Aikido does have strikes, most of which simulate sword/knife attacks and can be easily adapted when wielding a weapon. That said, strikes in Aikido are often used not to physically hurt the attacker, as punches and kicks are used in other martial arts, but as distractions to open an opponent up to a grab or throw. Nothing puts someone off their guard like getting a quick slap on the face followed by being thrown on the ground, hehe.

Steven Seagal, though he is a terrible actor, is an amazing Aikidoka and is known to have a partucularily physical/brutal style of Aikido.

that was quite impressive.

This video's a good test of which of your friends is gullible.

Unless Aikido followers can prove their extravagant claims empirically like everybody else in a modern intellectual society, the assumption is that they don't compete not because their magical dogma forbids it, but because if they did, it would look like this: http://www.videosift.com/video/Kiai-Master-Gets-Owned

If you disagree with that statement, please join me in advocating that Aikido followers prove it wrong.

It's good to see bad ideas get filtered out of the marketplace of ideas.

Sorry, but what extravagant claims were made here that you're trying to debunk? Perhaps you're confusing this sift and comments with another?

I'd be happy to elaborate.

In the first 40 seconds of this video, there seem to be 4 claims that go against the available information.

1. "Multiple person attack."

2. "[They] try to take you down."

3. This technique makes them "able to deal with more than one attacker at a time."

4. "...certainly for one on one, that's how we train."


This video shows collusion (my job is to make you and our techniques look good) not "attack." Aikidoists would be unprepared for any real attack situation unless the attacker is colluding, in which case they wouldn't be an attacker.

If aikidoists admitted aikido has a problem that they should start talking about and trying to improve, that's all I'm asking for. Good changes start with small steps.

I think it's awesome, and also kind of unintentionally fake. I think the attackers are so used to flipping around and flying through the air, that as soon as dude touches their wrist, they go, "AIIEEEEE!!!" and spin all over the place. Kind of like those "knock you down with my chi" masters who get their butts handed to them when they fight anybody other than their disciples. They drink their own cool-aid.

That said, I respect the discipline, and they could hand me my ass. I'm just saying that some of these demonstrations seem too easy.

"I think the attackers are so used to flipping around and flying through the air, that as soon as dude touches their wrist, they go, "AIIEEEEE!!!" and spin all over the place."

This is sorta true, sorta not. From experience, as soon as the guy grabs your wrist in the right way and applies a bit of pressure, you know to go flipping and flying through the air or it is really gonna hurt bad. With experience it is easy to tell if the hurt is on or not. That said, you'll likely observe that some of those flips could not be entirely self powered.

>> ^chilaxe:
This video shows collusion (my job is to make you and our techniques look good) not "attack."

Agree. Still upvoted for young Steven Seagal and because they succeeded in making it look good.

He took those guys to the bank... the blood bank.