Is aikido useful in street fights?

Im interested in aikido but i dont know if it would really do any good in a street fight. I want a mostly self defense style of martial arts, exactly why i was interested in aikido. please let me know if aikido would prepare me for self defense in a street fight attack or recommend another style that is better suited for the street fight situation. thanks|||Well, here%26#039;s what you%26#039;ll learn about in aikido: Falling without getting hurt, throws and projections, joint locks, submissions, blocking blows. Furthermore, you%26#039;ll also learn about keeping your cool, which is not only useful in case of an assault, but also useful in avoiding one.





I would also like to make a distinction between fight and assault. A street fight is a voluntary (more or less) confrontation between two people who decided they had nothing better to do that day then beat each other up. It is stupid, irresponsible and a crime. Plus, if something goes wong you could end up killed, disabled, or having to face justice for having harmed the other person. So the answer to street fighting is that you should never be in one.





An assalt is an attack where another person gives you absolutely no choice but to fend them off physically. It is very different. In case of assault, you are justified in using any means at your disposal to fend off your attacker, or escape the situation.





I am mentioning this because the techniques of aikido were not developped with sport in mind. A lot of the techniques are literally designed to break a person%26#039;s bones if they resist you. They are not meant for play-fighting. My dojo manual is very adamant on this point, that the only time the art should be used outside the dojo is if 1) Someone is physically putting you in danger 2) Someone else is being put in danger. 3) Someone is disrupting the public order in a dangerous fashion.





So clearly, no room for idiotic testosterone contests over who was looking at what.|||Akido, hapkido, karate, tae kwon do, kung fu, and other traditional martial arts have proven obsolete. You wouldn%26#039;t purchase a 1990 computer in 2007 so why would you want to invest your time and money in an outdated martial art. Don%26#039;t take my word for it, or anyone in this thread for that matter, go pick up a UFC, PRIDE, King of the Cage, or some other form of mixed martial arts and see what they%26#039;re using. They are participating in (almost) full contact fights and they will use what works in a real fight and according to your question, that%26#039;s what you are looking for. You will find that for stand-up they use western boxing, kickboxing, and muay thai. For the clinch they primarily use greco roman wrestling and muay thai. For take downs they use greco roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, and some guys (Karo Parysian and Yoshida in particular) use judo. On the ground they use Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wrestling, and some guys use Sambo. Ideally you would find a school that teaches muay thai, wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but depending on where you are in the country that may not be possible. If you are still in high school you should immediately sign up for your wrestling team. If you are short I would recommend Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, if you are tall (and have a long reach) I would recommend Muay Thai, and if you are an average height you could pick between BJJ and Muay Thai. If you could add your city and state I might be able to recommend a school to train at.|||Kick him in the knee caps thrust your fingers in his eyes grab his ears after doing a double slap to them knee him in the face .





Why do you need to hang a style label on that sequence.I have a friend who has studied AIKIDO for years and the above is how he fights .What has AIKIDO or TKD or KARATE got to do with it.?You decide not the art.|||I have to agree with Bigfoot. Aikido is a very dynamic martial art and there are mainly two types. The more aggressive type uses strikes to the face and low kicks to set up or while employing some of the techniques and is the type that you see Steven Segal do in his movies. The other, more defensive type is not near as aggressive and relies on the other person coming to you and extending themselves, their reach, and balance for you to take advantage of. Both types are very effective but take more time to master to be able to use in street situations than some other forms of martial arts.





Along with the development of your %26quot;touch%26quot; the timing aspect for some of the techniques is critical and takes years to develop. Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and Hapkido are easier to learn, develop, and utilize in a street situation and more piratical for self-defense for this reason. Also they tend to be complimented more easily by some of your striking and kicking martial arts like Muai-Tai, Karate, and TKD.|||OBVIOUSLY...you know absolutely nothing about martial arts. Any form or style can be useful in a %26quot;street fight%26quot;. It is all in the techniques that you use when in a %26quot;street fight%26quot;. All technical movements cease to exist when in a %26quot;street fight%26quot;. I am rightfully curious....do you plan on being involved in some %26quot;street fights%26quot; in the near or far future??? I would hope not. Otherwise you have no business whatsoever studying any form of martial art.|||Most martial arts are commonly referred to as self defense. Aikido is great because you use it to take an opponents force and turn it against him. Often times this will lead to a grapple which is also covered by Aikido.


