ACIMA Martial Arts
ACIMA Martial Arts Association
ACIMA is an acronym, standing for 'Aggressive Combative Instinctive Martial Arts'.
It is a martial arts system developed on a concious level. The founders have graded in and studied various martial arts over a period of years, but they have not mearly "Cherry picked" techniques, they have condensed what is needed to know in order to survive and overcome a real life fight, where there is no etiquette or submission.
No other martial art is taught in the same way, or has been developed with such honesty and self criticism. ACIMA is not a list of easy answers, it is a study in the dynamics of fighting.
What will I get out of ACIMA??
Much improved levels of fitness
The confidence that comes with knowing you can defend yourself and those you care about
A hobby that will also give you a plethora of life skills
Relief from stress
Something exciting to show your friends
A sanctuary to allow your creative side to blossom
A place to find friends with common interests
ACIMA has a ranking system which can be used to chart your progress, like most martial arts systems, this is done using coloured belts, which are achieved following a successful showing at a grading.
There are two direct learing avenues for students of ACIMA to explore, the first is the simple student progression through the belts up to black, the commitment for this is no more than the student wishes.
There is also an intensive instuctor programme to allow ACIMA to expand, this requires much more discipline and commitment from the students and will require a greater level of competence and understanding, it is a faster way to achieve a black belt, but is not made available to everyone.
So is ACIMA a Martial Art?
Attack - Aggression.
Overwhelm - Stop any form of counter attack.
Destroy - Destruction of an opponent or target
ACIMA is a dynamic and creative martial art/self-defence system, aiming to view self-protection/preservation with absolute honesty.
As it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty what will happen during an attack/confrontation/violent encounter, developing skills which rely on any level of compliance is impractical. ACIMA, therefore, attempts to instill skills that aim to end a situation as soon as possible. ACIMA develops a students' ability within all three ranges of combat, striking, clinching, and ground fighting.
Join an ACIMA club today
Is it viable for self defence?
Self defence is often taught separetly from a core syllabus in martial arts. Teachers will give students a list of scenarios and then a technique for each of them, ACIMA accepts that violence is rarely predictable and it is dangerous to believe it is. Learning self defence via scenarios and counter techniques is similar to playing a game without knowing the rules. You may get very lucky, but more likely is the chance you will make a mistake and lose. Losing a game is fine, losing a street fight could be a very serious problem.
ACIMA deals with real violence through instinct and knowledge, people do not all act the same way, people do not all react in the same way, but they all share identical weaknesses.
With this in mind, ACIMA is not a self defence system, it is a study in personal combat. Learning ACIMA will make you very capable of defending yourself and others, but it will never give you easy and flawed answers.
