Updated: Best Summary
The debate can go on forever – which is fine, but…
“If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you.” ~Bruce Lee
Below is a quote from Roy Dean that summarizes things nicely:
[A black belt in both Aikido, Judo, and BJJ]
Perhaps his prominence and ‘marked’ achievements will give more weight to this than what a ‘stranger’ in Hungary has to say.
Below Quote comes from:
http://www.slideyfoot.com/2011/05/dvd-review-white-belt-bible-roy-dean.html
“I generally take issue with the aikido I’ve learned, seen, and come in contact with being advertised as self-defense. Although there are aspects and techniques of aikido that I believe can be gleaned and added to your martial arsenal (i.e. footwork for getting off the line, blending with an overcommitted attack, etc.), I could never recommend it to somebody who wanted to learn self-defense. Not only is there too much silence about what works and what doesn’t, the non-competitive training method doesn’t put students in pressure situations similar enough to real confrontations, breeding a false sense of security in students through tacit affirmations such as:
1) It may take 20 years, but this stuff will work if you just keep practicing.
2) Don’t worry about strength, since physical conditioning isn’t that important.
3) These exercises we’re doing are how attacks really are.
4) If it’s not working, you’re not using your center.
5) Keep extending that ki to keep him at bay!
It’s not fair to your students to misrepresent what your art is capable of. If your average aikido student rolled with a judo or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player, or got in the ring with a boxer or kickboxer, he wouldn’t know what to do with that kind of intensity. He’d simply be overwhelmed. I’ve seen this point debated through letters to the editor in Aikido Today Magazine, but there’s only one way to find out. Do it. To paraphrase Bruce Lee, you can’t learn to swim unless you get wet, so how can you learn how to fight without fighting?” – Roy Dean
OLD POST
Starting From Scratch
Its not often I go in and re-edit an article.
Even less often that I re-write an article. [this being the first]
[Though I have deleted one which seemed to get tons of hits but was completely misunderstood]
However seeing the number of searches that lead to this particular article, I have decided to update it based on my current understanding & experiences with Aikido.
Does Aikido Work?
I like Aikido.
Come May of this year I will have been at it for three years now.
It hasnt always been like this… fact is I didnt really want to start in Aikido, but I asked my wife to choose for me and she thought a gentler art would be good. [And at the time she was right.]
This proved to be a challenge in many ways as well as a great learning experience on a spiritual/emotional level as well. [Learning in a language you cannot speak, Hungarian, does give a challenge to the ego as well, as you cannot 'argue' or debate yourself out of something or defend a position.
Defending a position:
This desire to defend my position is what led me to wanting to take marital arts to begin with.
About 13 years ago I had been attacked, in an argument, by no other than my brother-in-law, and at the time there was someone else there so I just hung out while he had me in a single joint lock.
[The pain of which lasted over a year.]
Skip ahead into the future… [approx. 5 years ago]… I moved back to Hungary and my brother-in-law tried the same move again when we got in a heated argument over who was ‘right’, and this time I escaped his grips and we went at each other, and it ended by me kicking him in the face after being thrown down, and me getting up to pop him in the nose with my fist to make sure the bear would stay away.
Needless to say there had to be a better way, and there was….
The true way to self-defense:
In short, who cares who is ‘right’.
Let the person go their own way and that is that. This is a good step in staying out of trouble.
If your cleaned up on the inside, you will typically generate the situations you get into… even self-defense experts have said this.
But back to the burning question… ‘does Aikido work’?
Well, sure – it helped to teach me to just let go and that way not get into the fight to begin with.
I know, you are thinking about jumping in the MMA ring and going for it… well here is my assessment.
MMA:
I have taken about a months worth of ThaiBoxing/grappling lessons.
Not that much, but enough where I got to feel, [for a second time], the harder style of martial arts. I will say being hit in the face hurts more than I remember when I did my brief kickboxing lesson back in my teen years.
However, I did get a chance to try out my Aikido once in a grappling situation and I pulled off a technique and had the guy asking how I did it, etc. This brings up various questions, but Ill summarize Aikidos relation to sport fighting like this:
First, Aikido by and large is not a sport… but if it were to be a sport, it would be a part of a larger body.
i.e.
