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View Full Version : All martial arts can be effective



koshoT
28th January 2001, 18:26
I don't agree with that.

I believe that all martial arts work. There are, however, three things that need to happen for anything to work.
1) You need to have correct timing. If you move on time, even a sneeze can be good self defense.
2) You need to have correct distancing. You should not let someone get close enough so that you are unable to react before they can hit you.
3) You need to move twice for every one of your opponents movements. NO attacker stops after the first punch to let you hit them fifty times. They will try again, and the second time will be much quicker and harder than the first.

Like anything else though, Aikido can be applied improperly, in which case it won't work. But the art of Aikido and, in fact, ALL martial arts are effect if they are applied correctly.

Aikido uses a lot of blending and flowing movement. Didn't Morihei Uyeshiba found Aikido with the intent of causing no harm to the attacker? This probably wasn't because Uyeshida wasn't "tough" enough to defend himself. On the contrary, he had trained for years and could've killed a lot of people should he chosen. However, that wasn't his intent. Uyeshida knew exactly what he was doing in creating Aikido. It is both effect and compassionate to the aggresor. If someone is to pull a gun though, you might as well faint and get it over with. But, should anyone have too much to drink and decide to take a swing, using Aikido is an excellent way to not only defend yourself, but also take care of the attacker and not have to severly hurt, or kill the person (after all, friends get drunk too).

I do agree that martial arts are more than just self defense. They are an excellent way to find out who you are, and besides our biggest enemy is ourself. We should learn how to defend against our fears and prejudices too. Martial arts are not a waste of time, in my opinion.