# have you ever used



## Manny (Nov 3, 2010)

Have you ever used your aikido to defend yourself?

I know this is a vage question, because one rarely if ever have need touse his/her martial arts skills however as I am get used to kick and punch I want toknow how efective can be a trow or sumition used in aikido.

Manny


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## dancingalone (Nov 3, 2010)

Many aikidoka would say that they have already failed if they have been forced into a physical altercation.  

As for the effectiveness of the skills learned in aikido, of course they can be, if you have trained for practical usage.  The locks and pins are the same as those in hapkido or jujutsu, only perhaps executed with an aiki flavor.


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## Manny (Nov 3, 2010)

dancingalone said:


> Many aikidoka would say that they have already failed if they have been forced into a physical altercation.
> 
> As for the effectiveness of the skills learned in aikido, of course they can be, if you have trained for practical usage. The locks and pins are the same as those in hapkido or jujutsu, only perhaps executed with an aiki flavor.


 
When you wrote "..... with aiki flavor"... you are talking about spiritual harmony??

Manny


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## dancingalone (Nov 3, 2010)

No.  When I say someone is displaying aiki, they are truly joining and blending with the attack in order to defeat it.  If someone is "hard" and uses more strength than anything else, they are not practicing aiki.  At the same time, those who seek to avoid the attack entirely are not practicing aiki either IMO.


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## Marc Abrams (Nov 5, 2010)

yes

My Aikido seems to work just fine when needed.

Marc Abrams


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## Manny (Nov 9, 2010)

Marc Abrams said:


> yes
> 
> My Aikido seems to work just fine when needed.
> 
> Marc Abrams


 
Nice to read you! what kind of tech had you use with sucess?

Manny


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## Marc Abrams (Nov 9, 2010)

Manny:

1X:  Backing up a friend of mine working as a bouncer at a big night club.  I was covering his six as he was breaking up a bunch of fools.  Someone came running at him with a bottle (yokomen-uchi type of swing).  I bended with the swing and greeted him with an ude-uchi (I struck him on the side of the neck).  He was launched over the bar into the bar mirror.  My friends and I laughed our rears off at that one.

1X:  Somebody intentionally spiked the rear of my heel with cleats after I had done a rear sweep tackle in soccer (clean tackle, but the ref called it a foul and I was just walking away).  I approached the person, dropped him with an irimi nage and turned it into a choke.  I told him what he did was not wise and not to do it again.

Marc


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## Manny (Nov 9, 2010)

Marc Abrams said:


> Manny:
> 
> 1X: Backing up a friend of mine working as a bouncer at a big night club. I was covering his six as he was breaking up a bunch of fools. Someone came running at him with a bottle (yokomen-uchi type of swing). I bended with the swing and greeted him with an ude-uchi (I struck him on the side of the neck). He was launched over the bar into the bar mirror. My friends and I laughed our rears off at that one.
> 
> ...


 
Oh boy!!! nice stories. That's why I would like to learn aikido, just using the force and momentum of the bad guy like in story number 1.

Manny


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## Bruno@MT (Nov 10, 2010)

Manny said:


> Oh boy!!! nice stories. That's why I would like to learn aikido, just using the force and momentum of the bad guy like in story number 1.
> 
> Manny



Tbh, that is hardly a unique feature of aikido.

(1) is something you'll also find in most traditional Japanese arts like jujutsu and ninpo
(2) is executing a technique in an offensive manner. any jujutsu variant, modern or traditional, will get you that.


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## Marc Abrams (Nov 11, 2010)

Bruno@MT said:


> Tbh, that is hardly a unique feature of aikido.
> 
> (1) is something you'll also find in most traditional Japanese arts like jujutsu and ninpo
> (2) is executing a technique in an offensive manner. any jujutsu variant, modern or traditional, will get you that.




What Bruno said is genuinely true.  I have seen enough black belts in a variety of arts get their butts beaten bad by a good street fighter.  You need good training in a particular art and then you have to be able to respond appropriately in situations.  That requires both a particular kind of training and a particular mind-set.  

I do not consider what I did to be particularly impressive.  It was simply responding to a situation appropriately, with the "available tools" that I was able to use.

Also, the word "bended" should have been "blended" in my first response.

Marc Abrams


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## Aikironin (Dec 12, 2010)

Best Aikido I ever used was in a gunfight...I don't say that as a "look at how cool I am" but as a comment on the benefits of your art.  The gunfight was in Iraq, and how I applied my aikido had nothing to do with a perfect lock or pin, but being able to be calm and centered within a crisis or the easily the most stressful situation one can find oneself in.

Ideally this is a function of how you train, and Aikido does not hold exclusivity on this.  Each style that you train in should ideally provide you with hard enough training that the intrinsic values that your individual art imparts upon the practitioner should easily trump the mechanics of a kick, punch, lock or throw.  As with most arts how you train is unrealistic as to how you will actually fight in a "real" encounter.  No one will tap gloves, bow, or wait for the ref to yell "hajime"  It will be faster, closer and more agressive than you thought.  Train with integrity and understand the context for what you are training for.


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## Dirty Dog (Dec 12, 2010)

Manny, I am primarily a striker, but the hospital wound frown on my kicking a patient. But the simple reality of the ER is that there _*will* _be a certain segment of the patients who will become violent. I regularly use take downs, joint locks and pressure points to control them.


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