As a part of my college curriculum I need to take two physical fitness classes. I have been interested in learning about Judo and was planning on taking the course that the school offers, but it conflicts with the rest of my schedule. I was planning on waiting another semester or two until I could fit it in, but in the mean time I need to find something else to take. The only other course that seemed mildly interesting was aikido, but I don’t really know much about it other than what I have read on wikipedia, so I was curious to see what people thought of it.
Shortened Version: What is your opinion of Aikido?
It’s a TMA that’s based around using your opponents force against him. I read a book about it a long time ago about some hippie ass San Franciso professor type trying to teach it the Special Forces… it was a very interesting read.
If you’re expecting to be knocking guys’ blocks off then it ain’t gonna be for you, but they do a lot of internal work as well, i.e. meditation, etc. from what I can tell.
Give it a shot. I’d take a class like that in college. What the fuck, if it sucks you get it done and never worry about it again.
I took Aikido in college. Best thing I can say for it is that I learned a couple of nifty wristlocks and how to do a proper breakfall. Had I ever used it against a real attacker, I’m fairly certain I would have been torn apart. Oh, and I’ve never seen more fat “martial artists” and (overweight, white, bearded, male, oily, smelly) Japanese culture worshipers than in the college aikido club. Not saying you’re anything like that, just preparing you for the reality of guys who discuss pocky for three hours.
To get some required credits out of the way, eh. Why not? It’s no worse than badminton.
I actually did Aikido for about a year and I read “Angry white pajamas” recently, so I suppose I’ll chime in.
Aikido is a nice thing. If you’ve ever been thrown by an Aikido master you’ll appreciate the way it uses bodyweight and momentum to almost magical effect. It is a bit like studying ballet for those who have an obsession with Japan, or just don’t like talking a whole lot.
Using Aikido in an actual fight however, is a bit like diving at the ground and trying to miss it.
It’s usefulness can depend upon the threat you are facing. It may not be the best art for a fist fight but wrist locks are really good to know if you ever have to try and take a weapon out of someones hands. If you know it you have more options, if you don’t know it you have a limitation.
I started Aikido when I was 6 and continued with it for 4 years. So a lot of the techniques got pretty ingrained in me. It was not the most traditional of classes and back then I wasn’t thinking about using it in fist fights, it was just fun. Still, lots of falls off trees, buildings and horses and no broken bones suggest the breakfalls are worth learning(better than Judo IMO).
Where Aikido comes into it’s own is in dealing with pushing, shoving and arm grabbing, so all the fun stuff that happens just before it escalates and someone throws a punch. The wrist, elbow and shoulder locks work well to control most people and were the basis for most of the things I did as a bouncer. Punching someone out is hard to do and they ofen get hurt on the way to the ground. Choking someone out just means you have to carry them out as well so a modified wirst and/or choke can give you control of the situation(or create a shield if you’re dealing with a group). You also do less lasting damage…
The problem comes with once you’ve got someone in a hold, lock or have thrown them. What do you do then?
It is good for balance which will help if you do Judo later and is usable if you’re not very athletic.
[quote]duffyj2 wrote:
I actually did Aikido for about a year and I read “Angry white pajamas” recently, so I suppose I’ll chime in.
Aikido is a nice thing. If you’ve ever been thrown by an Aikido master you’ll appreciate the way it uses bodyweight and momentum to almost magical effect. It is a bit like studying ballet for those who have an obsession with Japan, or just don’t like talking a whole lot.
Using Aikido in an actual fight however, is a bit like diving at the ground and trying to miss it.
[/quote]
If you’re interested in Aikido then take a look at the book mentioned above, author is Robert Twigger. It’s an easy read and gives you an idea of what it’s about.
At the end of the day, it’s another string to your bow. You could always try it and see how you go, you might be the next Kancho…
I practiced aikido for about 6 years and kung fu for about 3 years. If you’re interested in just kicking a_s, then there maybe be better arts out there for you. If you’re interested in controlling your opponent, then it’s pretty good. It similar to a lot of other asian martial arts - it teaches/enhances balance, flexibility, breathing, focus, etc. As latspread said, it’s very effective if you’re a bouncer. You can also use it in a phone booth.
As an all around fighting style, not perfect. It works well if you combine it with something else. Heard that Judo and Boxing work together well too.
