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Old 04-22-2011, 10:46 AM   #83
ChrisHein
 
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Dojo: Aikido of Fresno
Location: Fresno , CA
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Re: Tanto Practice - Is true Aikido effective for disarming?

This whole discussion comes down to the fatal flaw that we martial artists all share. We want to know about martial things, fighting, and weapons etc, yet we're mostly a pretty peaceful group, so we don't do a lot of it.

Some here have done some soldiering, a few of us have gotten in more fights then we'd like to, some are peace officers, some competitors and the vast majority have little to no actual fighting experience (outside of a dojo or tournament).

We expect martial arts training to make us capable fighters, but the truth is only fighting can do that. Sure we can learn useful skills, sound strategies, improve our physical ability, improve our will power, gain focus and awareness, etc. But we're not ever going to get life and death (weapon) fighting experience without getting in those kinds of fights regularly.

One time a Karate guy asked me if I knew how to break an arm, I told him I did not. He seemed really shocked, and reminded me that I did lots of Jujutsu and Aikido, I must know how to break an arm. I told him that I had never broken anyones arm, and while I know lots of theories about breaking arms, I had never experienced the sensation, so I didn't really know how to break an arm.

We can go even deeper with this understanding, which leads us to a place none of us really want to go. Even if you are an experienced fighter, have been in many fights, and learned much from them, every fight is a new experience. There are no guarantees. A quicker or stronger person with no training or experience my defeat you in the blink of an eye. There is no technique that works 100% of the time. There is no system that grants constant success. Things just are what they are.

So back to the question at hand, "is true Aikido effective for disarming". Aikido does teach numerous ways in which you can take something out of someone's hand. If you spar with these methods regularly, you can gain the ability to do this under pressure, against someone resisting you. Does this guarantee anything, nope. Can it give you some perspective on the problem, likely. Will it make you like Batman, in no way shape or form.

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