# Aikido vs. other MA



## AlwaysTraining (Feb 9, 2006)

I'm curious as to what extent Aikido is effective against other martial arts such as karate, kung fu, etc.  I know it to be effective on the streets but what about against strikes such as kicks and the like?  Any thoughts?


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## Shirt Ripper (Feb 9, 2006)

My experience is probably most limited out of anyone that might reply to this...

It seems to me that most techniques can (could) be applied to most forms of attacks, perhaps with some minor adjustments.  It's simply responding to the attack and cutting it off.

General, eh?


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## samurai69 (Feb 9, 2006)

AlwaysTraining said:
			
		

> I'm curious as to what extent Aikido is effective against other martial arts such as karate, kung fu, etc. I know it to be effective on the streets but what about against strikes such as kicks and the like? Any thoughts?


 

some of the aikido styles train against kicks

.


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## Flying Crane (Feb 9, 2006)

My gut reply is that for a skilled practitioner, it is effective like any other style.  For an unskilled person, it is not effective, like any other style.


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## Shirt Ripper (Feb 9, 2006)

Flying Crane said:
			
		

> My gut reply is that for a skilled practitioner, it is effective like any other style. For an unskilled person, it is not effective, like any other style.


 
Probably the best way to say it...honestly.


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## MartialIntent (Feb 9, 2006)

AlwaysTraining said:
			
		

> I'm curious as to what extent Aikido is effective against other martial arts such as karate, kung fu, etc. I know it to be effective on the streets but what about against strikes such as kicks and the like? Any thoughts?


For Aikido training against kicks, your mileage will vary depending upon the school or instructor. We try to give a range of kick defense tactics to students, ranging from blending with kicks / avoidance, through closing distance and occupying the kicker's space to specific techniques which consider kicks as really just another manifestation of attacks [tsuki, yokomen] that would normally be done on the arm and then apply them to the leg instead. 

Although kicking is often missed on Aikido syllabuses, when we train kicks, we keep them low - anything higher than the waist will have you on your back pretty quick.

For me personally, I started out Kung Fu so even after all these years I'm still instinctively blocking with the forearm tut tut.

Hope this helps...
Respects!


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## AlwaysTraining (Feb 9, 2006)

Thanks, guys.


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## kenpojujitsu (Feb 9, 2006)

I train in Aikido, Karate and others.  Aikido is effective against all arts.
Aikido was not designed to defend against one art and not another.  You learn about motion, momentum and attacks from all directions.
When defending against a kick, the same principles apply as against a punch - evade the attack, break the balance, control and throw.
This is an oversimplification, but hopefully the point is made.


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## SAVAGE (Feb 10, 2006)

Hapkido and aikido sahre the same root and hapkido fights in all ranges....it is in my humble opinion one of the most effective arts to date...because it wasnt afraid to borrow/steal what worked from other arts for the sake of tradition...it is just a thousnad year old MMA really!

Aikido/Hapkido practitioners do well against other arts.....but it really depends on who is using it...you may get away with kicking me...but you would have a hard time against my 8th dan korean master!

So once again I will pick up my diggest stick and fing the deadest horse and open up a can of whup *** on it and say.......Its not the style its the practioner!


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## jujutsu_indonesia (Feb 11, 2006)

This is interesting, but when I translated an interview with Kuntao (Indonesian Kungfu) master Ku Chen Yong, he said something to the effect of "..my father is a Kuntao master, but he personally prefer Aikido because Aikido gave him the option to NOT hurt his opponent and still wins the fight.." 

What do you think?


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## MartialIntent (Feb 11, 2006)

jujutsu_indonesia said:
			
		

> This is interesting, but when I translated an interview with Kuntao (Indonesian Kungfu) master Ku Chen Yong, he said something to the effect of "..my father is a Kuntao master, but he personally prefer Aikido because Aikido gave him the option to NOT hurt his opponent and still wins the fight.."
> 
> What do you think?


Exactly! The essence of Ueshiba's teachings which evolved into Aikido is *harmony*. At the heart of the Aikido ethos is a commitment to peaceful resolution of conflict [whenever possible] and although this is of course an objective shared with many martial arts, Aikido is one of the few - if not the only - that carries on the tenet of peaceful resolution of conflict EVEN WHEN physical confrontation has actually been engaged! This is why the movements are circular, evasive and deflecting rather than the direct, engaging / blocking patterns employed in many other arts.

This is part of the reason why atemi [strikes] are less strongly emphasised in Aikido schools than on most other defensive martial styles.

Respects!


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## SAVAGE (Feb 11, 2006)

jujutsu_indonesia said:
			
		

> This is interesting, but when I translated an interview with Kuntao (Indonesian Kungfu) master Ku Chen Yong, he said something to the effect of "..my father is a Kuntao master, but he personally prefer Aikido because Aikido gave him the option to NOT hurt his opponent and still wins the fight.."
> 
> What do you think?


 
Same with hapkido...once I got you in the lock etc..I decide how the violence escalates!

It is one fact I love about it..it really puts the practitioner in the drivers seat!


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## Yari (Feb 13, 2006)

I'm not sure I understand your question. In your question you ask about Aikido against other styles, and tehn continue to say that you know that Aikido works on the street.

If it works on the street, why shouldn't it work "against" other styles?


Another note is that styles can't be pit up against each other. People can, not styles.....

/Yari


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## theletch1 (Feb 13, 2006)

Yari said:
			
		

> Another note is that styles can't be pit up against each other. People can, not styles.....
> 
> /Yari


Yeah, but then you get the inevitable "But, what if both people are equally good in their own styles?" crap going.  Excellent point, though.


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## Yari (Feb 14, 2006)

theletch1 said:
			
		

> Yeah, but then you get the inevitable "But, what if both people are equally good in their own styles?" crap going. Excellent point, though.


 
This is not to argue with you Jeff, since I know this is not your personal statement. I'm just using it  to show another point.

How can a person, anybody say that people are "equally good".  What would be the measuring ruel for that? Even inside a styl that would be a problem. Poeple are different, have different bio rythems, different ups and downs. Work better in different inviroments. And then there's the person ability to utlize(sp?) the style, which again is very different. And last but not at least: People read styles like they read books, differently. So already it's difficult to say" what is a style?".....

/Yari


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## theletch1 (Feb 14, 2006)

Yari, I think that often when people say "equally good" they are implying some ephemoral quality to the persons as if there were a scale that "everyone" used to rate a martial artist.  Say, artist 1 rated a 10 on their otherworldly scale and artist 2 rated the same 10.  I don't think that you'll find many folks who've studied for any length of time asking the "What if they're equal?" question.  It's usually a question that the folks that still have stars in their eyes and hold individuals of high ability on a pedestal will ask.  We have one student that asks every student that he discovers has studied another style if we think that Ed Parker, Chuck Norris (and the list goes on and on depending on style) could defeat Ueshiba or Morida.  It gets tiring having to listen to the same answer from a dozen different people that you've already given him yourself.  Sometimes I think that folks like this see people as characters in a video game to be trotted out for a few rounds now and then for their entertainment.


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