer. For any given person, it will take as long as any other martial art to learn. It is no quicker and no slower.

Does it offer solutions for ground fighting? Yes, though if you want to do ground fighting you would surely learn BJJ or something like that, no? Aikido is a stand up art.

How hard is Aikido on the body? You learn proper ukemi first so you will not hurt your self in a fall. Nobody will throw you before you know good ukemi. Your wrists will certainly hurt in the beginning though. If you are a fragile person, sterngthen your wrists prior, esp torsional/rotational strengthening. There are good videos else where.

Your last point, why do you imagine it is that Aikido might be not good for SD?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Is aikido more about competitions and not really focused on real self-defense?

And how long does it take to learn enough aikido stuff so that you could defend yourself?

Does aikido also offer solutions for ground fighting?

Also, how hard is aikido on the body? Are you likely to hurt yourself when you're being thrown over
someone's shoulder? Since I'm rather fragile I don't know if I could even withstand such a training.

I think aikido looks pretty interesting but I don't know if it's good for self-defense.

Aikido - like every other art - will be useless to you and anyone else who never studies it.

 

[hoshin1600]

How long does it take to learn Aikido to defend your self? , ..... it is a question with many inherent variables to make a clearer answer. For any given person, it will take as long as any other martial art to learn. It is no quicker and no slower.

This is a common answer and a common mistake in thinking. It's somthing I have been pointing out in a few threads now.
Jenna, I am not picking on you. Just using your comments as a starting point and an example .
Notice how the words in the comment, defend yourself and learn (as in learn the art) are used interchangeably. These are actually two separate things but people seem to think one equates the other. They dont. Learning your art, in this case I will uses as example irimi nage, implies memorizing all the different ways it can be done and honing the skill of the technique. This is totally separate from actual application. Learning the techniques only get you half way there. So it would be a mistaken belief that you are able to use it for real.

 

[Jenna]

This is a common answer and a common mistake in thinking. It's somthing I have been pointing out in a few threads now.
Jenna, I am not picking on you. Just using your comments as a starting point and an example .
Notice how the words in the comment, defend yourself and learn (as in learn the art) are used interchangeably. These are actually two separate things but people seem to think one equates the other. They dont. Learning your art, in this case I will uses as example irimi nage, implies memorizing all the different ways it can be done and honing the skill of the technique. This is totally separate from actual application. Learning the techniques only get you half way there. So it would be a mistaken belief that you are able to use it for real.

Hi, yes I hope I understand what you are saying, though I would say to you that for me always, to learn an Aikido technique was to learn how to use it EXACTLY TO DEFEND my self. I would have had no other reason to want to know techniques?? Perhaps there are other reasons for learning Aikido?

For me that was why I trained Aikido, it was a means to an troubling end when I was younger.

I would further argue though that Aikido is an wholly defensive art. Therefore, to have insufficient knowledge of any technique to deploy it in a non-dojo situation is not to have learned that technique at all. In other words, to use your wording, if you are not able to use your irimi nage for real, you have not learned irimi nage at all. You do not agree with me??

 

[Argus]

Hi, yes I hope I understand what you are saying, though I would say to you that for me always, to learn an Aikido technique was to learn how to use it EXACTLY TO DEFEND my self. I would have had no other reason to want to know techniques?? Perhaps there are other reasons for learning Aikido?

For me that was why I trained Aikido, it was a means to an troubling end when I was younger.

I would further argue though that Aikido is an wholly defensive art. Therefore, to have insufficient knowledge of any technique to deploy it in a non-dojo situation is not to have learned that technique at all. In other words, to use your wording, if you are not able to use your irimi nage for real, you have not learned irimi nage at all. You do not agree with me??

I think that application requires a broader experience than just gaining the knowledge or ability to perform a task.

Let's see if I can come up with some good examples...

Okay, programming. Or language learning, even. Yeah - let's use learning a foreign language as an example.

Very few people, even after taking years of classes, are able to speak a foreign language. Actually, I would contend that noone can speak a foreign language, but that sentence is misleading without further explanation. More on that later.

It seems that people think that some day, after having mastered all of the content in their textbooks, they will magically be able to speak a foreign language. Usually, they wait until this theoretical moment to use and practice the language outside of the confines of classes and textbooks, because when they hear/read/try to speak it in the real world, it is still much to difficult for them to understand; there's too much adversity.

But, there's a problem with this approach. Textbooks and classes can be helpful for teaching you the fundamental skills; for giving you the basic knowledge and understanding -- a framework, if you will. But you absolutely have to expand on that knowledge and learn to utilize that framework in the adversity of the real world to make it functional. Language encompasses every aspect of human experience; every emotion, every thought, every thing and every action or condition that we might experience in life. That's far more than anyone could ever pack into any class or textbook, and it's something that you can only gain from using the language in the real world. There's lots of adversity to overcome at first. You won't have the words or the natural expressions to express yourself and your ideas, and you will struggle letting your personality come through. You will struggle using the language naturally, and adapting to any conversation or contect. This is because you have not yet made the language yours; it's still foreign to you. It's still a foreign language; one that you have knowledge of, and even competency in; you might even ace a grammar test, but you have not yet made the language your own. To do that, you have to struggle and use it, and use it, and use it in all of the diverse and adverse situations that you have never experienced before. You have to experience every facet of life once again through and in that new language, so that it becomes as intimate and familiar as your first language. It has to cease to become a foreign language, and become a part of you.

The same is true of martial arts which might be useful in self defense. The demands of self defense in the real world go far beyond what one might practice in the dojo. Traditional practice in the dojo does impart skill and understanding which may be of some applicable use in the real world, but it will be awkward and clumsy and unreliable until you have honed it through a diverse array of real world experience and adversity, or at least come close in your training to replicating and addressing these things. Your average person speaks a very different "language" physically than your fellow aikidoka does, and will not respond or act like your training partners; it's kind of like bringing your textbook Japanese to Japan, only to find that people don't quite speak like that in the real world, and having to adapt. If you've never experienced it before, it will take quite a bit of time to familiarize yourself with and adapt, but your formal knowledge base will serve you well in doing so.

 

[hoshin1600]

If you want an idea of how well your aikido will work, go to an MMA gym or take an okinawan karate class. Try your aiki on non aikidoka. Same for any style work with someone from an other style. See how well it works out for you.

 

[Tez3]

If you want an idea of how well your aikido will work, go to an MMA gym or take an okinawan karate class. Try your aiki on non aikidoka. Same for any style work with someone from an other style. See how well it works out for you.

Our instructor has quite a lot of Aikido which he does use on our MMA fighters and it works very well to their surprise. He also uses it when he's on the doors in what is a very rough area.

 

[hoshin1600]

Our instructor has quite a lot of Aikido which he does use on our MMA fighters and it works very well to their surprise. He also uses it when he's on the doors in what is a very rough area.

That's great. Aikido is part of my own curriculum. I just find that to make it street ready you have to step out of the bubble of the aiki dojo. When you need it and your life may be depending on it is not the time you want to be figuring out the details and nuances.

 

[KangTsai]

I am absolutely sure aikido has some applicable techniques. However those techniques are shared with other martial arts I believe is more worth your time.

Being thrown on soft mats don't hurt that much.

Also, competitive aikido is a watered down version of competitive judo without submissions.