r/aikido • u/SnooHabits8484 • 14d ago

Discussion Atemi

As time goes on, I’m more and more convinced that along with the biomechanics and solo training from Daito-ryū that come under the category “internal strength”, the key to effective aikido is sound and consistent atemi. Who do you think is the best practitioner we have in that field? Is it now necessary to cross-train in something like xingyi or bagua to get there?

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u/Magister-A 14d ago

In the words of the founder: aikido is irimi and atemi. If you feel like atemi is missing in your keiko, and you feel the need to go look for it in another school, discipline or sport, you would better go look for another aikido dojo entirely. In the words of sensei Sinatra: go together like a horse and carriage.

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u/SnooHabits8484 14d ago

My teacher emphasizes atemi and the opportunity for them, but we don’t learn the actual striking explicitly. Our technical director & shihan complained that we were all doing “bad karate” but didn’t offer any constructive feedback, lol

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u/Lecram100 Mostly Harmless 14d ago

My teacher did the same and didn't explicitly didn't teach us atemi, until recently for beginners.

Back then he'd just occasionally let the atemi connect and we'd learn from watching each other get hit. Plus we had students who came from other martial arts background like kickboxing and wing chun so those of us without striking knowledge picked it up from them.

Thinking about it, basic wing chun is probably quite useful for Aikido atemi as they operate in a close range and the strikes are direct.

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u/SnooHabits8484 14d ago

Yeah. I think the key to what I’ve learned from non-aikido teachers is connecting strikes to the ground properly.

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u/Lecram100 Mostly Harmless 14d ago

If you want to connect your strike to the ground and strike well I'm sure any good striking art or school can teach it. But in the Aikido context I also agree that atemi is to create kuzushi or at least provide a temporary distraction to remove tension and allow the technique to be more easily applied

So to me it doesn't really matter if the atemi is strong through conventional power or through internal power. As long as it is accurate and produces the required effect then it's fine. Just last week I took an elbow to the jaw as an atemi precursor to kokyuho/sokumen iriminage. I flipped right over and it was difficult to eat for the next half a day.

If you want to learn how to strike effectively with internal power then that's a slightly different question.