How practical is aikido?
It is only as practical as you make it. I have to admit that alot of the training isn’t realistic at all, but on the other hand, there is alot of it that you can use for self defense situations such as the evasions, locks, and pins. The throws however are a different story…….. Alot of the beautiful throws that you may see in a dojo are like that because they are done without resisting opponents. They literally throw themselves and they have to in order to prevent their limbs from being broken or their bodies forcefully hitting the ground, causing injury. That is the downfall to Aikido’s throws………..you will never really know the effectiveness of them until you try them in a real-life encounter. Certain styles of Aikido are really hard and practical and others are just plain useless and the only thing that you can use from them are the philosophies and concepts. The downfall to any type of Aikido training is that it takes years to be proficient at it. My own personal thoughts i
