Is Aikido effective in a street fight? How about against guns or knives? Could Aikido win against an MMA or BJJ practitioner? Aikido is super beneficial and has plenty of self-defense application. But it can also be a terrible choice as a stand-alone art for self-defense. We will discuss why that may be and how Aikido can be a great form of self-defense.
Definition of Self-Defense and Why It Matters
This is a very popular and loaded question in the martial arts community. There are distinct differences between “fighting”, “self-defense”, and “martial arts”. Read more about that on this BLOG POST. In order to tackle this question about the practicality of any martial art, we must consider situational context. Besides, self-defense is self-preservation and it sometimes means doing what you must in order to escape or survive a dangerous situation.
Are we discussing 1 vs 1 in an MMA-style fight, a bar brawl, your girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend throwing a haymaker, getting jumped in an dark alley by 4 men, boxing match, rules or no rules, are we challenging Spartans, etc.? Is the opponent trained, drunk, drugged-up, strong, weak, fast, slow, armed, unarmed, and so on? Why mention all these variables? Because that is real. The unknown is what self-defense is all about. How do you know anything will work when there are so many unknown variables? It would be nice if we could cherry-pick our life-death encounters, but we can’t. This is exactly why nothing is individually good for “self-defense”; not carrying a gun, not carrying a knife, not having multiple blackbelts, not being a world champion fighter… nothing. It’s more about how you use the information and tools you have.
What Makes a Martial Art Effective?
The Martial Art
The Martial Arts are tools. In order for a tool to be effective, it must be utilized properly. Relevancy is one of the most important aspects of martial arts. Would you use a screwdriver or a hammer to push a nail into a board? So if you only know how to box, and you’re the best boxer in the world, and you fall down during a scuffle against a wrestler, what are your chances of survival now that your primary tools of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts are taken away from you? How you utilize your tools determines the overall effectiveness.
Now let’s examine some of the most popular fighting methods today. Continuing with Boxing, we all know boxing is great for learning how to block and punch with speed, power, and accuracy. But if you only ever learned Boxing, would that make it “effective” in every scenario? No. Take the situation above as the primary example. BJJ and Wrestling are known for their ground grappling prowess, but what happens when a knife is introduced mid-fight, another person gets involved, or you never trained how to handle with strikes being thrown? Even Gun Tactics are a great way to defend yourself. Learning how to effectively and efficiently use your firearm to neutralize a threat is life-saving! But is it practical in every situation? If gun defense or how to shoot is all you ever learn, then what happens when your firearm jams or is dropped upon deployment? The point being made is that… learning any one form of fighting or self-defense will not cover every possible scenario. Therefore, to be generally effective at fighting or self-defense, we must obtain as many tools as possible to handle a situation appropriately while simultaneously learning WHEN and WHY to use them appropriately. This has been noted by highly trained and elite practitioners.
“TO BE EFFETCTIVE, WE NEED TO USE THE RIGHT TOOL, AT THE RIGHT TIME, TO THE RIGHT STIMULUS”.
– Kenny Bigbee Jr, Former Navy SEAL, Special Tactics Instructor
Training
Effectiveness also has a lot to do with you, stress, and your objectives during training. Are you training for self-defense and practical application or for something else such as general workout or learning the artform? You should be working diligently to absorb the information and make it natural. Proper Training allows the proper information to be stored in the proper place to be used at the proper time. Here are tips on how to achieve this:
- Eliminate Stress
- Remove Distraction
- Do Not Rush
- Perform Exercise, Technique, or Drill as Prescribed
- Ask for Clarification or Guidance As Needed to Prevent Incorrect Practice
No matter which art you study, you can get out of it what you want. I implore you to consult your instructor regarding your training. The Instructor should help you understand how to make anything more practical and when a principle or technique is most relevant. They will be able to show variations that may be more effective or efficient for you.
Effectiveness of Aikido in Self-Defense
While training in Aikido regularly, you will learn movement, sensitivity, power development, joint manipulation techniques, throws, strikes, kuzushi (off-balancing), ukemi waza (falling), weapons tactics, etc. It’s important the Aikidoka focus on each aspect of training, specifically the fundamentals, When will you use it? When it becomes relevant to your situation. There are specific instances and energy dynamics when certain principles and techniques work best. This should be taught by your instructor during class.
To give just one example, let’s review Kotegaeshi, a wrist-twisting technique. It can be performed while the attacker is recovering from an eye-poke. All of the attention goes to the eyes and away from the hands, presenting a loose hand to work with and allows us to rotate it more freely. If, however, the attacker is focused on the hand and tightens their fist, then Kotegaeshi is far from easy to achieve. But while they are now focused on protecting their wrist and hand, they may let their guard down with their face, potential allowing a new opening to get that eye jab. While all that is going down, they are also throwing strikes so you may have to abandon the Kotegaeshi technique all together in order to block. It goes round and round. Knowing when to recognize how and when to do something is key.
