Thanks Jason. This video reminded me of how much I struggled when years later I returned to study Aikdido and had to learn Aiki weapons for the first time. It was immensely frustrating and humiliating in the beginning, but I finally conquered it and made it part of my Aikido repertoire.
Aikido doesn't work in the street, it just works everywhere if you don't fight but only defend yourself for real. Stay calm and focus is absolutely necessary to perceive and react instinctively and naturally. I grew up and lived most of my life in the most violent and unpredictable region of the world. Sometimes doing nothing is the best strategy, sometimes running is even better if you can. For sure being bold and aggressive is the best way to receive a shot from the most unexpected person. I made this video based on what I saw and experienced in South America. Seeing people shot and killed change your idea of what you can expect in the street. Most of the martial arts teach you how to win a fight, not so many martial arts teach you how to avoid a confrontation. That's why I'm grateful with Aikido, it helped me to perceive and avoid dangerous situations way before they happen, and the times I was attacked I was able to resolve the situation with just one movement, most of the time with a natural Kokyu, like in the Kokyu dosa practice. That simple, specially when people believe you won't defend yourself because you are not "on guard", just keeping your maae. Aikido has a lot to offer as a self defence strategy, but not as a combat sport, it is way more natural and spontaneous, more adapted for the unpredictable and unexpected. sorry for my English grammar, still work in progress. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xanchf5H-d0.html
@@ultralordd7625 I also practiced Shotokan Karate and I loved it. Is just that when you live in a middle class house a block away from a favela, you just realize that is better not to have enemies. You can smash anyone with Karate in the street, but next day you will be gun shot returning home in the evening. That's what I like about Aikido, the possibility to defend yourself without increasing the circle of violence.
@@MarioSeoane great points. And your English is very good. Your story here reminds me of a video that I saw on GracieBreakdown of two BJJ/MMA guys from Brasil that were in a store, flirted with a girl, she left only to be replaced by two male friends, pushing shoving in the store went outside to a brawl involving 3-4 attackers on the original 2. I didn't see any attempts at de-escalation. Only ego and adrenaline. At the end, a large wooden board came out and one of the guys were hit from behind and suffered really bad permanent injuries. Part of that is feeling young and invincible but bottom line is if you don't have to fight don't and don't start that circle of violence that you talk about above. Aikido does tend to make one more relaxed and less eager for confrontation.
@@mergsTM thank you for your comments about my English, that's encouraging. I also saw the video you mentioned, I think unfortunately the guy finally passed away. It was in Brazil. It is sad to know how cheap is life in South America, a lot of people killed on the streets and the corrupted judges usually defend the criminals and put the victims in jail if they killed the aggressor in self defense. I can remember up to eleven occasions when I defended myself for real, not just against "bad guys" but even "good guys" over stressed because they didn't like the way I drive for example. It was simply too much, and I decided that's not the kind of society I want for my four children. That's why we moved to Canada few years ago, and for my surprise, I noticed that most of the Aikido practice is focused in to looking for the "effectiveness" rather than peaceful resolution of conflicts. I think it has to do with the fact that there is almost no criminality and conflicts on the streets of Canada, and the idea of self defense is very theoretical. I don't deny the practice can be very effective over here, but I think the idea of Aikido is not "to win" a fight, just to avoid being injured.
I was not aware either there are (a half dozen?) different types of Aikido .. 😮 Could we have a video explaining/comparing a little of the differences of each, please?