Personally, I study Japanese Karate-do and am partial to the hit them hard and make it count idea. Shotokan Karate has often been referred to as %26quot;The Hard Style%26quot; or %26quot;Japanese Street-fighting.%26quot;


If you find the right style and have a good teacher with a lot of dedication you %26#039;ll develop skills that will assist you in street combat. Otherwise, I%26#039;d take up sprinting if you have this hanging over your head that you%26#039;re going to be in a lot of street fights. Avoiding the fight is often the concept taught in many traditional dojos.|||Go here to see for yourself:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoseikan_Ai...





But I think for street fighting, you might would like Hapkido:





Hapkido aims to be an effective form of self-defense and employs joint locks, pressure points, throws, kicks, and other strikes. Hapkido practitioners train to counter the techniques of other martial arts as well as common %26quot;unskilled%26quot; attacks.





Although hapkido contains both long and close range fighting techniques, the purpose of most engagements is to get near for a close strike, lock, or throw. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, non-resisting movements, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork and body positioning to employ leverage, avoiding the use of strength against strength.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapkido|||First of all no matter what Aikido you do it will take you AT LEAST 10 years to be able to defend yourself in a street fight, furthermore there are different schools of Aikido, the spiritual ones and those that actually train and spar, if you join the one that spar you will have a better chance of being effective, still it is not an old mans art





Aikido was designed more as a spiritual art than anything else, the guy who founded it was VERY spiritual and into some cults back in his day and designed his art from a vision after being enlightened, so take that as you will i guess, anyway, im sure even Aikido guys will tell you it will take at least 10 years to master weather it works or it doesnt is still as to debate because Aikido is never tested in situations, except that famous Aikido Ki master vs MMA that you can find on youtube|||Kajukenbo. search it|||Of course, it%26#039;s been develop to take down opponents with ease and less force. it just depends on how you%26#039;re dedicated to studying the said self defense. Fighting especially outside with opponents with/out the knowledge of martial arts puts you in the much better advantage but better still study karate or kick boxing so as to supplement your fighting skills. Also always spar and join competitions to sharpen your knowhow.|||I didn%26#039;t take it very long but aikido would be good if you are focused on self defense. The basic moves I learned were only initiated by hostile actions, from a punch or a grab.





I have friends that are into the PRIDE/UFC fighting. They do a little kick boxing but focus on grappling, like jujitsu. It%26#039;s focused on one-on-one but once they got a hold of you it was pretty much over.





My personal favorite is old style American street brawling: Hit him when he%26#039;s distracted and/or pick up the closest/heaviest thing next to you and crack him with it. Remember, if you get jumped make an example of the first guy....it helps.|||Woulnt hurt to be able to box a bit but their is advance courses in aikido,which go far beyound your basic.Just check out a Steven Segal movie a lot of that is aikido,another note The Ohio Dept of Corrections teaches aikido for the purpose of self defense,and using it in that situation is perfectly legal in the court if an unruly inmate gets hurt.|||BRAZILLIAN JIU JITSU IS WHAT U WANT its wrestling submission....i weigh 150 pounds and at work they call me to handle the shoplifters....i made a 200+pound guy pass out and crap his pants and im only a white belt...its the best single martial art for self defense you can do....akido is realy just a sport the better thing would be judo un replacement of akido.....judo ju jitsu boxing and mai thai kickboxing are the best self defenses ...the gentlest and best is hands down brazillian jiu jitsu|||why don%26#039;t you take Hapkido? if you intend to beat up someone on the street you shouldn%26#039;t take Japanese martial arts cuz that%26#039;s what they most hate.


A grandmaster of Hapkido Choi Yong Sul only learned Japanese Aikido for 4-5years during the annexation and brought it back to Korea and made it violence, and he named it Hapkido on 1958. It is quite new born exciting violence for American people, you should take that.|||How many guys do you all see repping Aikido in high-level Mixed Martial Arts competition? Sure Aikido may work against guys who don%26#039;t know how to fight... but what happens if you run into a seasoned thug or someone with practical combat training? I%26#039;ve never seen aikido techniques successfully applied in any sort of realistic sparring with someone reputable. Its always aikido student against aikido student in a choreographed dance. Technically, there are better styles to train in than Aikido. I welcome anyone who dissagrees with me to prove me wrong. I%26#039;m open to learning unlike some people here :P I have similar feelings about hapkido. I%26#039;ve watched some of the best hapkido masters and not been impressed...|||Yes, most street fights are against untrained criminals... any martial arts training will give you a significant advantage. Also keep in mind that health, speed, size and millions of other things are factors in every real life %26quot;street%26quot; encounter.|||It is a method of take downs and holds. It is primarily for %26quot;defensive%26quot; purposes. So if your true intent is for self protection against an attack it is probably one of, if not the best method you could train in.





This is the method that most of the defensive techniques that are taught to law enforcement is derived from.