Aikido is a proactive and reactive martial art. It focuses mostly on utilizing an opponent’s energy and redirecting it to neutralize the situation, ideally without serious injury to the attacker. Aikido does not typically specialize in striking or grappling training and typically does not practice full-on resistance sparring (with exception of one style to be covered another time). This means we will not “usually” attack first or prepare for an attack. This would constitute fighting which is not an ideal scenario for classical Aikido training (more on that later). Therefore, Aikido is best used pro-actively or re-actively, as in a surprise attack or pre-emptive technique application to resolve conflict. An example of re-active defense is that of a hot-headed individually turning you around and throwing a haymaker… no time to think, just time to act. An example of pro-active defense is when your friend grabs the arm of the hot-headed individual and applies a joint-lock technique to control them, promoting off-balance, and subduing them thus preventing you from being pummeled.
Aikido Controversy
There are plenty of practitioners across many different martial arts that preach self-defense application but go on to demonstrate choreographed demonstrations, unrealistic scenarios, and outlandish tactics. These individuals make a bad name for the martial art they represent. The UFC has also played a significant role in the decline of certain martial arts as they promote competitive sports like MMA, BJJ, Boxing, and Muay Thai. These arts are constantly in the public eye and the conclusion of the events having a “winner” gives the layman the idea that they are ultimately the most effective and practical. But as mentioned before, by taking these arts out of their element, removing the rulebook, and introducing an infinite number of variables such as weapons or multiple attackers, they MAY become less effective as self-defense practices.
However, sometimes an experienced person can spark controversy as well. For one example, YouTube celebrity Rokas, a Lithuanian Aikido blackbelt that spent 15 years dedicating himself to the art, goes on to “test” his Aikido training in the ring with a friendly sparring match against an MMA fighter. In short, after losing and feeling frustrated that his Aikido is overall ineffective, he closes his dojo, moves to the US and studies MMA. He is a nice guy and his journey is interesting to watch as he keeps an open mind. His initial stance that “Aikido has failed and is ineffective” has become quite the topic in the Aikido community. What I would like to point out is why it failed based on both observation and listening to his numerous interviews and viewpoints.
For one, Rokas’ goal during training was not self-defense oriented. Secondly, the Aikido style he trained under was not focused on practical application and was a slightly “lighter” style. Third, during his sparring session, he was trying to perform Aikido technique arbitrarily and did not let the techniques evolve and happen naturally as intended. When someone is on guard, such as an opponent in a sparring match, individual and planned techniques are incredibly difficult to perform. To prove my point, watch a Judo match. Lastly, if you’ve never sparred before, you will be at a disadvantage. Sparring takes practice. Sizing-up your opponent, throwing effective strikes, analyzing and recognizing movements is all a learning learning curve. He was playing someone else’s game.
Another way martial arts are perceived as “ineffective” is from practitioners who try to “make it work” in a situation for which it is not designed. They will have an unwilling opponent perform an attack, full-well knowing something is coming, and to everyone’s surprise and amazement, the technique could not be pulled off. This is largely due to blatant ignorance and naivety of Aikido and other martial arts as well. The fundamentals are disregarded, situational variables are disregarded, and the aggression and potential lack of training the opponent has is disregarded. Be weary of what you watch and who you listen to and always consult your instructor for feedback.
Does Aikido Work in the Street?
Do we always have to have real-life experience to prove something works? NO. And fortunately, I don’t have to be attacked in a parking lot at night or step into the ring to prove Aikido can be effective as other already have done. Lenny Sly, Dan the Wolfman, and Remy are YouTube personalities that have testimony that Aikido can work since they have applied their knowledge of Aikido in real-life situations. Here are a few videos or page links to watch for reference:
Validation
The only person you can really trust is yourself. The validation must come from you. As you are investigating the practical effectiveness of the martial art of Aikido, or any martial art, I suggest the following:
- Participate in regular Aikido classes
- Read and listen to those who have actually used Aikido for self-defense
- Realizing that not all Aikido demonstrations and not all mainstream instructors represent or discuss the practical application of Aikido
- Keep a self-defense mindset while training and get the guidance you need to approach various situations practically and effectively
Answer to the main question: YES, Aikido CAN be effective in a street fight or self-defense scenario when utilizing the fundamentals properly and deploying the proper principles or techniques at the proper time.
Which Martial Art is Best for Self-Defense, Overall?
The answer by now is pretty clear… none of them, individually. Getting the proper education and the proper tools will set you up for success and achieving your goal of being able to defend yourself. Realistically, if you are searching for a quick and practical approach to self-defense or fighting, Aikido may not be your first choice as it takes years to understand and implement naturally. Cross-training in multiple arts like Karate, Jujutsu, BJJ, Krav Maga, Samurai Sword, Muay Thai, or Aikido will be more ideal for self-defense. Consistent and proper training will engrain fundamentals into the subconscious and when self-defense is warranted, what will be used is what you have trained to use.
Typically, to be competent in generalized self-defense combatives, one should get adequate training in any Striking, Grappling, Throwing, and Weapons-based martial art such as a combination of Aikido, Karate, Jujutsu, and Weapons Tactics (Gun, Knife, Stick). This will allow all the modalities of self-defense to be adapted and utilized as one while getting complete exposure and dedicated specialized training in each art. A well-rounded student is a confident, yet dangerous, student.
