Aikido atemi waza (strikes) video
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The use of striking in the performance of Aikido waza or applied technique is not well documented and is even the source of quite a bit of conflicting information. Saotome Sensei has made it quite clear that O-sensei Ueshiba taught that atemi in Aikido was at the heart of the practice.
Yet other instructors have been known to say there are no strikes in Aikido. A number of practitioners believe that Aikido’s peaceful intent is lost when atemi is used yet those who have worked to preserve the martial integrity of the art know from experience that any experienced attacker will defeat Aikido techniques if there is no use of atemi. Even those who feel that use of atemi is perfectly appropriate in Aikido waza may not have considered in any systematic manner the various ways in which it is actually utilized in the art.
[From “The Use of Atemi (Striking) in Aikido” by George S. Ledyard.]