Often it comes down to how someone uses the art. Lyoto Machida uses Sumo as part of his MMA. At our school we've found it's pushing techniques useful once your

Often it comes down to how someone uses the art. Lyoto Machida uses Sumo as part of his MMA. At our school we've found it's pushing techniques useful once your get an opponent off balance. The locks in Aikido are useful as pain compliance techniques used by people like law enforcement or bouncers. Compared to an art like Judo, the "throws" in Aikido generally don't throw your opponent to the ground and do damage. Instead they tend to cause your opponent to stumble away from you. Therefore, they aren't very useful in competition but they are useful in self defense where they can create an opening to get a weapon or escape.