View Single Post
Old 11-11-2011, 02:13 PM   #1684
Eric Joyce
Dojo: Budoshingikan
Location: Gilbert, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 179
United_States
Offline
Re: Aikido does not work at all in a fight.

Quote:
Kevin Leavitt wrote: View Post
Demetrio, good to see you posting!

I wouldn't go so far as to say that the things we learn in aikido do not make sense on the battlefield today. I think alot of what we do in aikido does make sense provided that we understand our environment and what it is that we need to do in it. I personally feel my training in aikido has provided some relevance.

That said, the low level discussions that take place concerning the "effectiveness of aikido" that categorically try and validate aikido do not do us any good, and much of the logic that is used such as "it was derived from battlefield arts of yore" to validate it are a stretch indeed.

We have to validate, each of us, our own training, instructors, and methods of training...for ourselves. We have to take ownership of it and develop our own criteria for doing so.

The problem is that most of us in a civilized world do not have the background or the framework in place in order to do this properly so we look to historical context or external "authorities" in order to make our decisions. IMO, much of this is wrong.

Many of the things that we done in feudal japan are still being done today. All good systems of study in Modern Battlefield combatives do things like O Soto Gari, for example. It has not changed in...what like 1000 years. The Principles of Kusushi is still the same, irimi, ma ai..all the principles we study are the same for sure.

However, the problem is...that that immediately gets translated in "see I told you Aikido is effective!"

Well while the principles of arts like Aikido are relevant and apply to the modern battlefield, studying principles make you no better prepared to go to battle or fight than graduating with an undergraduate degree in business and expecting to go out in the world and be successful in business the very next day!

We don't expect that from college where we study theory and principle so why do we make this mistake when looking at martial arts training?

So, for me and my experiences, aikido certainly can make a good foundation to study principles and theory of martial movement, however, you must stop there and realize that that is all that is really going on there, and you really need a good teacher and a collection of students that can take it to the next level in order to understand modern combatives and the street.
I agree. Nice post Kevin

Eric Joyce
Otake Han Doshin Ryu Jujutsu
  Reply With Quote