Thread: Atemi
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Old 06-18-2002, 07:56 AM   #23
Tim Griffiths
Dojo: Nes Ziona Aikikai
Location: Suzhou, China
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 188
China
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Quote:
Originally posted by adrian

...if you think you can apply what you've learnt in the dojo in a real fight without string atemi you must be dreaming !
Ah yes... I always carry a ball of string around with me for exactly this purpose.

Slightly more seriously, in my post-high school and post-starting aikido fights (about 6 or 7), I haven't used an 'obvious' atemi at all. You don't have to use it, and more importantly, you don't want to use it.

We do proper atemi in aikido. Full on, that's a palm or fist to the jaw or nose, which is going to cause some serious damage, that you're going to have to justify afterwards both to yourself and the police. This is real life, not life-and-death fantasy. Most fights are just some drunk guy in a bar, or a couple of guys out for kicks, etc. Do you really want to leave them with broken jaw, limbs and nose? If so, why?

Most aikido techniques begin with atemi (and end there if it connects). This is then tempered down to meet a particular situation. Take katadori ikkyo as an obvious example - the first movement is a shift offline and an atemi, which ends it there and then if it connects well. If uke parries it, the hand is pushed naturally towards the holding hand, and the technique continues.

Tim

If one makes a distinction between the dojo and the battlefield, or being in your bedroom or in public, then when the time comes there will be no opportunity to make amends. (Hagakure)
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