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Old 09-08-2008, 03:06 AM   #27
Stefan Hultberg
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 26
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Re: Why isn't this showing Aikido as effective?

Hi everyone

There is much discussion of effectiveness and use "on the street". Many contributions seem to question aikido as realistic self defense. As far as I am concerned aikido is the lamborghini of martial arts, not easy to master, but what a rush when you've figured it out and all 12 cylinders are working in unison to propel you forwards at speeds you never imagined. True, other cars are easier to master and there we can find the workhorses - porsche/karate, audi/jutsu etc.

Now - if people are looking for easy and clear roads towards self defense I would not suggest aikido. In fact I would not suggest a martial art at all - try pistol-shooting or running - the most effective self defense systems. If you must look for effective self defense in the martial arts then by all means try karate, boxing, krav maga etc. At least in these martial arts there is a very clear belief that they represent effective self defense arts which means you can avoid endless discussions of what works on the street.

All this talk about street effectiveness seems to indicate much fear. In that case I would recommend aikido, however. Courage does not come from being able to defend oneself on the street but from the realization that you don't have to. All physical conflicts lead to damage - to yourself or your opponent. Avoid physical conflict!! In terms of self defense I would suggest three main techniques:

1. smile - you'd be surprised how many conflicts that can be avoided by not rising to the challenge

2. run - if conflict is unavoidable one should learn from rabbits, man they can run

3. if nothing else works do a qui-gon, you know the scene where he is fighting darth maul and sits down to meditate while waiting for a door to open. When you are threatened with violence, the smile doesn't work and you can't run - go down in seiza and start meditating - very few thugs would actually strike someone who sits quietly in meditation.

And now, my final point. If nothing works - allow yourself to be beaten up. You'd set an example that would last a thousand years!!

Best regards

Stefan
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