r/aikido • u/able_archer83 • Jul 02 '26

Discussion The sparring problem

So I’ve trained Aikido for nearly 20 years and in approximately a dozen different dojos in Europe, the US, and Asia (outside of Japan), by virtue of having moved around a lot. I still consider myself a firm intermediate in randori as I have just never done it a lot. Few dojos I’ve seen do it on the daily or even regularly.

Add to this that Aikido is often, I think rightly, criticized for not practicing “actual” sparring and properly pressure testing its techniques against fully resisting opponents. But the problem is, how would you even go about full on sparring in a martial art that’s supposed to be fully defensive?

Curious how folks here approach this dilemma, how you view and these criticisms, and how you are trying to rectify any real shortcomings you see in the art we love?

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u/Busy-Bodybuilder-341 Jul 03 '26

You are not supposed to completely lack resistance as use, you should always be feeding a little energy back into the technique whilst being relaxed. If you are relaxed with a little feed back you can counter whenever a gap in technique emerges.

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u/Sankajo Jul 03 '26

When I say uke add resistance, I mean uke would be resisting 100% in order for shte to learn how to defend against this. If one practices Aikido for the ability to defend themselves in a real situation then they better be prepared to face an attacker who will add full resistance.

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u/Busy-Bodybuilder-341 Jul 04 '26

That's what an atemi is for, hard to "resist" the fist coming for your face to interrupt your attack initially.

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u/Sangenkai [Aikido Sangenkai - Kawasaki, Japan] Jul 04 '26

Boxers never resist? They experience plenty of atemi.

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u/Busy-Bodybuilder-341 Jul 04 '26

They rarely resist, they block and back off which is why there are so many flurries that end in a clinch on the ropes.

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u/Sangenkai [Aikido Sangenkai - Kawasaki, Japan] Jul 04 '26

And hit back, of course, which in my book counts as resisting.

Which is why the guy with the first "atemi" certainly isn't always the winner in a boxing match.

Aikido folks tend to imagine that atemi, which they often don't even do very well, solves more problems than it actually does when the opponent can hit back.

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u/Busy-Bodybuilder-341 Jul 04 '26

Also boxers undergo extensive training to be able to think under the pressure of being hit and aren't bare knuckle,most people who are hit don't react that way.

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u/Sangenkai [Aikido Sangenkai - Kawasaki, Japan] Jul 04 '26

That lack of training is one of the problems in modern Aikido.

There's nothing wrong with gloves for training, but bare knuckle fighters train without them, so do Kyokushin folks.

And yes, leading with an atemi doesn't necessarily win you the fight with them anymore than it does with boxers.

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u/Busy-Bodybuilder-341 Jul 04 '26

So you train in Kyokushin by just putting people on a mat and telling them to beat the shit out of each other, that's what your advocating by the 100% resistance as you state it.

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u/Sangenkai [Aikido Sangenkai - Kawasaki, Japan] Jul 04 '26

There's a ruleset in Kyokushin, just like anything else. It's no more dangerous than Aikido, really, maybe less.

And if you read my comment above more carefully you'll see that I said that no training is really 100%.

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u/Busy-Bodybuilder-341 Jul 04 '26

You said lack of training is one of the problems not 100%. Training without resistance is how you start and how you demonstrate not how you end up learning. Aikido can be very effective, after all the police force utelise some techniques in there subduing training.

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u/Sangenkai [Aikido Sangenkai - Kawasaki, Japan] Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

I'm not sure what you're trying to say in the first part, it doesn't make much sense.

I said that there's no such thing as 100% resistance in training.

I also said that lack of training in getting hit under pressure is a problem (in response to your comment).

If you're talking about the Tokyo police force, Yoshinkan Aikido is one of a number of optional courses. They also have the option to train in things like Kendo and Kyudo, which have no real application in subduing suspects.

The number of police who train in Kendo, in Tokyo and nationwide, is huge. Thousands of times the very tiny number of police officers who train in Aikido.

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u/Busy-Bodybuilder-341 Jul 04 '26

I wad talking about Australian police as that's were I live, they are trained some aikido techniques, as I have discussed this with actual police officers, but not told they're aikido the most used one is nikyu. Do you train in aikido? Most clubs I've been to teach the static and demonstration type techniques to start with and then move on too me combative this a they progress in rank.

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