What is the least violent martial art?
Legendary grappling coach John Danaher once said that it’s ideal to restrain an opponent without harming them as much as possible. In other words, he was talking about the benefits of grappling. On the other side of the spectrum, you could argue that Krav Maga is the opposite of this point, and gets the job done in terms of defeating the opponent, but does so in a barbaric manner. Therefore, if you’re an ethical martial artist with a conscience, then you may wonder what is the least violent martial art in terms of harming your opponent. Really, there is only one obvious answer. But first…
Why we’re not involving Tai Chi
Tai Chi is considered a martial art by some. This becomes a bit of a grey area as some argue that the stretches and poses are martial arts in themself, just like you could argue that yoga is also a martial art. There are then other people who claim that combat Tai Chi is a separate martial art. Sadly, Tai Chi in terms of poses isn’t really a martial art as it doesn’t offer self defense.
Secondly, neither is combat Tai Chi. The reason for this is that ‘Chi energy’ has been debunked and isn’t something that can be used in a fight. Theoretically though, if Chi energy did legitimately work then it would also be quite violent as it can supposedly throw people to the floor and knock them out. Because of this, Tai Chi is not looked at in a serious manner. Instead, the least violent martial art has to be Aikido
Why isn’t Aikido violent?
To understand why Aikido is so soft, you’ll have to go back to the mentality of its founder, Morihei Ueshiba. Originally, Aikido was inspired by Judo and was to be used on the battlefield when you didn’t possess a weapon. However, during his lifestyle Ueshiba became more spiritual as he aged. As this happened, his perspective on Aikido changed and arguably it went quite extreme as well. Eventually, the point of Aikido was to not pursue an attacker but to use their own force against them to defeat them. This is why Aikido is big on ducking and using momentum, even to this day.
To cut a long story short, Aikido’s entire philosophy is shaped by the spiritual nature of its founder Ueshiba who wanted to leave the earth as a peaceful place. This idea can be seen in the form of Aikido, which practices what he preached. As a result, Aikido doesn’t use strikes, and barely uses submissions which means that it’s an incredibly gentle martial art.
So, how does Aikido work in terms of restraining people then?
If you can’t submit someone or knock them out, then how does Aikido work? Let’s use an example. Imagine someone lunges towards you and tries to punch your face. According to the techniques taught in Aikido, you should use timing and footwork to not only dodge this punch, but also reverse it. Much of Aikido relies on grabbing the arm or wrist of the opponent and using that with their own force to put them to the floor.
In other words, you don’t approach an attacker, but instead wait for them to attack you and react to their movement. Often, Aikido will threaten with joint locks such as wrist and arm locks, but it doesn’t use chokes and most of these joint locks are done to create a takedown, rather than maiming the enemy.
Once the opponent is downed, the idea of Aikido is not to harm them, but to restrain them and keep them pinned until they have calmed down or people have arrived to help you out. Overall, it’s a very nice idea but it also has a lot of questions regarding its implications in the real world.
Does Aikido actually work?
This is debatable, with most of the martial arts community saying that Aikido is rubbish, whereas many Aikido practitioners will argue otherwise. The issue with Aikido is that in modern day, it has very little footage to back it up in terms of street fights. Why is this? Many will claim it’s because it doesn’t work, and relies on drills and compliant partners within the dojo. Compared to something like BJJ or Muay Thai, Aikido has no real footage showing its proof. This is a genuine critique that is often dodged by the Aikido community who seem to make excuses regarding its effectiveness.
At the same time, looking at it neutrally, there are a few practical uses of Aikido. For instance, Aikido is big on breakfalls which is a great life skill to have in general but is also important if you get thrown in a fight. It will also improve your foot work as well as having a few throws that are similar to those in Judo. With that said, arguably if you taught Aikido in the correct format then it may actually be effective. Sadly though, this is rarely the case and Aikido has a lot of bad habits it seems.
What martial art is similar to Aikido?
Ironically, the most similar martial art to Aikido is actually Judo, which Aikido was loosely based upon. This is ironic as Judo is seen as pretty aggressive and explosive. Often, you will throw your opponent down with great force, or submit them by using an armbar or gi choke. Nonetheless, at its core – Judo like Aikdio is based on grappling and takedowns. This is a great example of how two martial arts can have a lot in common, yet be completely different in the way they’re actually used.
So, in terms of actual similar martial arts – there aren’t really many. Practically all of the grappling martial arts are way more aggressive, whilst others use striking which is strictly prohibited in Aikido. In this sense, Aikido is very unique in its approach, which is why it draws criticism as many view it as completely unrealistic and delving into the world of fantasy.
Conclusion
It’s fair to say that Aikido is the most peaceful martial art going. At the same time, you could argue that Aikido is also too gentle at times and whilst it’s a nice idea, the reality of fighting means you’ll have to be more proactive than what Aikido teaches. Because of this, it’s up to the individual when choosing whether to train Aikido or not. On the one hand, it’s a nice activity and the spiritual benefits definitely tick the boxes regarding the mental side of martial arts. On the other hand, too often people complain that Aikido isn’t violent enough and may even land you in more harm than good!
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From my research as a former Aikido student, the art derives from Aiki Jujitsu which is one of the samurai arts. There are schools which were taught by Ueshiba early in his creation of the art which is why some Aikido schools closely resemble aiki jujitsu schools more so then other schools. Steven Segals original dojo back in Japan in his earliest of days is one of them. There are many elements of Aikido that would totally translate to today’s time in wrist, shoulder and elbow locks but of course not everything found in the art works.
To use the term martial and non violent is a oxymoron one cannot exist without the other. As for aikido it was American fantasy that rediscovered aikido and usheiba was a loyal imperialist and didn’t want the art to be American. He purposely left it toothless. And only the truly skilled could learn it _true masters will never leave the art behind if it might be used for less then moral means after gun was invented it became art not martial art aikido joint locks are primarily taught in police and military as was danzan jujitsu
While some good points were made, much of this piece was inaccurate. After 52 years of studying and teaching several martial arts, I can say that it has little to do with what art or skill you study and more about the physical and psychological makeup of the individual.
Whilst this is true, there is no way that the most aggressive aikido practitioner on earth is anywhere near as violent as the average krav maga student.
Bottom line is if you practice aikido in a realistic manner it can/will work in a street situation, you can be as passive or aggressive as you need be with it in the given situation.
“The art of fighting without fighting” -Bruce Lee
“Originally, Aikido was inspired by Judo and was to be used on the battlefield when you didn’t possess a weapon. ”
Completely off the mark. Aikido was a modified version of the Soden Gata of Daito ryu, to be passive.
It’s widely regarded that Aikido was inspired by Judo. Ueshiba himself trained it for several years, as did many of his earliest students. Many of the earlier throws in particular are nearly identical to those found in Judo.
It’s regarded by whom exactly?
“The technical curriculum of aikido was derived from the teachings of Takeda Sōkaku; the basic techniques of aikido stem from his Daitō-ryū system. In the earlier years of his teaching, from the 1920s to the mid-1930s, Ueshiba taught the Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu system; his early students’ documents bear the term Daitō-ryū. Indeed, Ueshiba trained one of the future highest grade earners in Daitō-ryū, Takuma Hisa, in the art before Takeda took charge of Hisa’s training.
This article had a lot of informative and interesting points, however it seemed to have some uninformed opinions on Tai Chi Chuan. Tai Chi Chuan (not the stuff you learn at a spa or during a short class at the YMCA) teaches the use of body mechanics to overcome an opponent, not magic. Each posture has a martial application, just as each technique in a karate kata has an application.