I rarely show my martial art skill off in the street, but if I do not put it into practice, it will be useless. Look at Bruce Lee, he changed his style all the time due to the fact that he sparred with a lot of styles and sometimes found somethings that didn't work let's say, his "hand immobilization" techniques at first were useful but kinda got useless against TKD, Capoera, and some Gung Fu, but he eventually evolved "hand immobilizations" to more like "body immobilizations" due to the fact he learn an american art called "Professional Wrestling". He learnt how to immobilize people be it leg, hair or neck.Same theory goes with me, the more I fight, the stronger I get. Morihei Ueshiba isn't a coward, but he was wise in not excepting the challenge, as when he finished Aikido, he was somewhere around 50, he would get really wounded if he did, Kempo is one of the dangerous arts that involves little to no body commitment. It is said a master of Kempo can punch like 10-20 times in a little space of time. Aikido wouldn't be able to do much.Some martial arts are not the same, some teaches to fight, some teaches to not. Aikido teaches not to hurt others while at the same time not to get hurt yourself. Well, some arts teaches, if he challenges you, "lay your life infront of him and see if he's willing enough to take it or you will take his" [Dan Inosanto, if I remember right]. Aikido is one of the hardest art to learn, I agree, thus it is not very effective. If it takes more than 4 years to learn that I recommend buy a gun, cuz in the end it's gonna cost the same. If Aikido, went through the basics in say 2 months, and then taught the master art in another 4 months, I think it would be very good, but no, almost every art has this stupid idea that it must take time. When I learn Muay Thai, my Kruu said "I teach you very fast, then it is upto you to perfect it". Only the real battle proven arts has this tendency to teach quickly like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Judo, JKD, Boxing, etc. cuz they know, it is not the learning that is important, it's the perfection and practice that is. You may enter a dojo to learn say Judo, it takes 4 years to gain black belt but, by 1 year you'd know almost every good techniques and you'd probably had a lot of practice and know which works and doesn't. In reply to: You can never be as good as you could be by lusting to fight instead of striving for peace of mind... Well, what many say is, you find peace of mind when in battle, there is no thought only one thing, concentration and focus, only one goal, to how to survive without injuring yourself. Victory is not worth it if you leave with a permanent injury.If I remember right, Aikido, has never been represented in any of the UFC tournies nor been present in any cross martial arts tournies, while many other "peaceful" has. I believe like many others, if you do not prove it, it doesn't work. In reply to: If you have done HALF as much martial arts as you claim you should know already that martial arts teaches how NOT to fight. I know what I have learnt, and I couldn't care much if you don't believe me. I have my own dojo, even though small, I teach willingly to those who want to learn, and I encourage individual expression. I usually take my favorite students to other dojo, dojang, kwoon so that we can learn something new. Being a teacher is not a reason not to learn.I base my art on what works, and what doesn't, thus who can beat who is the only way to find out what works and what doesn't. If you don't put the techniques and your skills into test, how will you know it works? how? Aikido, admit it or not, is lots of theories. How do I prove it? well,a) When he grabs you by the wrist you. . . [Personally, I'd never grab anyone by the wrist unless it's a ground technique like armbar or hammer lock.]b) When he chops down with the sole of the hand. . . [How many people do this move, nowadays?c) When you fall, do the "ukemi". . . [Well, why not get up normally and quickly? And, try doing the Ukemi when being caught in a Osoto-Gari, Ippon Seoi-nage, or one of the many suplexes. Usually, when you fall is when you get the holy crap beaten out of you. I think Ukemi is only useful when you trip on a rock by the sidewalk.]d) Learning the Seiza stance. . . [I find it quite amuzing that people fight when sitting on their knees. In Thailand, they say this stance is also known as the "living sandbag"The problem of Aikido is it is not updated. It may have worked 60 years ago, but it doesn't now, that many arts have aqcuired more brutal and fail-safe techniques like the clinch and the pletora of BJJ joint locks. If you want to learn an effective art against armed opponents, go Krav Maga or AMOK! knife fighting.If every Aikido dojo was to have a "randori"(freestyle sparring) every day, I think sooner or later, the art of Aikido will disappear when the students stop using the traditional techniques they find useless.I may be an idiot, but at least I know what I'm doing in a fight, and battle is where I prove myself not to you, or anyone but to myself. I teach my students that, learn the move, understand it, perfect it, and if you don't like it dispose of it, for it may work for me, but it may not work for you.-Taison! outps. . I find myself thrown through walls, to the ground, joint locked, choked, punched at, kicked at all the time. Well, I may be an idiot, but I love what I'm doing.