Opinions on this school please.

[Chris Parker]

Many years ago, an Aikido black belt friend of mine came to visit me in Austin, Texas. It happened that there was a Karate tournament in town that day. We both put gloves on and fought in that Karate tournament. Few weeks later, my friend was kicked out of his Aikido association.

There is difference between "skill developing" and "skill testing".

You use

1. non-resisted partner to "develop" your solo skill.
2. resisted partner to "develop" your combo skill.
3. resisted partner to "test" your over all skill.

The difference between 2 and 3 is in

- 2, you know exactly what your opponent is going to do.
- 3, you don't know what your opponent is going to do.

Since Aikido system doesn't have tournament, the "testing" 3 is not available.

Competition is not the only, nor even necessarily the best method of "testing" other than within the competitive format... most Aikido do forms of unscripted/free-form expression (randori), so the comment at the end is inaccurate. Oh, and Tomiki/Shodokan Aikido does have tournaments, for the record...

 

[K-man]

Many years ago, an Aikido black belt friend of mine came to visit me in Austin, Texas. It happened that there was a Karate tournament in town that day. We both put gloves on and fought in that Karate tournament. Few weeks later, my friend was kicked out of his Aikido association.

There is difference between "skill developing" and "skill testing".

You use

1. non-resisted partner to "develop" your solo skill.
2. resisted partner to "develop" your combo skill.
3. resisted partner to "test" your over all skill.

The difference between 2 and 3 is in

- 2, you know exactly what your opponent is going to do.
- 3, you don't know what your opponent is going to do.

Since Aikido system doesn't have tournament, the "testing" 3 is not available.

As Chris has said, Tomiki Aikido does have tournaments. One of my friends has only recently returned from competing in Japan.

I think you are ignoring the fact that Aikido does contain atemi. Whether it is taught in particular schools or not is beside the point. Some techniques rely on atemi for their effect. The normal randori that you see in Aikido normally doesn't have resistance so it is not a test of the technique, just a test of your ability to choose a technique. Real fights don't happen that way. But I teach all the aikido techniques in my karate and my guys don't have the receiving mindset of my aikido partners. Testing 3 is alive and well there.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Tomiki/Shodokan Aikido does have tournaments, for the record...

Could you put up any clip for that? Are those tournaments open for other MA styles?

 

[K-man]

Could you put up any clip for that? Are those tournaments open for other MA styles?

There is quite a lot of competition stuff on a YouTube but most of it is pretty scrappy. To me it demonstrates that Aikido was never designed to be a competitive sport.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b-AdZo3nrDk

I'm not sure if anyone can compete but the competition rules are restrictive.
:asian:

 

[Spinedoc]

As Chris has said, Tomiki Aikido does have tournaments. One of my friends has only recently returned from competing in Japan.

I think you are ignoring the fact that Aikido does contain atemi. Whether it is taught in particular schools or not is beside the point. Some techniques rely on atemi for their effect. The normal randori that you see in Aikido normally doesn't have resistance so it is not a test of the technique, just a test of your ability to choose a technique. Real fights don't happen that way. But I teach all the aikido techniques in my karate and my guys don't have the receiving mindset of my aikido partners. Testing 3 is alive and well there.

This. We practice atemi with a multitide of our techniques. We were practicing Ikkyo last night, both Omote and Ura, and using an atemi strike to the face to set up the ikkyo.

I also found something out....when Yonkyo gets applied correctly.....well, yep, it hurts like hell. Dam....

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

There is quite a lot of competition stuff on a YouTube but most of it is pretty scrappy. To me it demonstrates that Aikido was never designed to be a competitive sport.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b-AdZo3nrDk

I'm not sure if anyone can compete but the competition rules are restrictive.
:asian:

Thanks for showing that clip. That's the 1st Aikido tournament clip that I have seen.

 

[K-man]

This. We practice atemi with a multitide of our techniques. We were practicing Ikkyo last night, both Omote and Ura, and using an atemi strike to the face to set up the ikkyo.

I also found something out....when Yonkyo gets applied correctly.....well, yep, it hurts like hell. Dam....

Told you so!

:lfao: :lfao: :lfao:

 

[Chris Parker]

Could you put up any clip for that?

Sure.

A little shorter than K-Man's, and showing a few more aspects. Commonly, their competitive format is geared around tantodori (knife defence/taking), as shown, but does also include unarmed versus unarmed.

Are those tournaments open for other MA styles?

Why would they be?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Sure.

A little shorter than K-Man's, and showing a few more aspects. Commonly, their competitive format is geared around tantodori (knife defence/taking), as shown, but does also include unarmed versus unarmed.

Why would they be?

Thanks for the clip!

I know the chief coach of UT Aikido club very well (we train 钢柔流 Karate in YMCA together back to 1972).

http://blogs.utexas.edu/aikido/coaches/

I have not seen this kind of tournament before. Open hand against dagger, it sounds like fun tournament rule set. The reason that I asked (whether this kind of tournaments are open to different MA systems or not) because anybody can compete Judo, Karate tournaments as long as you follow the tournament rules. If those tournaments are open, my guys would like to participate and have fun too.

 

[Chris Parker]

I'm not sure you're correct about anyone being able to compete in, say, Judo tournaments... you'd need to register, which would mean you'd need to show your level/experience/rank in Judo... same with many Karate tournaments... sure, there are "All Style" tournaments, but they're hardly the methodology of all tournaments...

Oh, and you did realize that such tournaments (Aikido) are exclusively the domain of Tomiki Aikido, also known as Shodokan Aikido, not any other forms of the art. Your friend who teaches at the University of Texas doesn't do Tomiki, so it'd be a moot point with him. Their Aikido comes from Koichi Tohei via Roderick Kobayashi, and is Seidokan Aikido.

 

[Coker101]

So I did stop by the Galveston dojo http://www.utsusemiaikikai.com/index.html today.

I liked the instructor and how he ran his class. Very nice guy from what I saw. He also did a really good job with instruction in my opinion, showing different ways to do the same technique depending on if you want to restrain, hurt or possibly severely hurt you opponent. I liked what I saw and it's on the island I live on so it's pretty close. Also helps he is under Saotome which is also a good thing.