Is Aikido real, and why should i learn it?

I have thought about learning Aikido but when i see reviews and videos demonstrating Aikido, it kind of looks fake. But it is truly interesting. Why is this so and why else should i learn Aikido? What are the benefits?|||it is real and very useful if properly applied


don%26#039;t take demonstrations at face value. as with any martial art a demonstration holds a certain level of show in it. After all you are trying to impress the public. so indeed you are going to see some very spectacular stuff but most of this is compliance of your partner.


however the real art is very useful and very dangerous if properly applied. aikido is a very dificult art to master since it is very technical thus it will take many years before you can master aikido at a proper level , but if you hold on the rewards are great


the basic idea of aikido is that of non resistance, which is at least as far as I am concerned still the greatest idea in a fight. Don%26#039;t try to counter or go in to the attack but get out of it%26#039;s way and handle the opponent from a safe angle. the joint locks and throws you are taught are derived from samurai jiu jitsu where they were originally taught as break or kill techniques in class you are taught the friendly version but of course after a while you%26#039;ll learn through practice that the origins of the techniques are not that far away.


the basic philosophy of aikido however is that of peace and the true mastery of aikido is to be able to avoid a fight alltogether.


aikido is great for improving your balance, learning how the human body works, achieving peace of mind and so many many more things


if you want more info you can always mail me|||It%26#039;s real - and there%26#039;s often more than meets the eyes. Just because something doesn%26#039;t look right, it doesn%26#039;t mean it%26#039;s ineffective.





Aikido will teach you joint locks, throws, balance. It will increase your flexibility and will also teach you to relax while performing techniques. (It%26#039;s an internal martial art - the techniques of aikido work best when the body is relaxed and the mind is clear). There%26#039;s much to learn. It takes several years to even begin to master so it will keep you busy.





I learn it because it represents a challenge, because it gives me a kind of focus I can use in my every day life, because it%26#039;s a great way to overcome yourself and, of course, a good self-defense system.





I can%26#039;t tell you why you should learn it - you have to find that out for yourself.|||Aikido demonstrations and most of their techniques are done in a very compliant manner and so look staged, because they are. It is very difficult to find an Aikido school that pressure tests the techniques and trains in an Alive manner.


However, I did Aikido for a few months to see what it was like and it was definitely FUN. I already knew how to breakfall and so was able to enjoy being thrown fullspeed across the mats which was a blast. A lot of the techniques are effective and share roots with Judo, it%26#039;s only the training method that is flawed as you never try to perform the technique on someone who is resisting you or under pressure which makes it very difficult to be confident that you can apply the technique in a self defense situation.|||It is real. I know some of the blocks that blend into a take down or a joint lock. It is effective because the point is to end the fight before it really has a chance to start. You don%26#039;t want to fight another persons fight so within the first or second punch you have your attacker on the floor, painfully or not, so that you can escape. The schools don%26#039;t teach you or have you practice at full speed and power because it is very easy to break a bone with these moves. If you want to learn it is fun but learn as many self defense styles as you can, that is what Bruce Lee did.|||%26quot;It looks fake%26quot; is a common critique from someone who has observed an aikido class. Traditional practice looks like the person being thrown is cooperating, and in many cases they are. There%26#039;s a reason for this. For example, if I%26#039;m training with a newer person, they may be still trying to figure out the body mechanics that make the technique work. They will learn nothing if I lock up and don%26#039;t let them do the technique. The basics of Aikido require a combination of movements that need to be integrated into the whole. A common thing I hear from newer people is %26quot;There%26#039;s a LOT going on here!%26quot; even for very simple techniques. There%26#039;s no sense in trying to do this with speed and power if you can%26#039;t do it slowly.





As the practitioner gains experience, he can increase his speed and power -- assuming his training partner has the experience to absorb that speed and power without injury.





When I initiate an attack in Aikido, I%26#039;m lending my body to the other person to allow them to practice the technique. The training environment is controlled to allow the practitioner to practice the technique at hand. Yeah, I could move in such a way as to prevent the technique from working, but assuming an experienced partner, he will then just do a different technique, which is not what we%26#039;re practicing (example: on my last test, I vapor-locked on an incoming attack, and for a moment totally forgot what technique I was supposed to be demonstrating. The attack kept coming, so I automatically responded with a tai-otoshe throw, instead of the kaiten-nage ura that I was supposed to do. In a way, that demonstrates a certain level of proficiency, because I reacted without thinking, even if it was the wrong technique.) As you become proficient in the basics of the techniques, you can start playing with them to see what works best.





On resistance: Resist Aikido at your own peril. Most injuries are self-inflicted. Aikido techniques are designed to control the attacker, and their resistance is what will cause pain or injury. If I see an opening with an experienced practitioner while being thrown, I will exploit it. To not do so would dishonest of me. I%26#039;m known for being hard to pin, and I help my partners learn how to close the holes that keep me from being pinned. Nikkyo can sometimes be like picking a lock to get the joints to work for the take-down. I can resist and allow my partner to figure out how to pick that lock, but when I do so I have to be careful, because the natural respose to resistance is to try harder, so when that lock does get picked, it%26#039;s going to happen hard and fast, and if I%26#039;m not ready to move to compliance, my reward will be a broken wrist.





If you think it looks fake, try to observe a class of Jiyu-waza or randori, where any attack can be met with any technique. This is a more free style, and the closest aikido gets to sparring. Watch black belts training with one another. Take a class and try and resist a 2nd dan or above aikidoka. Carefully.





check out a cool video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN7yn0XOS...





The criticism that aikido won%26#039;t work against other martial arts is valid only if you allow those martial arts their strengths. I have a friend who%26#039;s a boxer, he comes in close and tight, keeping his weight over his feet,and uses his fists like carronades, with short, powerful punches. I just stop him by putting my hand in his face. He either beats hell out of my arm, or he extends himself to overcome my reach, which then puts him in my world. Once I get his head from over the top of his hips, he%26#039;s off balance, and he%26#039;s mine.





Japanese police are restricted in their promotion opportunities until they master Aikido.





Aikido is a lot of fun, very challenging, and you meet the nicest people. The people who just want to learn a MA to beat up other people get frustrated very quickly and leave.|||Aikido is a very real martial art. It%26#039;s based on peace and not hurting the attacker too much. The reason some people think it%26#039;s fake is because of the way the uke (receiver of the technique) does the ukemi (fall). They do a sort of flip when a wrist lock is applied. They do this to relieve the tremendous pain from the wrist lock. If they didn%26#039;t do it, they could break their wrist.





Should you take it? It depends on whether you think destroying someone%26#039;s wrist while violently slamming them on the ground is effective or not.|||I wouldn%26#039;t say Aikido is useless, but it does have only minimal utility in combat against other martial arts because it requires the attacker to over commit to attacks and not move with pain, but against it.|||aikido is good if u want to learn a traditional art that will teach about how to move and use your body well.





If you want to learn to really defend yourself, pick a modern combat style.





aikido will help u against a normal person, but against someone trained in a combat style, you are basically a ballerina|||Take judo or jujitsu first, then after you%26#039;ve achieved a degree of mastery, try aikijujitsu.|||take Judo, akido is usless|||take judo instead, much more practical