Alex, with respect you don't defend yourself with your mind, by the time your mind kicks in it is usually too late! that's one thing i like about aikido is it just happens naturally, even more as your practice progresses... as i stated earlier ALL the skill sets are IMHO a part of aikido, not that they are taught in most dojo's...
Charles, how am i supposed to top that?! great story... I too have been on that sacred battleground! you should look at it not as loosing control of yourself but giving a much needed reality check and lesson in humility to a bunch of squids that needed it! you held off 3 attackers as a white belt!!!, best evidence yet that functionality comes rather quicker that the "Mystifiers" would have people believe... and the second guy came around and no one was really hurt so i think those qualify as victories... in both stories you protected yourself, and did not brutally harm your attackers... aiki-victory...
the story about the kid in that earlier post was very good too
My only what i would consider real fight was when i worked bouncing in a bar in Charleston, by this time I had studied maybe 3-4 years on and off... guy gets mouthy and threatens to kick my ass reaches for me and i catch him with a hard irimi nage... his friends picked him up and took him home... telling me that they would take care of him don't beat him up... i just told them to get him out and that i hoped he wasn't hurt...
i hope some more people will put up their stories...
but even people that don't believe aikido works, don't study and don't even KNOW that what they are doing is aikido can make it work... even in a MMA situation... check this out...
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=30771