Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Aikido:- The Way of Peace

An interesting art that is immediately recognizable. It does have a few striking moves in it, but for the most part, it is based on the principle that when an attacker strikes, he leaves some part of his defense vulnerable. If you, the defender, do not attack him, you remain defensively invulnerable.
Do not resist his attack. Use its momentum against him. Steven Seagal is the most famous Aikido practitioner in the Western world. He may be a horrible actor, but he is a genuine 7th degree black belt in Aikido, and his signature move is absolutely essential to any self-defense arsenal: the kote gaeshi, or “forearm return.”
The attacker steps forward and throws a straight punch. You sidestep, snatch hold of his wrist, and twist around in time with his punch. Do it right, and it will fling him completely off balance, using his own momentum, while you whirl around, and twist his wrist toward the outside. He probably will not flip over like the classic theatrics in a Seagal film, but his wrist may well break. He’s unlikely to fight anymore after that.
Most critics of this art point out that it is nearly impossible for the average black belt to catch a person’s punch and turn fast enough to perform this move, but that’s not true. It’s actually a very easy move to learn and perfect.
Aikido thrives on joint locks, which do not require much speed to perform, compared to the kote gaeshi, and are extremely effective in immobilizing and incapacitating an attacker.

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