[quote]wher0001 wrote:
Put an Aikido master in with these MMA idiots and he will whoop up on them like a retard with stuper-strength.[/quote]
I hope you’re joking. If you need to take it for credits eh, do what you need to do. Seriously though have you seen how ridiculous that douche segal is!! imo judo break falls are much more helpful. I wouldnt take it way to seriously like some people unless you like wearing dresses and are into interpative dance!!LOL how does an aikido master stop a double leg??? Mean muay thia kick to the head???a flying knee??? its the art of fighting without fighting???LOL!! IM not bashing if you enjoy it! Just questioning its usefulness…oh I’ve never seen an aikido master in an mma event or on a judo,wrestling,bjj matt or comp so I could be wrong buuuuut I doubt it
I was around when Seagal first came out. He was the only Easterner at that time ever allowed to have a dojo in Japan. If you think Seagal is a puss, I suggest you do your research a little more or fight him at least once.
MOST MMA fighters are not at the top level in any of their respective arts. Some are high level athletes and yes some are World Champions in their weight classes at their style. Fine…but fighting for money and fighting for your life are different things. The most respected Martial Artists will not fight for money and you’ll never see them in any sort of fight-for money venues. Some of them will even go so far as to kick those students out that do compete for money. It happens, beleive me.
It is not the style that you learn, it is how effective YOU are at using it. find the best teacher for any style in your neighborhood and learn from them. i don’t care if it is Clown-Fu (effective cause of the big shoes).
No No my good man wher0001 I never said he was a puss, just a ridiculous douche you can kick all kinds of ass and still be a douche!! I just think Segal takes himself WAY too seriously! I’m verry much aware the guy is dedicated to his M.A. and a major aikido player and poster boy!
That being said I still do not believe ANY aikido master would whoop up on a decent mma guy because of the multiple dimensions of mma. aikido being one dimesion of the martial arts world is questionable for effectiveness against a multi faceted martial arts player. I have watched a bunch of laugh worthy staged videos on many art forms so im not just targeting segal or aikido, I feel that any one person who believes a single discipline is teh deadly is full of shit!!!
How do you prove naysayers wrong check out the gracie way. Don’t get me wrong I’m no gracie jock rider, I think the wat they proved bjj as being a verry legitamate facet was verry onpoint. people doubted, they had the chance to prove them wrong and when they lost and said "well I didn’t use this super deadly 5 finger death punch that could have killed you with no effort"they were told for the betterment of this combat form please use it they either did and were shut down or didn’t and looked like tools.
Now that we all know importance of ground fighting we’ve started cross training which is far more effective than just aikido or boxing or bjj or… I wasn’t speaking a money wins it situation just a hey let’s test theory against theory in a respectable real situation of stylevs. styles!
Anyway we are officially thread jackers so sorry about that JGA like I said do it if you need the credits just don’t believe the hype guys that know aikido have said in this thread street use skeptical so it is what it is! All respectfully said of course
[quote]wher0001 wrote:
I was around when Seagal first came out. He was the only Easterner at that time ever allowed to have a dojo in Japan. If you think Seagal is a puss, I suggest you do your research a little more or fight him at least once.
MOST MMA fighters are not at the top level in any of their respective arts. Some are high level athletes and yes some are World Champions in their weight classes at their style. Fine…but fighting for money and fighting for your life are different things. The most respected Martial Artists will not fight for money and you’ll never see them in any sort of fight-for money venues. Some of them will even go so far as to kick those students out that do compete for money. It happens, beleive me.
It is not the style that you learn, it is how effective YOU are at using it. find the best teacher for any style in your neighborhood and learn from them. i don’t care if it is Clown-Fu (effective cause of the big shoes).
I agree with sifu and latspread. The ability to manipulate joints is very useful against a weapon. I have used wrist locks for disarming and takedowns. They are very effective in this respect. The ability to foster a sense of medatative calm when faced with violence is very useful also (or when dealing with your angry boss, bitchy girlfriend, etc…) On the other hand…if you want to be Billy Badass, aikido is not for you. Also, there are a lot of Alan Watts/Steven Seagal-douche bag-types involved with the practice.
I’ve done a few martial arts for a number of years, including aikido so here’s my two cents. Aikido has some pluses that have been mentioned, joint locks, breakfalls etc. The biggest negative is that it takes too long to get good. By this I mean to do the movements as needed without using strength to overcome the adversary. This is very important because generally attackers will be stonger than you. Also, it is not a complete art. There are no appreciable strikes or substantial weapons work. As a class, give it a shot at worst you don’t like it an move on.
I studied it for several years with a traditional combat aikido instructor.
There are two forms that are taught. The most common is wishy washy where you work with your partner and pretty well go with the throws etc. This is pretty well useless imo.
There is also a combat aikido which is not commonly taught, where they teach you the hidden punches and kicks in an around the throws that are also a part of the art. And you also do not work with your opponent - if they are going to throw you, they are going to do it properly without you moving into and assisting with the throw.
If you can, try to find an instructor in this form of the art.