When I was little my dad taught me a little bit about Sambo and how to box, at least what he could remember from "back in his day". Then followed the endless days of watching martial art films and playing "Tekken".
After watching a few Steven Seagal movies, (Under Siege, Marked for Death & Above the Law) my dad got me into Aikido. A Japanese martial art and a form of self-defence which combines locks, holds, throws and using one's momentum & energy against them.
History of Aikido
Aikido is a Japanese martial art created by Morihei Ueshiba. He is often referred to as Osensei meaning "Great Teacher".
The word Aikido is written in 3 kanji (a set of Japanese ideographs derived from the older Chinese ideographs). Each kanji has a set of different meanings. The first kanji is read as Ai and it can mean, to combine, join or unify. The next kanji down is read as Ki and means spirit, mood or energy. The third and last kanji is read as Do and means, way. To further confuse you, if you put all the kanji together Aikido means The way of Unifying with life energy. Of course there are several variations to what the word Aikido actually means, however I feel this meaning fits it best.
Training
Alike Judo & Karate, in Aikido you may require a Gi (A lightweight two-piece white garment) to train. However, many dojos will let you train in your usual clothes for a short time until you get your Gi. Just don't push it!
Also, as a general rule, you shouldn't wear any type of jewelry (e.g. bracelets, rings, watches etc) most dojos will forbid wearing jewelry as it may cause injury to yourself & others while training.
A lot of the time you will train with a partner a technique(s) demonstrated by the teacher beforehand. One of you will assume the Tori or Nage role, while your partner will take Uke's role. The role of Uke is to initiate the attack against Tori (also referred to as Nage) who then applies the technique which aims to disrupt Uke's balance and ultimately either throw Uke away or put him/her in a lock where he/she taps out. Throughout the technique, as Uke, you must reclaim your balance and constantly look for a counter.
A common misconception that people have about Aikido is as Uke, you must oppose Tori at all costs. However training like this, greatly increases the chances of someone getting hurt. It's unpleasant and at times, frustrating.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Aikido
Disadvantage: Especially when you first begin Aikido, the martial art suffers from lack of realism while training. The strikes seem unrealistic (e.g. Shomen'uchi - a vertical knifehand strike to the head) & most techniques are first done from static, therefore seem unpractical.
Advantage: On the other hand, the idea of Aikido is to blend in with your partner & use their energy & momentum & redirect it against them, rather than oppose it head on - something I particularly like about Aikido.
Disadvantage: The use of Aikido is first and foremost for self-defence. Therefore its primary focus is to how defend against various strikes, rather than how to best perform them.
Other forms of Aikido
Also, Aikido is often seen as a non-competitive martial art. Having said that, Shodokan Aikido is a style of Aikido that focuses on competition where both Uke and Tori are expected to perform techniques one another. This is known as Toshu Randori. The other form of competitive Aikido is known as Tanto Randori. Tanto is short Japanese sword (i.e. a knife or a dagger). During Tanto Randori, the attacker will be handed either a rubber or stuffed knife and must land a successful strike on his/her partner to score a point. The bare-handed defender must use an Aikido technique to either throw away his/her opponent or put him/her in a lock.
Scoring is as follows:
Tanto tsukiari - 1 point awarded for a successful Tanto Strike. However, there are a few limitations. The strike must land on the upper half of your opponent's torso. When the strike lands, your arm must be extended and you must be moving forwards and finish the attack with good balance. (i.e. Glancing hits don't count).
Yuko - 1 point awarded for breaking the attacker's balance. I believe this applies to both Toshu & Tanto Randori.
Waza-ari - 2 points awarded for either a successful throw or lock, but loss of balance and posture.
Ippon - 4 points awarded for either a successful throw or lock, and have good balance and posture.
Should you consider trying Aikido?
I like to say a martial art is as good as the people you train with. There are a dozen of martial arts I'm more than eager to try. I first tried Aikido and really enjoy it. From my experience, Aikido is a great way to keep yourself fit, meet some amazing people and learn something new. Whatever martial art you decide to do, be it Aikido, Jujutsu, Capoeira or something completely different, the key to learning a martial art is to stay safe on the mat.
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