Martial Arts: Aikido

Aikido

3 points

Ueshiba Morihei founded Aikido in 1920s Japan as a more peaceful, artistic version of Aikijutsu. Its goals are spiritual development and finding inner harmony, but it has also become popular for self-defense. While O-Sensei (as Ueshiba is known) emphasized the development of the spirit and ki, some schools focus on the mechanics of locks and throws. Aikido's main technique is the throw. Aikido throws describe a circular motion. The attacker (called the uke in training) flows with the defender's movement, assisting the throw and using Breakfall to land safely. Needless to say, this makes Aikido's throws less useful in a real fight than those of a style that trains against resisting opponents. Stylists don't regard this as an obstacle to the art's development, but it does limit Aikido's self-defense value.

Some Aikido schools don't assume an unresisting foe. A notable example is the Tokyo Metropolitan Riot Police course taught by the Yoshinkan Aikido school in Tokyo, Japan. Such teachings are sometimes termed "hard" Aikido. Even these schools teach artistic techniques and expect cooperation between uke and defender, though. To represent "hard" Aikido, add the Judo skill.

A few Aikido schools add strikes (atemi) to distract or "soften" the foe – and often to finish him once he's down! Use the style under Aikijutsu for this, with the addition of Karate.

Ueshiba was said to be capable of almost superhuman feats of skill, including the ability to dodge bullets with ease. In a cinematic game, these might be a set of secret techniques passed on to exceptional students.

Skills: Judo Art; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Acrobatic Stand; Arm Lock; Breakfall; Finger Lock; Ground Fighting (Judo Art); Low Fighting (Judo Art).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Invisibility Art; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Push.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Judo Art); Roll with Blow.

Perks: Power Grappling; Skill Adaptation (Acrobatic Stand defaults to Judo Art).