At our school we don't use any strikes for any purposes other than to throw an attack as uke, which none of the attacks wouldn have much combat value. I know there's some who view striking in Aikido as a contradiction but I honestly couldn't defend myself without striking and don't mind 'forsaking' our style's principles in order to defend myself. Anyways, what are your thoughts on striking specifically in Aikido? Other than possibly using strikes to set up a technique, how do you feel about training them to blend with your Aikido training... and if you do include striking in your training, what style of striking do you feel goes best wth the flow of Aikido? I also think including some level of striking (at least for SD purposes) is a must so we can test techniques under pressure rather than the calm atmosphere of the dojo.
"Atemi is 90 percent of aikido." - I am sure someone relatively important to Aikido said that, but my memory fails me every so often............
Ya, it's kind of funny to me in retrospect. In the very beginning I thought that aikido was a long-distance fighting art, meaning that I was supposed to stay far away from the attacker. I'm now seeing it not as a clinching art, necessarily, but not necessarily as a distance art. I figured out that I gotta be able to touch the other guy if I want to do anything. But if I can touch him, then I can hit him. Hmmm... Now, to hit (pun!) your question directly -- If you don't off-balance him, then you can't do your "aikido." You can't throw or lock him. Sad but true. A punch to the nose (or whatever -- pick a target) is a fine way of off-balancing a person. So is a good shove. So is a knee to the gut. Whatever, the point is that you had better find a way to knock him off balance for that split second it takes to do your aikido thing. That will very often mean, "Hit him!"
From my point of view every Ki Aikido technique I have practised has incorporated atemi. Considering Ki Aikido is considered a soft style and very often slated as being non-martial I just can't comprehend how any other style can possibly avoid using atemi. Aikido is a martial art. It hurts. Period.
I practice Ki Aikido and haven't seen any striking and even when asking our instructor, the idea seemed almost foreign to him. I noticed that where other styles tend to use striking or a more aggressive approach, we tend to use a 'mind screw' and off balance them or finish the technique that way (with lots of emphasis on ups and downs as well), which has very limited use in combat in my opinion. As for Atemi, I meant using it as more of a standalone tactic as opposed to using it specifically only to transition to a lock / throw. Personally, I think the open-handed strikes complement Aikido pretty well when used as a striking method on it's own.
The hit in the opening few seconds here is something that I have long been fond of. I know it as "shomen-ate." [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z1hwmGxE2I"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z1hwmGxE2I[/ame] Here it is again, at 1:28 - 1:31, in a slower instructional demo. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jOFhlmgeEU&feature=fvwp"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jOFhlmgeEU&feature=fvwp[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW_oQEiXgWQ"]Aikido - ATEMI - YouTube[/ame] love the irimi nage with the elbow. ouch! in my limited experience, very few instructors teach atemi theory and practice. there are a few that do that and their aikido is absolutely amazing. art wise at the midwest aikido center and yoshiaki yokota from hombu come to mind. both also do a lot teaching with weapons. one of my favorite moments from my time in aikido...yokota was showing tenchi nage with two swords in his hands. he does a lot of that type of instruction, shows many techniques with a bokken in his hands. anyway, he's showing several tenchi nages and when he's done tossing his uke around, he turns to us sitting seiza and says "musashi....two sword school" with this little smirk. it was awesome. yokota also used to tell us during seminars that when you got behind someone using irimi, just roundhouse kick them in the ribs. lol.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW_oQEiXgWQ"]Aikido - ATEMI - YouTube[/ame] I don't like the 1st move. Your opponent throws a punch, you block and then strike him 3 times why his body is frozen. This will never happen in the real world unless you are 3 times faster than your opponent.
Love the approach. He has something to fall back on if certain techniques prove to be too complex in the field... which I imagine would be a big issue for many.
