Welcome to Gaia! ::

Uh oh....I fear a violent argument between members.... -gets out the popcorn-

rolleyes

Sorry but not nearly enough has been said. I'm going to try and be as civil as possible but forgive me if I start swearing, cursing and frothing at the mouth. I mean nothing personal it's just my way.

Okay lets get started, your idea and my idea of sparring are quite different. The sparring which i'm sure that you are refering to is a version of set sparring which is similar in princible to the set sparring used in the ITF taekwondos grading sylibus. An attacker will go for his training partner with attacks that are set within certain parameters using no real commitment or threat. In this "sparring" dojo distance is used (1 - 1.5 metres so the practitioner has time to react. The practitioner is also aware that an atack is coming. There is no pressure as there is no real threat, adreniline levels are at a minimum so there is no level of realisim it's just a fancy dance with minimum contact.

If you can show me examples of the "sparring" you are refering to by posting a link of footage from the internet (and there are bound to be countless examples) then we can all view it and comment.

As for your multiple attacker sparring, it's even more of a joke than the 1 on 1 sparring. In your "sparring" the attackers move in one at a time not all at once. There is no power or commitment to the attacks and dojo distance is always used. There is no threat. In real life multiple attackers never attack one at a time, never. They all steam in all at once there really isn't anything you can do apart from hit everything that moves, but wait Aikido doesn't allow that................

I'm not blaming you for being misguided, and it may sound like i'm trying to be little you but i'm not.

I used to beleive that all this s**t worked as I knew no different at the time. I then trained in different styles and found that no matter how I tried i got owned. And to come to terms with the fact that your own style is ineffective is a hard thing to do.

Post examples/ footage of your "multiple attacker sparring" and other members and myself will comment. Constructively.



meh........



The use of chi in reality combat is nothing more than folklore and propaganda. I believe in chi/ki/energy or what ever you want to call it but it's practical use in combat is minimal. How the hell are you going to redirect a trained puncher? Fair enough it's possible to parry at dojo distance but what about 16-24 inches? Not going to happen. Could a Aikido practitioner redirect an attack from a boxer and then lock him up? No. Could an Aikido practitioner do it while under the effects of adreniline? Wishful thinking. I'd love to see proof of this.

Attacking first in reality when aviodance is unavoidable is the only way out in 99% of confrontations. It may be morally wrong in to eyes of most people but i'd rather be first than ********. Blocking an attack any closer than dojo distance on the street is bullshit and 99% of fights start from 16-24 inches handshake distance. An Aikido practitioner is simply not equipped for these situations.



If the attacker wasn't complient in the first place the defence wouldn't work. If you pull any one who's never trained in the martial arts but has had a few street fights and ask them to attack you with out warning or even with warning. The practitioner would crumble.



That's a nice story............



The reason I had the whole style vs style arguement was to prove a point. If a Aikido practioner went no holds barred against any one of those grappling arts it would fail miserably simply because those arts are better equipped, have full contact sparring (within their own right) and are attacking arts.

If Aikido was to face off with full contact standup versions of arts such as Boxing, Muay Thai, American Style Kick Boxing, Savate, Karate, Kung Fu and Taekwondo, bearing in mind that all practitioners have trained for the same lengh of time Aikido as a style would be crushed.

And before people start talking about Aikido as a Samurai art let me just say this:

Aikido was founded when the era of the Samurai had well and truely been over. The Samurai lived by a code of houner but they were killers through and through who meditated on death all their lives. They were always the ones to strike first and that's why they were renouned for being fierce warriors. Miyamoto Musashi was an excellent example of this. He killed over 60 men in fights and duels because he was always first and never stopped attacking until the threat had been decimated. This is historical fact.

The problem with Aikido as a martial art is that it concentrates too much on the art aspect and no where near enough on the martial aspect. Too much time is spend on meditation, ettiquete and form and not enough on effective reality combat/ self defence.

However, Aikido is extremly effective within the prison and police service. Allow me to explain, they use control and retraint techniques based upon Aikido and also Taijitsu (I think) and they have proven themselves to be very effective (I've seen and used it myself). Confused? Bare with me.
You see in the prison service an officers idea of a fair fight is 3 Vs 1. That is 3 officers against one opponant. One officer grabs the head and the other two each grab an arm, take the inmate to the ground and then "bend them up" using pain compliance. How ever this only works if your opponant is out numbered. If it's one on one then anything goes.

Any how if any one would like to argue my points your more than welcome to. I'll be as civilised as possible.

See, Im perfectly capable of having a civilised discussion and I only swore once.........

My head bones now ache through too much political correctness....................

Goddamnit!!!!

I'm actually a sensitive individual and rather shy whee

I have never trained in an Aikido class formally. The gym that I worked at for a number of years hosts Aikido classes on a weekly basis and national seminars throughout the year.

Whenever the classes were being taught I was always in the weights area next the matted floor working out and watching them. I also worked whenever the national seminars were on I made sure I was working that day to supervise the event. I've also researched on the art extensively because when I was younger Aikido was the art I wanted to practice and because there wasn't a school near me at the time i'd read about it constantly, look up info on the internet and watch all the footage I could find.

Because I now know what I do and have trained for so long, when I read the same materials, watch the classes/seminars and view footage/ documentarys from masters and practitioners from around the world I can see through the bullshit.


At the moment i'm training mainly in Boxing, Judo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian ju-jitsu. I also do some no gi grappling and submission wrestling, kali and JKD but not as often as the first four I mentioned.

I also had many years in ITF (TAGB) and WTF (Chung do kwan) Taekwondo, Wing Chun, Lau Gar, Hapkido and some energy cultivational arts. I don't really touch on these any more but they've given me a good grounding.

Meh, it's basically a more agressive version of Aikido but with dynamic kicking.

I don't really rate joint locks (execpt for ground work or if you're good and being attacked by someone who's pretty weak) but providing you utilised the strikes effectively and are first then it would work, but then I could say the same about every art which utilises strikes.

It's down to the practitioner really.

I might be wrong but i think one is Sin Moo Hapkido and the other is Flying Eagle Hapkido. I'm not sure about differences but my above statement applies for both.

Ah....I love family stories.