Aikido's principles are not designed around being usable for competition. Any skilled Aikidoka, for instance, can nullify most Aikido techniques. So, have tow skilled Aikidoka competing, and you have to stop looking for the "aiki" in your Aikido, and it starts to look more like Judo competitions. The same would be true for the Aikidoka facing anyone experienced in grappling (standing or ground). And since the opponent has a chance to study you, they know you're going to use aiki, and even the strikers will know to under-commit, taking away much of the "aiki". In a committed attack, that doesn't happen.
Been meaning to reply to this, but I've been fighting off a bug for the last couple of weeks and my brain has been a bit too fuzzy for writing coherently very much.
I think there is more aiki occurring in Judo competition than you see, but it only happens for split seconds at a time, which makes it hard to perceive.
As you note, an experienced grappler will know to maintain a solid, well-balanced base and avoid overcommitting momentum. So as a judoka, you start the match by trying to disrupt that base with kuzushi - pulling, pushing, maybe throwing a few light foot sweeps. No aiki so far. You can generally assume that your opponent's base will be good enough that you can't just pull him off his base and into a throw right away. But he
does have to react to that kuzushi somehow. If he doesn't, then his base and posture will become progressively more compromised and you
will be able to just step in and force the throw. So then you try to time his reaction to your kuzushi and use it to your advantage. Perhaps you pull him forward and as he resists that action you switch your direction to move with his energy for a backwards throw. It's still not aiki, because he's just adjusting his posture and not giving you enough energy to complete the throw. But now you're coming in with what you've referred to in other comments as "Judo mechanics", applying powerful kuzushi, body alignment, leverage, etc to force the throw. Since your opponent was already moving in the same direction anyway, it's a lot harder for him to just settle into his base and stuff the throw. Now he has to commit to a bigger action to stop your entry or launch an counter-attack of his own. In this moment, one or both players have finally committed to some serious momentum. This is the moment where the opportunity exists for one of the judoka to find that perfect timing, that perfect positioning, to blend with their opponent's movement and make the throw completely effortless. The match may have gone on for four minutes, but the aiki happened in just a split second at the end. (Furthermore, the aiki opportunity would not have arisen if not for the other threats which were brought to bear beforehand.)
It doesn't always happen, of course. More often the judoka will compromise the opponent's balance just enough or blend with their energy just enough so that when he or she enters with a forceful throw using good body mechanics the opponent cannot adjust in time. I believe this is what you mean when you refer to "Judo approach" as opposed to "Aiki approach". But it does happen. I'm a crappy judoka myself (probably equivalent to a mediocre brown belt when it comes to throws) and I've experienced multiple times that sense of my opponent seeming to throw himself with no real effort on my part. I'm sure any high-level judoka has experienced it much more frequently.
The Nage no Kata practiced in Judo took some getting used to when I had the opportunity to practice it. It basically requires the uke to deliver the sort of energy you might see in an Aikido demo. When performing the uke role I felt like I was expected to practically throw myself and it took concentration to not ground myself and adjust my base to avoid doing so. Afterwards I came up with the theory that the purpose of the kata is do simulate that "aiki" feel of the ideal throw where the opponent gives you all the energy you need to and all you have to do is let the throw happen. Since randori and shiai typically require a lot more aggressive work it would be easy for a judoka to fall into the mindset of always athletically forcing the throw. Doing the kata may be meant as a reminder to recognize and use those "aiki" opportunities when they occur.
The Aikido folks here can correct me if I'm wrong, but from watching classes and demos and reading things written by Aikido practitioners, it seems like most Aikido practice is commonly focused more around the idea of the opponent feeding you that fully (or over-) committed attack energy continuously right from the beginning so they never have to apply anything
but aiki. Obviously this is problematic for competition. There's a greater chance of an untrained street attacker giving you that kind of energy, but you can't necessarily count on it in that context either. I do think there is value in recognizing and being able to use the opportunities for aiki when they occur. Even more value if you have the skills to provoke your opponent into creating those opportunities. I'm just not sure that training in a context where your uke gives you the openings to apply aiki for free every time is the best way to develop those abilities.
Thoughts?
