Drop Bear,
Regardless of your opinion they work very well when the opponent is struck. Though that is just
one factor in any application. (other factors like timing, distancing, angles, etc. all play a part as well) Just because a competition allows hitting has no bearing on them working outside of competition in a real world application. They work and I personally do not know a person working in corrections, law enforcement, as a doorman, etc. that has not utilized a come a long technique, standing armbar, wrist control, etc. However, they are a harder skill to apply based on positional leverage with people standing up rather than braced on the ground or against a wall etc. That is why they work better when people are fuzzy from being struck.
Rory Miller had a DVD out on Joint Locks that he utilized during his extensive career in corrections:
Since you work as a doorman maybe you need some extra work in this area.
Here is a very basic joint manipulation turned into a standing armbar and used brutally in a mma competition:
Listen, we both watch mma, spar, and I have produced fighters that have been very successful in the ring. (one even holds two amature title belts at the moment) You work on a door and I have past experience in a law enforcement position. (plus I grew up south of Flint and lived in Detroit two very dangerous places you may have heard of) I have seen real world violence and yes
some times it does look exactly like it does in the cage but other times it is drastically and dramatically different. One of the worst things anyone can do as a martial practitioner is to be short sighted and try and fit
everything into one little box. MMA is in general an awesome form of training but certainly not the end all be all in the martial world. If I had to have someone at my back in a life or death situation I would want their training to be predominantly Weapons first and empty hands secondary. When I speak of weapons I mean firearms, edge and blunt tools specifically.
Plus I would like them to have experience!
Saying all of the above good Aikido when performed correctly is devastating! You just have to look at what it was designed for to see how the principles and applications work.
Primarily it is a receiving and countering system that lends itself to being
very effective when someone tries to grab you, etc. While I do not train in Aikido I actually know several practitioner's who have used their skill sets during work. They are very, very happy with their Aikido training and the results accomplished and they train to this day.
Try and broaden your perspective and look at systems other than mma with an open mind.
