The difficulty with that claim is that it's circular, and it makes it untestable: the effectiveness of Aikido cannot be tested because testing the effectiveness of Aikido goes against the spirit of Aikido.
Not exactly. The question was "Why do you think...?"
"Spirit of Aikido" was my thoughts, a conjecture, not a claim as spokesperson on behalf of the Aikido community. :)
To rephrase what I said before:
If a high-ranking Aikidoka wants to play UFC, they're certainly free to do so. However, I think none have done so because it goes against the spirit of Aikido. (e.g. people attracted to Aikido are not those attracted to UFC, Aikidoka UFC fans don't associate Aikido with UFC)
I've seen others express the same sentiment. Your explanation may be true, but I think a parallel explanation is also probably true: they are unprepared for a fight with a skilled opponent.
I agree that "unprepared for a fight with a skilled opponent" is true for many Aikidoka (perhaps they are more self-aware of their limitations than students of other arts?), but it's also true of Cat Zingano ;)
My point, made in jest, was that even the most seemingly prepared, skilled, and qualified person can be unprepared for a skilled opponent. I was aware of her record, hence the example. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you?
She's demonstrably prepared for a fight with a skilled opponent. She's just not prepared for the most skilled opponent - but right now, it appears that no other woman on the planet is. Surely our bar for "skilled opponent" in this discussion has not been Ronda Rousey, a bronze medalist in Judo and the most dominant female MMA champion, ever.
There's also something else to consider. If Aikido is effective, why aren't current UFC fighters training Aikido? There are plenty of fighters who pick up new martial arts as they progress through their career but I haven't heard of one single fighter who has added Aikido into their training.
I'm not a UFC expert. I was told Aikido wrist and hand techniques qualified as "small joint manipulation." If they don't, I apologize for my mistake in repeating misinformation.
Wrist locks are allowed, but I don't think I've ever seen an MMA fight end via wrist lock. Small joint manipulation (individual fingers, individual toes) is not allowed. All other joints - neck, elbows, knees, ankles, wrists - are allowed.
It seems the goal is to prevent broken fingers and toes. Would manipulating 4 fingers simultaneously (to achieve wrist/elbow/shoulder lock) violate the small joint manipulation rule?
That's valid, as that's seen as manipulating the hand. For example, to defend a rear choke attempt, people will grab the meat of the hand. Grabbing an individual finger would not be okay. However, if you're going for another kind of lock, and the only control you have is the four fingers (no thumb, not applying pressure at base of hand), you're probably not going to succeed.
Those techniques are for armed fights where you cannot afford to let the other person wield their knife/sword freely. (It also shows you how to get rid of people trying to stop you from using your knife.)
As training, they teach you the basics. You can do it without the grabbing, and you can do the grabbing if you want to throw too, it's just far harder.
Simple- Aikido is very difficult to use effectively against a trained striking opponent, even harder to use against someone not wearing a gi, and almost impossible to use against someone not wearing a gi who is also drenched in sweat.
Why do you think a martial art such as Aikido is nearly non-existent at the highest level of competition such as the UFC?