First off, thank you for a very fair assessment of Aikido and it’s applications in MMA. It was one of the first articles in years I’ve read that did not boil down to a condescending pat on the head for practicing Aikido-ka. In response to Aikihonesty’s question you asked about how good an Aikido-ka’s striking was, the answer to this is a big “depends”.

Earlier (in 2009 lol) in the comment by Rex, he mentioned that many of O-Sensei’s students were all ready accomplished martial artists in various disciplines (some were even American Soldiers) and Ueshiba-sensei himself came from a background of military combat and several classic samurai martial arts. Once the students of Ueshiba began to spread their own teachings across the world Aikido was picked up by many different martial artists and continued to integrate aspects of other disciplines. I received my Black Belt certification (Shodan) two years ago in Mushin Kai style of Aikido which is a branch of the Nihon Goshin style created by Shodo Morita. It encompasses several different martial arts in combination with Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu (the samurai combat art most people refer to when they mention Aikido). For striking it focuses on blows derived from full contact Karate, which when practiced with full intent resembles Kung-fu, Boxing, and MMA. My instructor who created Mushin Kai took it a step further and added element of boxing (our initial striking kata is the 1-2 punch), Kali (indonesian stick fighting, used by most law enforcement agencies), and Sambo. Nihon Goshin (and thusly Mushin Kai) is known as the agressive form of Aikido for it’s use of such techniques, but by including these aggressive strikes into our training our students know how to defend themselves against more agressive opponents. In training we use combat lines, one person will stand in a relaxed position and the entire class will take turns attacking the unlucky soul with as much force as allowed (from light to full-throttle) which gives us the experience in defending against trained and untrained agressors. This of course isn’t true for every style, The Hombu style of Aikido which is sometimes described as flowing dance more akin to Capoeria, utilizes no real strikes and focuses purely on the movement and principles of Aikido.

I myself have been vexed by the constant berating of classic martial arts by the MMA community, both the forum trolls, avid fans, and even a few professionals and have thought about once or twice about entering the cage myself. I am currently conceptualizing an MMA style utilizing Aikido principles and techniques combined with Boxing, Karate, and Sambo. However the largest hurdle is not combining these techniques, but practicing the style. I must live in a particularly ignorant area for MMA because the gyms I have approached have refused to assist me in my pursuit.

In the end it comes back to the heart of MMA as said by Aikihonesty, it’s MIXED martial arts. An Aikido-ka will never enter the cage, it will be an MMA fighter who utilizes and announces his use of Aikido as well as whatever other techniques he has trained in and brought to the fight. Aikido can be integrated into every fighter’s arsenal, but so can boxing, and BJJ, and wrestling, you get my point…

Maybe one day we will see new mixed styles incorporating unseen arts, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting that day.

-Jodo

Thanks dropping in! I love what you said in your last paragraph – I think it is very well put.

Still, I have questions about how good Aidoka’s striking is. Since I don’t regularly train with them, I am ignorant to the quality of their striking skills. Can anyone chime in with their experience?

Okay, I read the article and MOST of the comments so forgive me if I say something that was already said.

I was reading this statement:

No, joint locks are not considered a “one hit kill” … unless you consider their old time application with swords. Which are not typically allowed in MMA.

And I will agree that joint locks are not one hit kills. And before anybody jumps on me, I do favor Aikido but I generally strive to be as unbiased as possible. However, the two facts that I haven’t seen anybody bring up, is momentum and anticipation. While a “joint-lock” is not dangerous in a static situation, if the aikido was done “properly” the aikidoka would have anticipated the movement from his opponent and “should” be countering before the movement has reached optimal range. Reacting seems to work against the aikidoka. My sensei teaches that you must make you opponents move for them, i.e. trick them into doing something that you were already prepared for. And surprise comes with it too. When you apply a large amount of torque to a joint that is already in motion, I wouldn’t say “killing blow” but definitely a dislocated joint, effectively ending the fight.

Also, Akidoka’s are taught to strike, at least in my dojo. My sensei was taught to believe that you can never truly practice aikido if you don’t know how to strike a person. How can you practice correctly with someone throwing a low quality attack and how can they practice if they don’t know what to expect.

Lastly lol, MMA is MIXED-martial art. So asking, how would Aikido do in MMA is kinda stupid to me since the whole point of MMA is to combine styles to learn to fight effectively in the ring. That’s like asking how would green tea ice cream do in a sundae competition… you get my drift lol.

Sorry to spoil your game here – but I love spoiling games! (and raining on parades)

To me, a lot of Aikido-bashing and MMA bashing stems from “What I like is better than what you like”. Like I mentioned above, MMA and Aikido have vastly different aims and the rules (whether culturial or explicit) determine the behavior.

While would could argue over the chronology of when the moves were invented and who invented them, that MMA has adapted techniques to be extremely effective in their specific enviroment is beyond question.

Italy may have developed the pizza, but New Yorkers, San Franciscans all have claim to a legitimate pie that suits their needs. If you have a rule in your house that says, “only thin crust pizza’s consumed here”, then you’d see thin crust specialists. Thick crust is not better – it’s just thick crust.

As for Aikido being the “best” martial art in reality based street fights, that’s something you’d need to build an argument for – and really, something beyond the scope of this post.

(If you made that argument, I would disagree vehemently; I think Krav Maga’s training methodology, philosophy and techniques better suits street fighting; but hey, we’ve all got opinions.)

I’m not making the assertion that MMA is the art to learn for reality based self defense – so there is no need to defend Aikido like I’m trying to bump them an imaginary position of being the gospel of fighting truth. Personally, I think that defending when someone is not attacking is a sign of insecurity of position or misunderstanding. (If I haven’t been clear, forgive me, I’ll write better!)

Heck, I love Sumo wrestling. Does it have combat applications? Sure. Is it the best? No. Are top level sumo wrestlers really good at judo? Judo applied to fat guy wrestling … yes. Could Sumo be useful in MMA? Of course, but mixed martial arts in MMA is really useful too.

I just love it for what it is – fat dudes in diapers pushing each other out a sandbox. So what. Don’t judge me.