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Ukemi is an obvious utility of aikido. I found "mushroom picking" useful, too. (Image: Saotome Sensei immobilized by a bear hug from behind by Ikeda Hiroshi. Saotome smiles, "In difficult situation, mushroom picking very useful!" and therewith, shunts one hand behind him into Ikeda's groin. Ikeda shunts his hips back, and is, of course, lost, thrown, flying, bye-bye.)
I first noticed it applied off the mat in Shinjuku Station, the busiest of Japan's buys train stations. There was this suit gliding through the crowd directing the point of his umbrella at knees and groins, the owners of which quickly redirecting said precious geography away from point.
I found that the same result could be effected by leaving an arm out of sync with one's stride. Just the trajectory of the arm--it was never a threat to anyone's BVD's or other--was enough to cause people to turn away. With little loss of effect, I found similar effect to be had simply leaving my shoulders directed at oncoming pedestrians, again, the shoulders would usually be out of sync with the hips.
I never had the temerity to try a kiai, however.
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