Aikido- good martial arts form if you want to know how to fight?

[snowbank]

I'm looking to learn martial arts. I spoke with someone in my area about Aikido, and what they said on the phone made it seem like it's what I wanted, but after checking on the internet it seems it's more of grapples and holds and things like that.

Is this a good form to take for example for a street fight or something like that?

I searched online for places in my town and the different forms are: Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and Kang Duk Won, along with Aikido. So I guess those are my options.

The person I talked with about Aikido stressed that many of the other schools mainly focused on belts and winning trophies, while his school taught to "kick someone's ass." Is this true? I could care less about having a belt, just interested in whichever form will allow me to "kick someone's ass" as he put it.

[miajag81]

There was a thread about this earlier today.

[phixxx]

Yup. Search for the previous thread on this topic.

Snowbank-san...

Fighting...no one win.

Now show me sand floor.

Aikido is worthless. If you want to learn how to win a streetfight, take up boxing, thai boxing, or jujitsu.

[BCPVP]

Haha. I'm sure many said this when it first came out. They were promptly escorted face-first to the floor by their wrist.

[nicky g]

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Aikido is worthless. If you want to learn how to win a streetfight, take up boxing, thai boxing, or jujitsu.

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Agreed. Well, not worthless, but the others will help you in a fight more.

[BCPVP]

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Is this a good form to take for example for a street fight or something like that?

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Nike-jutsu is the best art for a street fight.

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I searched online for places in my town and the different forms are: Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and Kang Duk Won, along with Aikido. So I guess those are my options.

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Talk with the instructors at each place.
Try them all (or observe a class if they won't give you the first free).
Leave and never look back if there is any promise of a black belt in a certain number of years or if you must sign any sort of contract besides a waiver.

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The person I talked with about Aikido stressed that many of the other schools mainly focused on belts and winning trophies, while his school taught to "kick someone's ass." Is this true?

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How would any of us know if this guy's school taught to "kick someone's ass"? This is why you should look into the schools before joining. There are definitely schools more focused on belts and trophies (and $$$). They're called McDojo's, and for good reason. Stay away from these if pure competition isn't your reason for joining.

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I could care less about having a belt, just interested in whichever form will allow me to "kick someone's ass" as he put it.

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If this is what you're looking for in Aikido, you probably shouldn't bother. Unless they're doing some sort of bastardized Aikido, it is not about "kicking someone's ass". It's is almost purely a defensive art. You cannot attack someone with Aikido.

BTW, Hapkido is Korean and is basically Tae Kwon Do flavored Aikido. I've never heard of Kang Duk Won, but it's either Korean (and therefore fairly close to TKD) or a type of kung fu. Look into it, but be aware that there are hucksters in the martial arts community who will invent a style and rank and teach utter bull****.

[nicky g]

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Haha. I'm sure many said this when it first came out. They were promptly escorted face-first to the floor by their wrist.

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The chances of pulling of a wristlock on someone repeatedly punching and kicking you are about zero.

[BCPVP]

Not true, but if you can't, then don't try. Aikido is far more than just wristlocks.

[Luzion]

That is ridiculous. Aikido comes from a variant of aiki jujitsu; it uses circular sword/spear fighting movements and combines it with throws, takedowns, and various locks from combat jujitsu. The difference is Aikido stresses defense only. Its considered a peaceful martial art. No legit teacher of Aikido would ever teach you that you can use it to kick someones ass.

A very famous practitioner of Aikido is Steven Seagal. In a lot of his movies he performs various throws and takedowns from Aikido with big close ups. A lot of the techniques that the police use such as takedowns, arm locks, and knife defense come from Aikido.

If you are interested in Aikido, you might wanna consider Hapkido. I have a good friend that is a black belt in Hapkido and he explained that it combines traditional korean martial arts with japanese aikido. That is probably best out of the ones you mentioned since you can learn the offensive aspects of striking with your hands and feet, while being able to defend yourself with various throws, locks, and weapon disarming techniques.

[Luzion]

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Not true, but if you can't, then don't try. Aikido is far more than just wristlocks.

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Cool, you got an avatar of two guys practicing Aikido. Is that a shiho-nage throw?

[tonypaladino]

Learning Martian Arts is a waste of time. Just buy a glock.

[BCPVP]

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Is that a shiho-nage throw?

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Yes indeed.

I'm a little biased since I'm currently taking Aikido (although I have studied TKD in the past), but I like that you can dial up the damage of the throws in Aikido. Like with shiho-nage. If I want, I can change the angle of your arm and shred the attackers shoulder muscles. But maybe the attacker is a friend of mine who has just had a few too many and I just want to dump him on the floor without any damage. Striking arts tend to rely on accumulating enough physical damage that the person is rendered helpless. Not a very attractive option if I don't want to hurt that person much.

But if these are the only options the OP has, I guess Hapkido would be the best choice for "kicking ass" since it includes striking and throwing/grappling and is less likely to be a McDojo than the TKD school (TKD is notorious for McDojos).