Five ideas for the last point -- how to make Aikido work on the street (1) Asymmetric drilling -- take a page out of BJJ's pass-sweep-submit exercise -- not all sparring or drilling needs to be 1-on-1 on equal footing and Aikido usually involves asymmetric scenarios where what you're doing to your opponent does not resemble what your opponent is trying to do to you. Figure out how to make drills, not symmetric sparring, in this way to improve pressure testing in a way that fits Aikido. (2) Don't (exclusively) take Aikido techniques out of context. Most of the Aikido techniques need to involve footwork and distance management at a further-out-than-kickboxing range (weapons range, essentially) It's okay to continue to train the traditional techniques -- I encourage it -- in this way. But pay attention to the distance management -- this is where this training can begin to have an "aliveness" in managing the distance actively. Factor in resisting the actual throws and you've got something very real in the original, classic techniques. (3) Train Aikido techniques in a BJJ, Karate or Judo context. I don't mean this in a negative way. You will need to learn some Judo, Karate and/or BJJ to do this effectively. Each of these styles of sparring have at least several different Aikido moves (not all the same for each ruleset) I can think of that absolutely will work and will let you pressure test various Aikido techniques in very alive scenarios (4) Consider simply cross training a second martial art to be a fallback for heavier fighting... while thinking of Aikido as a distance management and miscellaneous self defense art. This is not a replacement for training Aikido in a realistic manner, but just a supplemental idea. Cross training a second martial art should never be seen as a failure of the first art... if I only did BJJ, I might train Judo to develop my standup game. If I only did Karate I might train Judo or BJJ to learn some grappling. And so on. To say that a second martial art is a benefit does not mean the first martial art was worthless. (5) Don't let the training ever become so routine it just feels like going through the motions. Change it up. Try different angles, let each throw be a little different and fit each unique attacker. This is one thing Ki Aikido does really well; at least in my experience with it. No two throws should be identical (even if it's the same throw) but each one should correspond to the attacker and the attack as closely as possible... and no two attacks are going to be totally identical either. Add resistance into that and it's very decent from a realism standpoint, and least within the context of the throw itself.
@Michelle Davis These are optional ideas, for those interested in greater self defense value, of how to train Aikido to bring about greater realism (the reality of street fighting) I'm not pushing any person towards them who doesn't want to train that way. I do all five on a weekly basis, using BJJ (right now it's rarely but occasionally Karate or Judo) as the recurring sport ruleset. Fortunately, my style of Aikido does (2) and (5) as a standard and the way we train often looks like (1)
@Michelle Davis Tohei's Ki Aikido (Ki Society / Shin Shin Toitsu) is that way. I do Kokikai, which branched off of Tohei's style because we desired self defense value (we resist the throws in training in order to progressively improve their efficacy, over the course of years) We do retain the non-formulaic aspects of Tohei's style (that the throws are not supposed to be performed exactly the same way again and again, but more follow a basic outline, catered uniquely to each attacker and each attack, which is why they may end up failing to resist the throw). We also focus heavily on internal aspects, like calmness, posture, and a positive (confident) outlook on dangerous situations... all of which take years of steady practice to effectively cultivate. Notably, Kokikai is still connected directly to OSensei as the founder was a live-in student of OSensei's for about seven years, nearly the last seven years of OSensei's life. Kokikai is also considered a style of Ki-Aikido, it's just not the original style; it's the first style of Ki-Aikido to take the reality of fighting into the equation and train accordingly. Due to the nature of Aikido's goals, "fighting" is seen as a failure of the Aikidoka, even (especially?) in Kokikai. The ideal is to control the attacker without losing control of the situation -- fighting is what the martial artist does when they do not have total control of the situation; fighting is what they do when they're trying to win, rather than simply already being in control. Still, it's a tall order to not need to fight an attacker who is trying to fight against you -- this is the reason Aikido is such an advanced martial art and the reason it takes many many years to master and apply effectively I find cross training and drilling improve one's grasp of fighting and therefore improve one's grasp of how to control a live attacker. All of Aikido was intended (originally) to be a martial art -- in the early days, one had to be a Judo blackbelt to be invited to train in Aikido. It was seen as necessary fundamentals to apply Aikido in a live situation -- which was definitely originally a goal of the art.
@Michelle Davis So, you've come here to continue to iterate that last point, (men and violence) even though there's nothing palpable in what I posted that makes it relevant?
@Michelle Davis I don't think it is possible to be extremely effective in Kokikai Aikido while aiming to be aggressive and violent; the techniques are all still centered around letting the attacker come to you and this puts a premium on calmness and gentle (but very firm and alive) touch for getting results. Training in other martial arts simply gives us a realistic, kinesthetic understanding of fighting that can help us have a realistic appraisal of how we would go about controlling (not fighting) a variety of different kinds of attackers, which, as self defense is the goal, is very productive to Aikido and very productive towards cultivating peace in ourselves and the world. There is an epidemic in martial arts like Aikido where many practitioners do not have a realistic understanding of fighting and as such, cannot accurately evaluate their own self defense abilities; this prevents them from applying Aikido as a self defense art effectively because, despite all the Aikido practice, it's a new domain for them (to apply in a live, changing situation). It's like it's their first day of class, no matter how many years of repetitive training they've had. This phenomenon will go away (never needing to do anything outside the dojo) if they cross train for years in arts with sparring and adjust their Aikido (even in subtle ways) accordingly... not needing to make their Aikido more violent, just more adaptable, yet firm... just more correct. I know it can be achieved without cross training too, but it may take longer, if one trains Aikido using (1), (2) and (5) from this list. My own instructor is proof of this; no matter how experienced I get in Karate or BJJ, he's still perhaps the most impressive martial artist I know, despite never cross training. But it's hard to take him as normal as I've met many Aikido blackbelts who were comparatively clueless about live self defense. He trained with very high quality for 35 years; if he'd just gone through the motions for 35 years I'd think it would be very different.
