[rusk]

I used it to great effect in a bar brawl once. I was working security, some guy swung at me and I went straight into an arm lock pinning him to the ground. Nobody hurt, no problem and I was able to restrain him with a minimal amount of effort til the other guys came and escorted him out.

Aikido is great in self-defence situations where someone is coming at you. Of course the drills are contrived, their purpose is to train your muscle memory not actually to prepare you for combat.

It's not great for performance really.

The whole "come at me bro, but no not like that" thing is really something that only new practitioners will do because they're amazed by the power of these techniques.

The real weakness of Aikido is the pressure on the joints. I'd love to do it still but my knees can't take it any more.

[magic_beans]

I took a week of Aikido lessons before I had to stop — my wrists and knees just couldn’t handle it.

[ishi]

Perhaps you should try a different teacher. I know guys who started training in their 50s and 60s, so it's entirely possible if you pace yourself, and not exceed the current limits of your body. Little by little, these limits get stretched and your physical condition improves. Of course it's easier if you're fit and flexible to begin with, but that's not a requirement.

[magic_beans]

I do Crossfit, weightlifting and run occasionally; my weight is slightly below average. I wonder if maybe my joint issue is just something with my own body? That said — the class was an all-levels class with full tumbling. Maybe an intro class would be better...

[robaato]

Try a different class/teacher - there are a whole host of ways to approach/practice aikido, and taking care of health should always be paramount according to my line of teaching.

I am still not very flexible - but with lots of practice I am softer than most of the flexible people who join the dojo :)

Things like wrists/ankles/knees need time to (many months) to adapt/get conditioned.

[rusk]

Do you do Yoga or Pilates? Or anything to help you with flexibility?

[ajro]

"I used it to great effect in a bar brawl once." My opinion is - you were lucky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KUXTC8g_pk I don't know the guy from the video but I think his assessment is very honest and balanced.

[rusk]

I thought I was kind of "unlucky" to have a guy swing at me in the first place ... lucky that I'd had some kind of preparation at all!

I'm a wuss I should never have been doing security ever ...