| Aikido in Westchester, NY - Martial Arts, Self Defense and Fitness - About Aikido |
2) For Self-Defense, which is the Best Martial Art?
In some circles, they say martial arts such as Karate produce self defense benefits much more quickly than in Aikido, but this point of view is
based upon a superficial understanding of Aikido. Ultimately, it depends upon the person and circumstance of training.
From a self defense perspective, Aikido is unique in its lack of powerful strikes or direct throws from grappling, emphasizing building character
from the outset via compassion instead. (More depth can be found in FAQ and the All Martial Arts Section of this web site.) Karate, Tae Kwon
do, Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan all emphasize strikes of a powerful nature. Aikido uses strikes only to distract an attacker, with the intent of
minimizing harm while performing a technique, thus more thoroughly emphasizing an attitude designed to avoid the confrontation at an earlier
stage in practice. While characterized as defensive in some circles, Aikido can be quite offensive and deadly. However, these aspects are not
emphasized in favor of the spirit of compassion, thus defending oneself becomes the primary objective over "winning."
In addition, in Aikido there is no use of competition as a training method, and there is an emphasis on circular movements in response to multiple
attack. Aikido, unlike other martial arts, does not utilize competition for several reasons: competition is unrealistic in that it requires rules, which
are not present in actual self-defense circumstances. Competition also tends to encourage a desire to win, to defeat, dominate or overpower
another human being, all of which is directly opposed to the underlying principle of the art as it relates to the elimination of the "selfish ego."
Competition is an excellent means to teach one to close their openings to be countered as well as pay attention consistently, but these lessons
can be learned through other methods. While Judo and Jujitsu often involve more grappling than Aikido in one on one situations, unique to
Aikido is the emphasis on multiple attacks, and so one should not get bogged down grappling with one attacker. Circular movement, as opposed
to grappling, then becomes a primary means to evade the power of an attack, control the attacker and then throw or pin them to the ground.
These are the primary distinctions between the arts for self defense purposes. Ultimately, the degree to which one art is more effective than
another depends upon a person's disposition and effort as well as availability of quality instruction. As a word of caution, however, if you go into
martial arts training purely to learn self defense, your ability to accomplish your goal will be limited. After choosing a school, it is better to relax
and simply enjoy the practice. Your abilities in defending yourself will improve before you know it, and you will enjoy yourself at the same time.
In some circles, they say martial arts such as Karate produce self defense benefits much more quickly than in Aikido, but this point of view is
based upon a superficial understanding of Aikido. Ultimately, it depends upon the person and circumstance of training.
From a self defense perspective, Aikido is unique in its lack of powerful strikes or direct throws from grappling, emphasizing building character
from the outset via compassion instead. (More depth can be found in FAQ and the All Martial Arts Section of this web site.) Karate, Tae Kwon
do, Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan all emphasize strikes of a powerful nature. Aikido uses strikes only to distract an attacker, with the intent of
minimizing harm while performing a technique, thus more thoroughly emphasizing an attitude designed to avoid the confrontation at an earlier
stage in practice. While characterized as defensive in some circles, Aikido can be quite offensive and deadly. However, these aspects are not
emphasized in favor of the spirit of compassion, thus defending oneself becomes the primary objective over "winning."
In addition, in Aikido there is no use of competition as a training method, and there is an emphasis on circular movements in response to multiple
attack. Aikido, unlike other martial arts, does not utilize competition for several reasons: competition is unrealistic in that it requires rules, which
are not present in actual self-defense circumstances. Competition also tends to encourage a desire to win, to defeat, dominate or overpower
another human being, all of which is directly opposed to the underlying principle of the art as it relates to the elimination of the "selfish ego."
Competition is an excellent means to teach one to close their openings to be countered as well as pay attention consistently, but these lessons
can be learned through other methods. While Judo and Jujitsu often involve more grappling than Aikido in one on one situations, unique to
Aikido is the emphasis on multiple attacks, and so one should not get bogged down grappling with one attacker. Circular movement, as opposed
to grappling, then becomes a primary means to evade the power of an attack, control the attacker and then throw or pin them to the ground.
These are the primary distinctions between the arts for self defense purposes. Ultimately, the degree to which one art is more effective than
another depends upon a person's disposition and effort as well as availability of quality instruction. As a word of caution, however, if you go into
martial arts training purely to learn self defense, your ability to accomplish your goal will be limited. After choosing a school, it is better to relax
and simply enjoy the practice. Your abilities in defending yourself will improve before you know it, and you will enjoy yourself at the same time.
O'Sensei developed staff movements from spear techniques