Spinedoc
Brown Belt
Interesting topic…..
I was having a good discussion with an old friend about Aikido, and it's effectiveness, and he laughed. He is a senior agent with the FBI and has been with them for almost 20 years. He remarked that "I don't know how you can consider it 'ineffective' considering so many police departments teach a component of Aikido with entire courses designed such as those by Koga for specific police training. Hell, the Tokyo police have a dedicated 11 month program in Yoshinkan Aikido called Senshusei. Granted many of these programs also mix in Judo, Krav Maga, and even BJJ to a smaller degree, however, Aikido remains one of the primary arts taught. We wouldn't do that if it didn't work".
He went on to acknowledge that Aikido didn't work in every scenario, but that these courses were taught for 2 reasons. "One, they are effective, and while they don't make someone a 'master' of aikido, they do teach a variety of techniques perfect for most police encounters. Two, police administrators tend to love Aikido because of the emphasis on not harming the attacker….this leads to fewer lawsuits (eye roll)".
He finally remarked that Aikido worked well "during arresting techniques, along with other arts like Aikijujutsu, Judo, and Hapkido that can also be useful. BJJ, I don't personally feel is as helpful for most law enforcement situations, it might be helpful to have at least a little understanding of it, but I cannot think of any police officer that would EVER intentionally go down to the ground unless there were no other options, this isn't a cage (snickers).."
I've known him since undergrad 20 years ago. He's always been bright, and has been with federal law enforcement for a long time.
I thought his insight was interesting. NOW, I was in the military many years ago, but have never worked in law enforcement.
I thought this might make for an interesting, stimulating conversation. In the immortal words of Picard….."ENGAGE".
I was having a good discussion with an old friend about Aikido, and it's effectiveness, and he laughed. He is a senior agent with the FBI and has been with them for almost 20 years. He remarked that "I don't know how you can consider it 'ineffective' considering so many police departments teach a component of Aikido with entire courses designed such as those by Koga for specific police training. Hell, the Tokyo police have a dedicated 11 month program in Yoshinkan Aikido called Senshusei. Granted many of these programs also mix in Judo, Krav Maga, and even BJJ to a smaller degree, however, Aikido remains one of the primary arts taught. We wouldn't do that if it didn't work".
He went on to acknowledge that Aikido didn't work in every scenario, but that these courses were taught for 2 reasons. "One, they are effective, and while they don't make someone a 'master' of aikido, they do teach a variety of techniques perfect for most police encounters. Two, police administrators tend to love Aikido because of the emphasis on not harming the attacker….this leads to fewer lawsuits (eye roll)".
He finally remarked that Aikido worked well "during arresting techniques, along with other arts like Aikijujutsu, Judo, and Hapkido that can also be useful. BJJ, I don't personally feel is as helpful for most law enforcement situations, it might be helpful to have at least a little understanding of it, but I cannot think of any police officer that would EVER intentionally go down to the ground unless there were no other options, this isn't a cage (snickers).."
I've known him since undergrad 20 years ago. He's always been bright, and has been with federal law enforcement for a long time.
I thought his insight was interesting. NOW, I was in the military many years ago, but have never worked in law enforcement.
I thought this might make for an interesting, stimulating conversation. In the immortal words of Picard….."ENGAGE".