The Aikido schools in new jersey (essex county, sussex county and bergen county) in which we are affiliated with teaches striking techniques (Atemi), but only at the intermediate and advanced levels. Some of the strikes are the open palm strikes to the tip of the nose, spear hands to the eyes. Now, the beginner students never see these moves in their classes as these techniques are only revealed to advanced students. I have never seen any "kicking" performed at my school at all, and all of the strikes i've seen taught are aimed at the nose, throat, eyes or chin. Now, these strikes are not taught in a way in which you attack or go toe to toe or head to head with any one, but are optional, and used in conjunction with all aikido techniques. You can modify your techniques when incorporating these strikes to make them that much more deadlier. Now, I know why these techniques are not taught to beginers, because these techniques are only used to enhance your foundation techniques and make the art more lethal, but from my observation here on these forums, it seems that many aikido dojos don't teach these techniques at all! Not even at the intermediate or advanced levels! If this is true, then they are not getting the complete art of aikido! I'm glad my school teaches the complete system of aikido, even though I have a very long way to go before I am even eligible to be taught them, but they are there! Any comments?
My experience is with Aikijutsu only and the Atemi is CRUICAL. We have no reservations about teaching these techniques to the off the street white belt. Atemis dont have to be vital, they are a very useful tool for taking mental kazushi. They are also great for setting up a throw, for instance a good blow to the stomach or groind may provoke a natural reaction to double over or at the very least shift the balance forward ever so slightly, finish em off whith a chitin nage. A palm strike to the nose compliments any throw to the rear well, ie irimi or shiho. My personal favorites are a shuto to the neck on the supraclavicular nerve or a sharp knee to the lateral cutaneous nerve, floating ribs, or kidney. Front or rear kick to the groind for those two handed grabs, a good stomp on the instep for chokes and grabs from the rear. Yes you can perform the technique with out using an atemi but why handicap yourself? If you find yourself confronting a BDU more likely than not the BDU is going to be extremly resistive. By introducing pain you can disrupt his mental balance brielfy enough to start a technique giving you that much more of an edge. I conducted an experiment using my brother as an uke (has had no aiki training ever), he was a bit of a lost child for a while and fighting was almost a daily event. So I told him I am going to try to apply a throw, kote gieshi, and proceeded to strugle to apply it, it wasnt easy. I tried it again but this time I atemied him in the stomach, I didnt even touch him only feinted the punch. It had drawn his attention just long enough for me to apply the wrist lock to the point of no return. I believe all aiki schools should teach the art of atemi waza at all levels with just as much emphasis as throwing, But then there would be no aikido schools, just aikijutsu.
thats a nice KOTE-GAESHI but whit a good and precise atami you do not need anything els he or she will colapse on his/her own and you now that to or not ------------------------------------------------ treu victory = self victory
Aikido can be broken down into 2 simple principles - atemi waza(strikes) & kansetsu waza (joint manipulation). In shodokan aikido, we teach both literally from day 1. There are a few ways to implement atemi. 1) A straightforward impact to the opponent with the intention of destruction (probably the least used (i.e. never) in my experience. 2) A fast placement of the hand blade onto the opponent, usually the head, then driving through so it is more of a projection than a destructive strike. 3) A distraction, whether there is contact or not, opening the opponent up for a follow up. I can imagine that certain branches of aikido might not include atemi, but then some people have a rather sugar-coated idealistic view of aikido. While considered a defensive art, it is still very much a martial art
It's a shame some of the other schools don't seem to teach the atemi early on as the footwork for them is nothing but good. It's also fairly handy when against an opponent with forearms and wrists that only king kong can get a hold of...
"Ha, you do Aikido, you can't harm me unless I grab your wrist" BLAM (One shomen ate later) "Ouch!" Col
hi freeform thats the trick you do not need!! but try to grab my wrist even so you fly away when i or a good akidoka want to we will send you on you'r way we choose --------------------------------------------------------- treu victory is self victory
I study Atemi ryu jujutsu , it is almost all about atemis and locks , the first thing they showed me was the meaning and uses of the atemi i also study aikido in the same Dojo so we study aikido using atemis as well and let me tell you, aikido plus atemis ha it is mortal
You need atemi to survive I am saddened by schools purporting to teach aikido and yet do not emphasize ATEMI. For without atemi, it is not aikido. The reason that the uninitiated has difficulty understanding Aikido with his narrow set of definitions is that Aikido is fluidly everything. Aikidokas strike, kick, grapple, pin, lock, break, throw and use weapons. But let me focus on Atemi (strike). Understand that your whole body is itself a weapon - from your toes to your fingertips to your forehead. Any part of your body can be used for Atemi effectively. There are also nerve points that one hits to make atemi devastating (even the much ignored ear lobe / ear canal is one painful nerve point - LOL!). On the streets, one can realistically put in 2 or 3 (at the most) fast and effective atemis before one does a technique. By this time, the uke's sense of equilibrium is already so unbalanced that the simplest of techniques will finish him off. Just remember, that when you do atemi, your intention is not merely to "distract" or disrupt his ki or mental equilibrium (or whatever sublime description), but to cause your attacker pain and some damage; thus, softening him up for your finishing technique. So throw solid atemis backed with power generated from your hips. Yes it is a cruel world out there. P.S. I think that solid Atemi is not duly emphasized by traditional aikido because it is difficult to do "leading" when your atemi has already arrested or slowed down their momentum of attack. On the other hand, it is also difficult to do effective atemi when you have first "led" your opponent around.
Hey correct me if im wrong but is a shuto a flat palm fingert tip strike? "making a spear with your hand and using ur middle finger as the tip" this is what i always heard a shuto is.
I've learnt so much Atemi in class it's not funny. Almost all, well most, or let's say a fair bit of what my sensei teaches has a back fist to the face or a shoman strike or a yokoman strike etc etc as the "first do this, then step here and Kote Geashi(sp?)" or like with irimi nage whip Uke round to here and punch face then finish off with uke on the floor. ATEMI should take up a lot of your preclass time Unless you have the reaction times of a F1 driver on speed and the patience of a dead Zen Monk without ATEMI you might find yourself in trouble. I guess if your 'Sen no Sen' is awesome you might not need atemi - but you'd want to be QUICK!.
Atemi or opening for are incorporated in to almost all of the basic techniques we teach beginners. As our students begin to go through their first few gradings the atemi becomes even more important. I can't imagine how most of the techniques would work without an atemi.
? I've been told you use a strike to set up a throw why not take em out with the strike in the street it has to be fast MF
Shirley that wouldn't be aikido. (admittedly referencing another thread) How about . . . and this may sound crazy . . . you have the option of finishing the encounter AND doing the throw if you need to? I know, I know, I'm nuts!
? No sweety You misunderstood if you hit him hard enough he goes down anyway? unless you're suggesting picking him up to throw him? MF
