Kevin Leavitt

Agreed Phil.

MMA type training can teach us quite a bit about what occurs in a real fight. I think many of us have profoundly benefited by the "R&D" that has gone on in the ring in the last 15 years.

As you state though, one does not need to train as a MMA fighter 100%.

AND, yes, much of what we do in Aikido is very worthwhile.

The important thing I think is to "begin with an end in mind" and focus your training in such a way that it accomplishes those goals.

For many of us today, this means we are looking outside of our base arts and taking more of an "open source" look at our training instead of bowing maybe to one sensei and saying "my mind is blank...teach me".

That said, a rote beginner may not have the ability to discern good training from bad, or even know how to begin.

In that vein, that is why there is nothing wrong with starting out with a good foundational art that is based on sound principles of martial movement. Arts like Aikido, Judo, BJJ, offer these things I think. Although, my thoughts today place Aikido in more of a "grad school" of training, but then others would argue the opposite...I don't think there is a right answer.

However, Aikido, BJJ, and Judo all have shortcomings when you start looking at the SD issues...I have found gaps in all three of these systems.

I think it is a little clearer in BJJ and Judo simply because they are typically trained off a competitive mode and tend to be more measurable and quantifiable, l wheras the "door is wide open" on aikido since it is typically not...but then there are aikido dojos and styles that are based on competitive models. YMMV of course!