I must say as a practitioner of martial arts for over 40 years I agree with everything that you say something that most people don’t realise that have not practised Aikido is that Aikido has changed in recent years, traditionally there were more techniques that were taught as well as much more emphasis on atemi . In my research the old Masters used to consider that 80% of the fight was a atemi and 20% was technique i.e. wrist locks throws restraints and chokes. You only have to look at the forgotten side of the arts which many people don’t consider and that is weapons work which includes someone throws and some walks but mainly ways to penetrating opponents the defence with the sword or staff. There are many pictures of a sensei using a fan or short stick to strike an opponent who is attacking him with a weapon. I think people get hung up on technique and forget that it’s a series of principles that are at work here whether not you’re using empty hands or weapon it’s all about how you control your opponent how kind you are to them are you not hurting them it’s your choice to make it’s not dictated by the martial art
@@Aikidoflow if possible maybe bring up the point that within the Aikikai there are different subsets of styles, for Instance, I'm an Aikikai Nidan but my school follows Nishio Sensei's form of training which is different than the standard Aikikai system.
@@legobrickabrac when did I claim it was " a movement" ? Look up Nishio Ryu and you will see our movements differ from what is standard for the Aikikai. Yet, we are still members of the Aikikai. Osensei taught many people throughout his lifetime and his movements changed over time, making a pre war student's style different from a post war student. Those students went on to become teachers, and the heads of schools, who then taught their studens the Aikido that they learned, which created variations within the Aikikai orginization.
I read some Aikijitsu books that have stated that in Aikijitsu you learn the forms but that is is up to you to learn how to use them. It is up to you to give them life. Maybe it is practiced as it is for a reason to teach certain fundamentals, principals develope and study the techniques. I have always believed this.
the comprehension of balance, bio mechanics, pressure and the kinetic chain of forces that you learn from Aikido always works. The application of those fundamental principles is not limited to the structured forms of instruction, and when the forms of instruction are used "on the street" and not the fundamental principals then you get people saying Aikido doesn't work.
Thanks a lot for this video. I want to put my 10 y.o.son to start with Aikido and I think it is important to show him these basics. Hopefully he will be less dissapointed in his early years of study of it.
This video is shockingly accurate in its observations! I don't feel so bad now about about being a year and a half into it and still sucking at most of it! haha
I used to be worried about the applicability of Aikido for street fights as well, but then I realized that it's not really that important for me. The training is fun and keeps you fit and *healthy* (mind&body); ultimately in my opinion this is what is much more important. Sure, if you live in a rough neighborhood you might want to look into some other martial arts as well, but 99% of the time it's not going to come to a physical fight.
I agree with number 5 although as a budo it is pretty much down to the aikidoka to make "their" Aikido to be practical. Karate (especially shotokan) has that same trouble too.
Is it really so in most of the dojo? I ask you cause i begann aikido last year and my 2 senseï introduced me from the very beginning to atemi and where there are opening to punch with the hand or the elbow and so one. So i just fell like it's normal ... Greetings from France ! (and sry for my English, that may be better :) )
I can really relate to your first point. I also had no idea about the styles that are available. In Portugal, where I live, there's only Takemusu Aiki (Morihiro Saito's branch of Iwama Ryu) and Aikikai. From my personality, I believe Aikikai would be extremely frustrating to me, and I'd probably turn away with an inconsistent view of what Aikido is (or can be). I was lucky enough that the dojo near my house is Takemusu Aiki and, as such, must closer to my personality. Regarding your second point, after 11 years of training, I still feel frustrated often. I can also tell you, your frustration is aligned with your next "stepping stone" - you get frustrated when your technique is no longer enough for what your trying to achieve and you're looking for the next level. That is true with all martial arts. I also have some experience with Shotokan Karate and Taekwondo, and felt the same frustration in those martial arts as well. Regarding the usage of Aikido in a street fight - this is just my interpretation, but what we train in the dojo are learning tools to grasp the principles, and the principles work brilliantly in a street fight. Of course, the techniques are not the principles in their purest form... I mean, morotedori isn't an attack. Trying to pull off a kokyunage from a morotedori is way harder then trying to pull one off a tsuki, and that's why morotedori and all the other forms are so important - if you can pull the principles off a static situation, you can easy pull it off a dynamic one. Another important thing - a lot of styles don't put any emphases on atemi - from my understanding, both Gozo Shioda Sensei and Morihiro Saito Sensei stated that atemi is 90% of every technique - as such, it cannot be neglected.
