I find it really refreshing to hear these opinions about Aikido. For us older dudes, Aikido is an excellent martial art to practice without the risk of serious injury.
The other reason why I like these comments is because I know there are a lot of Ground and pound MMA artists who believe (rightly so) that Muay Thai and BJJ are the only arts worth studying for self-defense. I agree, but you have to be willing to train and train hard to excel at those sport type martial arts. You also have to want to and be willing to devastate your opponent. You have to be really bloodthirsty and willing to inflict a huge amount of pain on someone. This is great if you hang out at clubs, bars and try to fight with alcohol fueled tough guys.
But for someone like me, I don't run in those circles, so the time spent away from my family in serious MMA training just does not justify me personally going that route. Plus, my age is a factor.
I have no need to ground and pound someone into submission. I much rather would use a martial art for self-discipline, get in shape mentally, or for the historical or even religious elements. Therefore, Aikido is a great option. I also think that if I supplement it with some boxing, or kick boxing, that I will be fairly well-rounded and can use more Atemi while executing a technique.
I am practical, and I think it would take 20 years of training in Aikido, from youth, to be able to defend against a boxer.
But some idiot shoving or pushing me can be handled by a majority of Aikido techniques, with the added benefit that there is no way I can go to jail for assault.
I am glad to read that the usual snide "bullshido" style comments were largely absent from this nice thread!
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