And here's the video that took me forever to find again: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spPNWKtcYo0&list=UUUx_nIShIaPyrtNhPx4O65g&index=26&feature=plcp"]åˆæ°—é“ã§å®Ÿéš›ã«æˆ¦ã†! Aikido real fight＜覇天会 åˆæ°—é“組手4種＞ - YouTube[/ame] It gets pretty interesting around :40 when they put some headgear on. These guys train with practically full resistance and at a level that could definitely simulate a real street encounter. Definitely worth checking the guy's channel out. Also love the simple strikes and the balance between the techniques.
I did Yoshinkan for 4 years. The striking withing waza is used to occupy a hand and distract or, if the opponent doesn't block, to stun or KO.the striking leading into waza is to create openings by setting up the hands, head, breaking structure, or stunning. As far as striking for entry I find wing chun actually makes a great blend with aikido. Even though the footwork and shifting are reversed it's not too difficult to blend. And a lot of the entries, manipulation and grab escapes from wing chun blend really well with irimitsuki, iriminage, ikkajo, nikkajo, hijishime and kotegaeshi. It also allows for defenses and entries which don't exist in aikido, adds in kicking and chi gerk, neck pulling hand, and a foot sweep.
I've read before that they'd be a good combination and from what I've seen of Wing Chun, I could only imagine. I'm studying traditional Pugilism and the whole concept of lines fits well with Aikido and some of the parries definitely put you at an advantageous position for certain Aikido techniques. The fact that they're both pretty reserved compared to many other arts makes for a good pair. Other than that, they have some pretty big differences in terms of mentality and traditions but I'm sure I could find a happy medium in time and with a little more experience. Edit: Here's another video that's more along the lines of what I'm talking about. Nice blend of both striking and throws / locks. Title is a bit misleading though. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RI_LOJjRnc"]ÅšlÄ…ska Akademia Aikido: Full contact fight - YouTube[/ame]
Admittedly I've sacrificed the footwork, sankajo, yonkajo, and any other technique variant where you turn your back on an opponent but I think I've gained much more. The ideologies are different but essentially I consider pre-war aikido to be a jujitsu variant so I put aside all of Ueshiba's philosophical stuff.
I like this ^^ and I agree! I practise traditional Aikido and we do practise atemi/strikes on their own and as part of techniques. My teacher tries to cover all bases and goes from a very martial approach to a softer aiki bunny approach. This is good I think but I do prefer the more martial style as I believe thats what Aikido really is.
I wish koyo was around. He'd have the best response. When I can get to a computer and not a smart phone I'll find some good posts from him and share them.
Atemi is an absolute fundamental element of Aikido. In order to be effective the Aikidoka must be in a position to strike down their opponent but in order to be compassionate they apply technique instead. As my teachers used to say (paraphrasing) - "before you can make the decision not to destroy you must first be able to destroy"
Some great posts by koyo regarding atemi in Aikido: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showpost.php?p=34184522&postcount=3 http://www.martialartsplanet.com/fo...forums/showthread.php?t=95982&highlight=atemi http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1467977&postcount=12 koyo was a big fan of beginners first learning striking and unbalancing before even beginning to learn Aikido techniques. If you search for more of his posts they are a literal treasure trove.
Then please explain how you perform a technique like for example tenchi-nage without atemi? If your instructor can't see the atemi "incorporated" in your technique then he or she shouldn't be teaching. The atemi might be very stylised as is often the case with Ki Aikido. But they are there. I suggest you re-examine your technique. I have no idea what you mean by "mind screw". Nor do I comprehend how to unbalance someone without some form of push, pull or strike. If you're relying on the "sucker punch" then you should be aware that is a very unreliable method in a real situation. It'll work once if you're lucky and possibly twice if you're up against drunken idiots 1 pint away from passing out. Sods law dictates someone will correct me here. But as I understand it, the word atemi is a fairly generic term for a strike. Aikido practitioners simply tend to prefer the knife hand type of strike.
here's a good video of aikido atemi. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HwylQqUsyRs"]Shoji Nishio Shihan: Yokomenuchi - YouTube[/ame]
