why do some people say aikido is unrealistic?

Question

Ive been doing some research into martial arts!and some people are saying aikido training is unrealistic and doesnt work in a real life situation!ive watch some videos on it and it looks pretty damn effective to me!

Answer 1

Ignorance !!!



Aikido when trained properly including using atemi waza is very effective.



I'd suggest



Best wishes :)***

Answer 2

well, all martial arts work

they truly do, otherwise they would not exist today

but it heavily depends on whether or not those techniques are right for the job.

Secondly, many folks are quick to judge. If it don't work once? They have a bias and say, oh that will never work!



to be honest, anything, i mean anything will work. If you train, if you are fast, and if you catch your opponent off guard? You can dance, do a 360 turn, grab your crotch like michael jackson, say OWWW! and punch someone in the nose. like i said, if you are fast, train, have the element of surprise on your side? it will work.



but i think maybe sometimes critics say aikido is not the most efficient martial art out there. Because often practitioners try to grab the hand and use grappling techniques to control their opponent. from point A to point B, lots of things can happen. If my opponent is unarmed? i'm just saying i would much rather deliver a straight punch to his face, than build up a good stance, go on the defensive, wait for his attack, pray that it's not a feint, hope it will be slow, catch it, use both my arms to grab one of his limbs, and twist to either side.



secondly, just so you know, when people put videos together, they can imortalize any martial art, making it whether look super good, or super bad.

Answer 3

What sort of attacks did those videos show? I went to 2 major aikido schools in NYC; when they practice, they always insisted that the attacker run full steam at the defender, "give me something to work with", in real life you don't get do-overs. They just did not look like things a mugger would do. In many cases, the attacker had to show a lot of cooperation with the defender for the throws to work.



Also, it was quite interesting that not only did the schools have different styles, when I tried to do a move in the other school's style, the people in this school would demonstrate how it would not work; and vice versa. So how could something work in one place but not the other if it was a realistic technique?



I used to say that aikido is very effective if you are attacked by some Ronin.

Answer 4

The thing is...and OK I might not have as many black belts as the guys above me, but I have had a few amateur MMA fights...is that for Aikido to work you have to be really REALLY good at judging momentum and timing (both of your opponent and yourself). If you try and apply the techs without it it just won't work...you'll mess it up. The problem with it is that most high level Aikidokas don't actually have that timing down. Neither do most normal people...I certainly don't. It is less a martial art and more a sort of really extreme sensory honing exercise. That is why people call it 'advanced juijitsu'. It's not really advanced jujitsu, just what happens when you get really good at what jujitsu focuses on - momentum and timing (that goes for trad Jujitsu and BJJ). So if you want to fight someone with Aikido right off the bat it's not going to help you much. It works better as a companion to something that teaches you a little more rough housing. Real fights are generally messy...as it's been said you usually make mistakes; a stumble, a dodgy punch or whatever. If you rely on Aikido alone then that one mistake has ended it for you. It is too detached from messy reality in the way it teaches you to move. Not to say that isn't the way you should AIM to fight...rather that for the most part you will never be able to do what it is asking of you. Also I don't see uch punching...punching usually helps. lol Anyway that's the reason as far as I can make out.

Answer 5

Demonstrations on Youtube are one thing, in real life it's another. Aikido techniques aren't necessarily unrealistic, just the training methods.



If you can't apply a technique against a fully resistant opponent in the dojo and only apply it with compliant partners, then how do you know that you'll be able to use it in the street? By resistant I mean gloving up and trying to hit you - not hurt you.



The simpler a technique is, the more you've trained a technique in adrenal circumstances, the easier it is to use when the proverbial hits the fan. Unfortunately a lot of aikido relies on very technical, small motor movements which are very very difficult to apply in real life situations, considering the natural human responses to threat of flight or fight. Your brain shuts down in a fight, relying simply on instinct and gross motor movements, 'forgetting' the practiced wrist lock or looping shoulder throw.

Answer 6

Because they never had the discipline, open mindness and courage to stick it out and truly learn the art. These same people think that Karate, TKD, Judo or anything that is not what they see on TV in the UFC is ineffective as well...but none of them really know because they never stuck it out long enough to truly learn the martial art. A black belt is nothing more than the beginning of the real training...this is the real problem with people in the US thinking it means you are good. It doesn't. It means you are ready to get good.

