Expert: Keith Patton - 10/23/2007

Question
QUESTION: i have been interested in aikido for some time i am only 14 but i have a deep interest in martial arts i am not the tallest person (im around 5 foot) or the strongest but aikido dosent require height or strength like other martial arts so i was wondering if i could use  aikido in real world street fights against people bigger stronger and faster than me and have myself  come out on top? and if so what is the best way to learn without enrolling with a school? thank you for your time

ANSWER: Nate:

Aikido is a great self defense art it you pick the right style and dojo.  Unfortunately it is very difficult to learn aikido without a partner.  Books and tapes are fine if you have a partner as eager and interested as yourself that you can practice with to learn the moves, internalize them and perfect the timing.

Some styles of aikido are too preocuppied with coreography. You can see them in demonstrations on Utube.  They are very pat and predictable, like the attacker knows what is coming and is "helping" the aikidoka exectute the technique.

The style I practice is very real world based and not the spiritual and mumbo jumbo stuff you often see.  Don't get fooled by the other arts that say aikido isn't any use.  Truth is a skilled akidoka can take advantage of all the weaknesses of the other arts pretty easily.  We don't have "rules" that say you can't do this or that like taikwon do or karate do.  When you learn limits as part of what you "do", you internalize them and can't turn them off when you need to.

Another limitation you have when trying to learn from a book, it you can't really see the strength of the techniques and the nuances.

Keith

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: sorry to bother you again but i need to know if there are any books or tapes that you recommend and if so where i could get them. i have a close friend who is  just as eager to learn aikido as i am so i believe we could gain a lot from books and or tapes.  P.S. what style of aikido do you practice and is there a name for it? any specialized books for real world aikido? i find the philosophies of aikido very interesting but they don't help  in a real world fight thank you for your time.

Answer
Nate:

Yes I can recommend a number of books and tapes, but unfortunately they are not inexpensive.  The guy I learned from focuses on real world stuff not the philosophy.  Problem is it takes time and patience to learn.  
I have attached the link to his catalog.  
http://www.karlgeis.com/films.htm

There are also a lot of clips on utube and yahoo of aikido in action.  There are a lot of caveates that you should know when viewing them, so you don't get into bad habits.  Most, but not all of the clips out there show how to do aikido horribly.  What I am saying is they are crap, pure crap.  It is no wonder that Aikido gets a bad name.  When practiced properly it is fantastic in a fight.

A good book for beginners is

http://www.amazon.com/Aikido-Principles-Randori-Nick-Lowry/dp/1591133203/ref=sr_