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Dave 3006:
IMHO an interesting thing comes out everytime in threads relating to unarmed combat: Most modern martial arts (Particularly those of Japanese origin) are overspecialized, emphasizing one aspect or another of fighting (Grappling ONLY, or striking ONLY) and ignoring the others. In the case of the Japanese arts, I think this happens for two reasons: Because the levels of street crime in their society is so low that most Japanese don't train with a view towards self preservation and because in their culture they are naturally exposed to various arts anyway and they're blended within the individual.
When I was first exposed to Japanese Karate in the '60s, there was an unbelievable (By today's standards) amount of throwing and joint manipulation techniques taught. This faded to nothing over the years (Ditto to self defense against blades or blunt weapons).
As pointed out early on in the thread a fight can progress from standing and striking to grappling on the floor and even back to standing. The wise person would do well to at least be grounded in various arts, or to study one that blends striking and grappling skills. Getting back to the original question posed on this thread, IMHO one would do much better getting into Hapkido rather than Aikido because it teaches to strike as well as to grapple (By the way, this from a long time Shotokan student, I have no agenda here!).
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