Answer 7

ofcourse, it depends on the situation, aikido is like an advanced form of judo, aikido also has more then just 1 style. therefore its like an advanced clinching martial arts. plus aikido uses many moves so the timing should be very right, no or not much room for error.



you might find Wing Chun interesting, it also has some aikido in it, its a chinese martial arts unlike aikido (japanese). And its very effective.. read about it check some movies on the internet (youtube), and there is also a new movie out from Donnie Yen.

Answer 8

People that say that have not seen it in action. They have seen the drills or demonstrations but not the real applications. Aikido is more difficult to master than some arts. It takes a long time to get good at it. But it in no way is of less use.

Answer 9

people that say that either never truly studied aikido or never same it used in a really situation.

aikido takes years to become efficient at it. the ignorant (as jwbulldog put it, right to the point of the issue) people do not realize that it is a higher level of jujutsu and dont understand why it should take so long

Answer 10

It is generally because people who say those things have done vary little research into what they are talking about, and because when they see demonstrations what they see are techniques done on people who are not resisting. Also Aikido puts alot of emphasis on forms and kata and most people think that is a big waste of time.

Answer 11

For the same reason that people say that - just as an example - that Obama's economic plan won't work. It goes against what they feel is effective.



All people have a personal worldview that is a combination of what they've been taught and what they have experienced. things that go against that worldview are often tossed into the mental file cabinet "useless" and ignored. All people are like this, and it's both a good and bad thing.



Prior to experimental confirmation of Relativity, scientists tended to ignore Einstein. Heck, he never received a Nobel Prize for it (his Prize was awarded for his work on the photoelectric effect) even though it changed dramatically the fundamental understanding of the universe.



I'm not trying to say that Aikido is equivalent to Einstein - I may have chosen a horrible metaphor - but the effect of a person's worldview to their understanding of events is similar. If in your experience jabs are a common attack, a leading straight punch commonly used for Aikido attacks may seen ridiculous. Whether this is a fully correct understanding of Aikido or not, is not up to debate. It fails to match their worldview, therefore it is invalid and worthy of being ignored. Others recognize that a straight punch is a common attack - and recognize that having a technique to deal with one effectively is a useful tool. It fits into their worldview so they accept it.



Aikido does in fact have many, many methods for dealing with a jab. It is usually taught at higher levels of practice due to the need for control, agility, and knowledge of the principles taught during lessons on dealing with a straight punch. There is enough going on during a successful defense that having muscle memory is required to effectively add a trap or an evasion, (etc.). Defense against many types of kicks is taught, but again usually at higher levels due to the need for exceptional ukemi skills to protect yourself. So it can be little surprise that people who have not exposed to this level of practice - or whose needs are such that they do not have the time to reach this level of proficiency - see the model attacks of Aikido and assume that it is unrealistic.



To a certain extent, they are correct. Anyone who grabs one hand with both of their hands is an idiot. It is an unrealistic attack. A karate chop to the top of the head (shomen uchi) is also pretty dumb - unless you are able to see how a club or a bottle uses the same energy and momentum. By learning how the basic principles are applied to "classifications" of attacks, one has the opportunity to apply them to a greater range of attacks than it first appears. A good rondori (free practice, multiple opponents) with a high level Aikidoka will often ignore the standard Aikido attacks, and throw in whatever real life attacks they can think of. When you have the chance to watch or participate in these drills, you may see that the basic principles do work and are the key of successful defense. Or you may not. It depends on who you watch, what they are doing, and your own worldview.

Answer 12

All martial arts may not work in real life - it all depends on the situation. If you enjoy the training, what does it matter?

Answer 13

Akito is a martial art used to train SAMURAI warriors, it involves lots of discipline and training, imagine what you gould do if you were being chased by nutters and you have been training in Akito for a few years and you spot on the floor a tree branch, christ you could kill them, i do Battle re enactment and i train with a quarterstaff 13 yrs now, and one day a drunk came at me with a baseball bat i was unarmed , the police had to take him to hospital because i proved i only defended myself no charges were brought to me, i disarmed him and hit him with his own personalised bat, do it it is a fantastic sport, and one of the best forms of self defence out there that doesn't involve breaking bricks with your head! : )

Answer 14

only steven seagal can do, and he is fat, it probably doesnt work in the real world. try it and find out, you seem to have your hearty set on akido from the questions you have asked.

Answer 15

I'll sum it up in one word why they say that.



Ignorance