ThaiBoxing for a certain range, [knees and elbows go a long way... kicks less so - I tend to catch them, though they do hurt while your in the actual drills... but to get that same pain in motion seems to be harder to achieve due to what was just mentioned - motion.]
Brazilian Jui Jitsu mixed with wrestling seems to be the game for ground, and somewhere in all of this fits Aikido.
Certainly the principles go a long way. Some would argue that Aikido has a better fit when it comes to weapons, which makes sense, as a lot of the attacks are based on weapon attacks/movements – which otherwise would not make sense or be logical if going against a Thai boxer for example. 
[something many Aikidoka seem not to understand]
But, I do see Aikido more as being a finishing art.
[side note: Go ahead and mix Judo with your Aikido - though I find Judo a bit difficult with the throws, etc., it would be easier to just pop you in the head]
Finishing Art:
See, the guys that first took Aikido knew another martial art… Aikido was like an extra way to nicely finish off and play with their opponent before eating them for lunch, as it were.
Most people today seem to start off in Aikido, and that is that.
They speak of flow, etc., which is good – but in a real fight scenario, they would probably be wasted. [Again, Aikido is part of a larger body I will just call Jui Jitsu... I mean the real mother of them all, biting and all.]
There is nothing wrong with choosing not to be more ‘live’ with your Aikido, but it does help to look into other arts, and cross-training does help to gain a broader, more realistic perspective on what situations Aikido may be best suited for.
For many people its best suited for the bouncer type scenario, etc.
Lets admit it, in most fights – at least here in Hungary – you more than likely will have someone try to take your joint out before striking you. [though mileage may vary, this has been my experience.]
Conclusion:
Again, it works, but you have to decide what that means as it works on many different levels. Can you take it in a MMA fight and magically throw someone – of course not. The fact is strength and speed absolutely do factor into the equation, and you cannot leave that out.
Most people will keep with them what they think they can do with Aikido without ever really knowing. They are afraid they wasted 10+ years.
When nothing is ever really wasted – unless you decide to stop learning & growing.
Some may say Aikido has deadly techniques… in truth it cant be much worse than being punched square in the nose with a 10oz glove. [Most Aikidoka dont even know how to attack... you see it coming a mile away. The reason is partly due to the nature of Aikido being weapons based, albeit that has been lost for the most part.]
If you play your cards right, you can learn a lot from Aikido and really incorporate it into your ‘game’. [To what extent in a MMA environment varies, but as for self defense, I believe you can go a long way.]
As mentioned however, true defense is trying not to get involved to begin with – and despite what some people may like, this is something that Aikido can help with and its valid.
So, these are roughly randomized thoughts put down… this could probably use some editing. It may or may not fly over well with some Aikidoka – but like I said, I have been at this for 3 years and I enjoy it… so there shouldnt be any issues.
And for those who question Aikido, this article may help… until you go to one of the many dojos that cant really pin you down if you dont move with them, etc. [not there fault, this is just how training went, and without some aliveness and going out of the box, how can you get it?]
The jumping Uke:
Much has been talked about the jumping uke… [he is throwing himself.]
I will say this from experience, especially when your new, if you dont jump you will have a joint hurt… and as I mentioned I have had a joint in pain for over a year. [my wrist for over two weeks... heck, still not sure its fully recovered after an over applied nikkyo years back.]
So the guy who is doing the ‘fake’ jumps, isnt faking – its part of self-defense.
Also, “Who grabs wrist?”
To answer that: You have to start somewhere.
If you check out my next test we grab everything from:
- neck
- shoulders
- elbows
- wrist
- and a kick
So that is kind of a blind statement to make – though, once you learn some of these techniques and get good at it… you may see the benefit in just going straight to that hand to control and manipulate your opponent.
[joint locks do wonders... and in some sense are worse than a swift kick in the face... point is, be responsible cause it will come back to you in one form or another.]
The final lesson is to learn to fight so you dont have to fight… very true statement… the rest is for sport/fun, and as pointed out, make sure that is the case.
Peace
dAlen