@@Aikidoflow Hi guys. I know this probably shouldn't go here as far as the video and conversation, and I'm fairly sure that the following clip isn't classical aikido. That said, how is this NOT a blazing point that shows that aikido principles do work and are actually favorable in real combat? The man enters directly and then turns. I think I should send this link to Icy Mike at his channel "Hard 2 Hurt". What do you all think?
I'm feeling number 4 a bit. I lost 20kg throught the keto diet but not excercise. So I thought aikido would combine my desire for excercise as with learning a martial art. I'm 1 week in. But I also think I'm addicted to Aikido now. I love it and the people at my dojo are very patient with me. Still learning to break fall though😅
Been doing it under 12 months and love it so far but only just finding my feet. Can feel like I have no idea at times then suddenly a move will come to me. Last night, during some bokken Judi wasa I managed to step then throw one of my opponents without thinking, it felt great! Such a supportive group as well, never done anything that was so socially motivated before. Also the willingness of other sensi from other groups to come train us keeps it so interesting. Do you guys ever travel around and visit other clubs? We're up in the malverns so might be a bit far for you.
Regarding the steep learning curve... is it actually the way that things are taught in aikido that makes it SO hard to follow and digest? Im sure i will be much better in 2 years or more but my current frustrations makes me wanna quit. And its not an easy decision, since there are so many thing i loved about the art. as a real life example, giving that im a beginner... how or why on earth should i just copy saying a Shankyo just by looking at it ... without any further explanation? :/ it’s like trying to learn guitar just by looking.. i understand that this is the aikido “teaching system” but sometimes its just too much for me man. Feels like im wasting my time trying things without solid foundation
OMG! YES! I gave up on you because it seemed that you gave up on aikido before you found these concepts. To use Aikido, you need to be developed as a person first.
To be good Aikidoka is to see all Aikido , Randora like tomiki , Saito , some Element of Old Video of Kenji , Steven Seagul amd so on. MOREIHE UESIBA AIKIDO IS DESIGN FOR Nippon Police THAT IS WHY THERE ISNT ANY FIGHTING ELEMENT MENT FOR BUT THAT ONE OF AIKIDO ELEMEMTS IN AIKIDO SOME AIKIDOKA WAS SO FRUSTRATED BECAUSE OF UNABLE TO OFFENCE OF FIGHT BUT O SENSEI AIKIRO IS ENFORCER DEFENSIVE AIKIDO NOT FOR FIGHTING.
Thought you're opening music with the conga's m was the Kink's song JukeBox Music . You'll get to full speed when the quality of your uploads matches your expectations. *Number 3* _You'll know who you are , when you meet who you are_ _they've always been waiting_
Honestly I don’t have time for the “community and social aspect”. With my busy schedule I just want to get in and then get out. Does that mean aikido won’t work for me
Nice video, but I don't agree with #5 :P Putting on gloves and a head gear is not "street fighting" or as they call it now "pressure testing". An Irimi Nage is an Irimi Nage is an Irmi Nage ...
Keep an eye on the martial arts journey channel by Rokas Leonavicius he has been walking this path to practical application in the context of MMA. It might be worth comparing notes.
I'm using internet and books to learn. Im using a Jo staff and I know a little bit of the body movements. Any tips on what I should do next? What I should read/learn to learn more hand to hand moves? Jo moves? Love your videos!!
If all you have access to is books and videos, do that. But if you can find a dojo, it beats everything. Hands on learning is the best choice. If there is no Aikido, find a Judo or Jiu Jitsu dojo, they derive from the same source, and will teach you balance, both yours, and your partners.
We are working on some downloadable training which will be a great help to you which should be out in about 2 months, BUT as the other guys here pointed out you need to train at some point with another body, if you can't train at a Dojo find someone to train with.Thats really important, you can learn the energy balance with out doing this.
@@Aikidoflow by training do you mean practicing on somebody or learning new moves from somebody. I can learn a lot on line and I am focusing on the spiritual and growth part as well as the Jo
