The principles of effective self defence

The budo root of aikido demands rigorous training, discipline and commitment in order to internalise and make intuitive the key principles that contribute to effective self defence. These include the following:

• awareness of threat

• timing and blending

• disrupting the opponent’s balance

• connection

• movement from the centre

• relaxation and the avoidance of force

• speed

• maintaining balance and posture

• calmness

• courage, confidence, determination and resilience

Note that technique does not appear on this list. Technique is a vehicle to use in the development and internalisation of these principles. Standard training in aikido which involves slow, artificial/formalised attacks and co-operative partners fails to develop many of these principles. Some further elaboration of these principles is given below.

Awareness of threat:

• situational awareness, scanning the environment

• behavioural awareness, sensitivity to behaviours that signify trouble

• ability to anticipate an attack, sensitivity to physical cues that signal intention

• awareness of defensive distance, ability to be in a safe zone with regard to an opponent

Timing and blending

• knowing when to enter

• adjusting speed depending on the opponent, not moving too fast or too slow

• how to ward off and blend rather than block

Disrupting the opponent’s balance

• appreciating that techniques rarely work on a stable opponent

• knowing the directions in which an opponent is least stable

• knowing that small movements can destabilise an opponent

• using atemi (strikes) and threats of strikes to disrupt the opponent

  
  

Connection

• Bringing the opponent to your centre or your centre to the opponent

• Understanding how close you need to be to control your opponent

• Closing the distance while remaining safe

Movement from the centre

• Knowing that whole body movement is more powerful than the application of muscular force

• Understanding that movement begins from the centre

• Knowing how to connect to your centre and use it effectively

Relaxation and the avoidance of force

• Knowing when you are using strength and adjusting accordingly

• Understanding what it means to be relaxed in a martial sense

• Appreciating that strength both signals your intention and stiffens the body preventing free movement

Speed

• Having the ability to move at speed when appropriate

• Appreciating that speed plus mass equals power

Maintaining balance and posture

• moving without retreating

• maintaining forward posture even while moving backwards

• keeping centre

Calmness

• maintaining presence of mind and controlling fear

• knowing that you are prepared to respond

Courage, confidence, determination, and resilience

These elements come from testing technique in increasingly aggressive scenarios with non-compliant partners to develop the confidence that they work, or you can switch technique at will if they don’t. A more testing environment (both in terms of applying and receiving technique) will develop courage, determination and resilience.