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Old 05-29-2009, 08:08 PM   #52
JO
Dojo: Aikikai de l'Université Laval
Location: Sainte-Catherine-de-la-J.-C., Québec
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 292
Canada
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Re: How effective is aikido in self defense?

Ryan. First of all, your first example of aikido vs mma isn't an aikido guy (don't believe the titles of online clips, I've seen an aikido instructor throwing his student in a dem labled as Aikido vs jiujitsu, just because the student wasn't wearing a hakama). Second, the minute you start fighting, you are no longer doing aikido. You might use skills learnt in aikido, but aikido it is not. I will regularly put more resistance in my training and this can rapidly break down into a low level grappling match. I learn useful things from this. One is that I can feel the difference in how I think, feel and move, right down to the center of my bones, when I switch from aikido to fighting (even though it is just friendly playfighting). The change would be even greater if I were to give in to aggressiveness.

Jonathan Olson
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