So, I'm working my way through a series of posts answering Sensei Zoran Stojanovski's, five questions about karate vs. aikido. A couple of days ago I wrote on his first question. Today I think I'll tackle his fifth question (Who ever said I had to go in order, anyway?)...
If [an] expert of aikido [were] permitted to apply all his aikido arsenal, whether he had a chance to survive in the K1 fights?
Again, I have a couple of possible answers to this. First of all, it would not be possible to free either participant to use their full arsenal in a contest like K1. Even events that are billed as "No Holds Barred" have some of their holds barred. How often do you see eye gouges or ear-biting or nut-avulsion allowed in a combative sport? Why do you think they hold these events in rings or cages? It's to prevent aiki-minded competitors from evading and avoiding. So, the best parts of aikido (e.g. avoiding contact until you can blast their eyes into the back of their head) are pretty much off-limits in this environment.
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But, suppose you did put the aiki guy and the karate guy in a ring and told them only one walks away? My money is on the karate guy! Karate is definitely the better art in this environment because of one simple fact...
For fighting, aikido absolutely sucks!
We drill into our students that you never bet your life on this aikido stuff because it absolutely does not work in a fight. Nobody, regardless of strength or skill, can make aikido work reliably. Don't get me wrong - aikido is exquisitely effective for self-defense against violent physical assault - but that's not the same as using it to fight. You just can't call your shots with aikido like you would need to do in a fight. Aikido either works its magic automatically, on it's own, in its own way, or it doesn't work at all.
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That is a large part of the reason that aikido demonstrations tend to look so fake. Once you decide to demonstrate certain forms of certain techniques in a certain order, and you rehearse them once or twice, you are no longer doing aikido the way that it works best, so uke might have to jump in order to make it look like it should look. But then, you can't jump and get the same quality of magical aiki effect.
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So anyway, Aikido sucks and Karate is the bomb!
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More to come on Sensei Zoran's other questions...
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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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