Aikido and/or self defence - Part 3

In this post I am going to discuss the relationship between aikido techniques and the concept of self defence, and – finally – I will also touch upon the effectiveness of techniques.

You can often hear comments from people that aikido does not work in ‘real life’, techniques don’t work in a ‘real fight’. We can’t defend ourselves using aikido techniques because they cannot be applied in a real, out-of-dojo fight situation. I have to admit this might be true to a certain extent, and I also have to admit that I have never used aikido techniques outside the dojo. The possible reason for the latter will hopefully become clear in my next post. However, let us start with the investigation of the former statement that says that an aikido technique can’t be done in the street. We shall also see what a technique needs to be applicable in a so called ‘real life situation’.

I will, again, mention basic principles that are needed for aikido techniques and to understand them. The first principle that has been mentioned before is the base distance between partners (opponents, ‘in the street’). If the defender misses the appropriate distance then he is already in a handicapped situation but there are still other principles with which he/she can come back. So the next basic principle, that has also been mentioned before, is getting out of the line/way of the attack/er.

At this point, I would like to share a story that I heard from my master at the beginning of my aikido studies. I’m sure many of you know this already but it is a good story with some moral in it. Once upon a time there was an aikido master who held a seminar in the US and he had a habit of going for a walk in the evenings. His students warned him that the area is not safe and that he might be attacked if he walked there alone in the evening. They asked the master to put a temporary hold on his walking habit so that he stays safe. As you might guess, the aikido master went for his walks anyway. As it started to become late in the evening his students started to worry about him and went to find their master. They didn’t need to look for long as they could see the flashing red-blue lights of police cars from the distance. The master was talking to a police officer. Yes, he had been attacked by a couple of trouble seekers but they were unlucky that evening. All of them ended up at the police station. When the whole scene with the police was over the master and his students returned to their quarters and the students started to ask the master about the incident, and what technique had he used. The master simply answered: “irimi-atemi’, loosely translated as “entering and punching”.

The above story was quite mystical when I first heard it but with the following explanation, hopefully, it might easily come clear to everyone. In order to do a particular aikido techniques we need certain positions, more precisely, certain relative positions between the two partners. It is the defender’s task to create such critical situations, partly with appropriate steps. These steps are not there to avoid the attack and create a safe distance, but often they are entering steps through which the defender can achieve positions in which the attacker is in a relatively helpless situation. On one hand, this is the result of the surprise to the attacker, i.e. he is supposed to be the attacker, he thinks he will control the whole situation as being the initiator, yet he ends up in a, for him, bad situation or position. On the other hand, he will show openings of parts of his body that, if controlled by the defender, can easily result in immediate defeat for the attacker. And this is the point where it becomes clear that we do not even need to do a technique if we don’t want to, or – because of the positions – we will have a range of techniques to choose from and execute if you, as the defender, decide that a technique needs to be applied in the situation. With correct positions, you can do anything with the attacker. If you prefer so, you don’t need to execute a technique, lead the attacker and grab him in certain ways. You can just choose a ‘sensitive’ point, project a bit of energy there and throw the attacker off balance or simply hurt them a little bit to discourage them from further thoughts of attacks. If the above method is used on people who don’t know much about martial arts then, by using just a couple of principles, you can implement ‘classic street self defence’. In these situations you don’t really need to take care of dojo rules such as not attacking one’s groin area or not attacking one’s eyes. If your life is at stake then, as it also appears in the view the samurai saw the world, it should rather be the opponent if someone has to get hurt. These are the things that cannot be taken into account when comparing martial arts because, for example, martial arts that became sports have rules that should be followed strictly, and there are moves which are prohibited (e.g. attacking certain parts of the body in certain ways). This does not exist in the street. Also, you can’t see too often that two essentially defensive martial arts are compared.

To leave behind the brutality of a response I would like to mention that the way and extent of your striking your attacker (atemi, for example) can depend on the personality or state of mind of the defender. They get into a situation when it’s up to them to decide over life and death. This is where the way of budo comes in, as Saotome sensei also says, that it’s up to the heart and goodness of the martial artist to determine the outcome of a fight.

Let us come back to how aikido techniques are formed. This can be compared to a game of chess. The attacker steps one, the defender steps another one, then there is a response step and so on. It is relatively unlikely that the attacker strikes once and the defender responds with 3-4 punches, kicks or other strikes and the attacker just stands peacefully and takes the hits. This is often shown in some martial art demonstrations. If we build a chess-like picture it should look like a step from the attacker and perhaps a punch which is followed by a step (getting out of the line either way, in or out, forward or backward) by the defender, and the defender gets into a position where they can attack back if they want to. After this, if the attacker does not want to find themselves too open they should (try to) move out of this position, but they should also keep on going forward because his aim is still to attack the other. The defender can react to this and they can keep the attacker in an out-of-balance position, or throw them off balance if they haven’t done so. This way the attacker can be kept in a continuously changing position where they try to keep coming back from an out-of-balance situation in which they can’t really implement a strong attack. Sooner or later they will completely lose their balance and probably get into contact with the ground in some way. The energy with which the attacker hits the ground is equal to the energy he put into their attack (initially, plus during the chess-like game). This is where it can be seen how the energy of the attack is redirected away (from the line) and back (to the attacker) and this is how the attacker is incapacitated using their own energy.

The above things are those that determine the extent to which aikido techniques can be used. If an ‘attacker’ is completely passive, who is not aware of their vulnerable and off-the-balance position will not be dragged by a circular movement by anyone. The defender will simply use the opportunity and throw him off balance the easiest way possible, which can simply be a push or even a punch to an open part of the attacker’s body.

To find the positions that are needed for technique execution several things need to be used at the same time. I will not analyse these now, these should become clear when someone practices aikido and its positions. These are some sub-principles, for example, how to hold one’s arm, tegatana, hip movement, base steps, centering, circular movements and many other small details without which a technique is not as effective as it should be, and without which a technique cannot be done in a relaxed or harmonious way.

I hope that I managed to show something about the relationship of aikido techniques and self defence in case you would doubt that aikido techniques can be used effectively. In case you would like to read about other aspects of self defence please read our previous posts on self defence (part 1, part 2).

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