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Old 03-11-2013, 04:29 AM   #6
ryback
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 243
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Re: Atemi, Tae Kwon Do and Aikido

Quote:
Kevin Tejan wrote: View Post
As I feel its important to know some atemi in Aikido, as far as vital points on the body, I only know of one, which is a forward and down palm strike to the head to disorientate the attacker.

However, I took tae kwon do as a teenager and I almost got to junior black belt, I am still very good at kicking. I took Karate younger than that, I can throw a basis punch but nothing major.

My tae Kwon do however is considerably better.

Since I can kick very well, I was wondering if this can also be atemi used in Aikido. Are kicks only used to distance the attacker? I mostly see in my class punches that lead into techniques in my class. Can kicks also be used without distracting the flow of the technique? If someone is punching me left and right very fast, how am I going to be able to do a munetski fast enough to do a kotegaeshi technique? Wouldn't it better to do an atemi first?

My question is, can Tae Kwon do compliment AIkido? Thanks
Well, in my opinion, it is not a matter of making pre-set combat scenarios like "if he does that,how can i apply this"
In Japanese martial arts there is a concept called Mushin and it actually means "no-mind". No mind or empty mind is not of course as in being stupid but in being empty of pre arranged thought about any scenario or any technique that you might use so that, at the moment of danger, your training will automaticaly kick in and you will be in control without realizing it.
This leads to another Aikido concept of Take mushu aiki, the essence of which is to be able, without any concious thinking or analysing, to apply the right technique for that speciffic situation with no hesitation.
But as it must be obvious, that needs lots of studying and training so you should concentrate on your hours in the Dojo trying to slowly progress from lesson to lesson.
I wouldn't recomend any kind of kicking during a real confrontation because they are very compromising for one's ballance. Keeping both feet on the ground and our tanden grounded too is the most important factor in terms of ballance in a fight.
We should never confuse a martial art with a fighting sport. Some of the fighting sports have their roots in martial arts but they are not true budo. In any case no system can compliment another system because no matter how effective both can be, they have different basic principles, so trying to mix them you usually get the one in the way of the other with no result.
Aikido has atemi waza among other things, but that doesn't mean that they come from other martial arts. Study Aikido hard, learn the weapon techniques as well as the tai-jutsu techniques and pretty soon you'll realize that they are one and the same, Aikido is a complete martial art.
Pins, throws, projections, hitting and avoiding to be hit can all be learnt if you study the Art deeply...
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