"Self Defense Without Offence" Article

Article on aikido in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News...cle/index_html

-- Jun

Interesting article....I disagree with his idea that someone can become able to defend themselves after one year of training.....only twice a week.

Changes start to happen after one year but Aikido takes a long time to sink in and become effective self -defense.
Mary Eastland

whoops, I posted under Ron's identity...sorry

Interesting article - especially the "no offensive moves" idea. I wonder how somone learns to effectively defend him/herself without any offensive moves. Last time I checked we practiced offensive moves. The simplest ones to be found are the atemi waza (which don't necessarily have to mean "striking" either).

From my experience folks don't actually need a whole year of training twice a week to be effective in "defending oneself long enough to run away" with Aikido (or at least the one I do). It's all about what techniques are selected, how many techniques (hopefully not more than 3 or so), how effectively they are taught and practiced and the methods of getting it drilled into reflexive action while under attack by a determined, resisting aggressor over a relatively short period of time. It's all about targeted training imo.

Otherwise it's a pretty good article. Good to see the folks in that side of the world getting some media coverage.

LC

Apart from the fact that in our dojo we DO NOT train in order to be able to defend ourselves (meaning only that self-defence is not a pimary goal, though some ability of self-defence is acquired through training) I would agree with the article.

However, a year of training 2x a week is IMO not enough to be able to defend oneself. But I suppose that depends on the program of an individual dojo.

In our dojo the first 6 months are spent working on finding and keeping the centre, learning to break falls (meaning roll all over the tatami) etc. No techniques are taught until our sensei is satisfied with the average level of "expertise" in Ki Aikido basics of the whole beginner-level group. As mentioned above, that happens after about 4-6 months of training.

Mary Eastland wrote: Interesting article....I disagree with his idea that someone can become able to defend themselves after one year of training.....only twice a week. Changes start to happen after one year but Aikido takes a long time to sink in and become effective self -defense. Mary Eastland

I think it depends on the training methods used. I did use it in a self-defence situation quite effectively after only 6 months of training twice a week. As with ju-jitsu, the techniques can work in a scappy way;

I suppose it depends on where you draw the boundary in the progression from technique to complete blending.

Personally, I like to teach simple escapes from grabs very early on to ensure that that there is some immediate self-defence benefit (not ignoring that real self-defence requires repetition to imprint into instinctive behaviour).