BJJ Black Belt Explains Why Aikido Is Perfect 

I could listen to Eli Knight talk about martial arts forever. He has clearly spent a lot of time doing some serious critical thinking.

I really appreciate the conversation and had a great time. Thanks so much again, Rokas!

Speaking of absorbing an opponents energy, I can remember when I started out in BJJ. Like many white belts, I was aggressive as a means of compensating for lack of technique. At that time, many of the other students (white and color belts) would easily defeat me, but I could feel them meeting my aggression with resistance. They could shut down what I was doing, but I could tell they had to work for it. There was one blue belt (who I believe became Purple soon after) that I absolutely loved rolling with, because he didn't exist. What I mean is, no matter how aggressive I became, I could not feel any resistance from the guy. If I grabbed, he wasn't there. If I pushed, he wasn't there. If I pulled, he wasn't there. Then, all of a sudden, he would be locking out my arm, or choking me. It was like rolling with a ball of dust that had nothing but finishing moves. I felt completely helpless against that guy, but at the same time, I loved feeling that way, because I understood, this was the power of Jiu Jitsu. I have rolled with a lot of people and I don't know that I've ever met another practitioner like him. I wish I knew what he was doing now. Abu Bakr from Ann Arbor, if you are out there . . . I'm talking about you.

There are some basic principles of Aikido that I've used in security. The techniques are significantly more effective against highly motivated and untrained people, whom you have a professional obligation not to harm, than they do against trained martial artists in a sparring setting who retract their punches and have a strong sense of balance.

Aikido is not about catching a hand. It is about moving with the opponent. A hand slides in the direction of an opponent's hand and if you don't grab it, you do a next appropriate technique. The problem is that in most schools they do not teach what to do if you missed. They do not teach how to flow with an opponent from move to move. But there are a few styles where they do: Shodokan, Yoseikan and its offshoot Aikibudo in France and a few more.

The more I train in other systems, the more I appreciate what Aikido is trying to do. When I did BJJ, I was very surprised by how often Aikido concepts would pop into my head while rolling. My understanding and perception of those concepts would grow, the holes would slowly fill and I would have a better and more complete view. The two systems complement each other really well. I'm doing boxing now, and just recently we were drilling a parry that was so Aikido-like that they were surprised that I picked it up so quickly. I never lost my respect for Aikido, it actually grew, but it definitely does feel like it would take an other-wordly level of timing and reflexes to pull off techinques as taught consistently.

Eli knight is my former (and still as I believe, current) instructor, I loved training with him and he is a great teacher.

Rokas, I’ve followed your journey for a long time now, and love to see the progress you’ve made in your training. Your videos are inspiring, and the humble approach to learning you’ve taken is refreshing. I’ve been in various martial arts for 40 years, and here is what I think most people miss regarding Aikido. Aikido was always a spiritual and philosophical approach to a martial art, & not a fighting method. It is a ritualized, artistic expression of simulated armed and unarmed combat that incorporates the five spirits of Budo- Shoshin, Zanshin, Mushin, Fudoshin, and Senshin. The blending dance of Uke and Tori are a physical manifestation of the flow state that can be understood as moving or “living” zen. Both Uke and Tori’s roles are an integral part of the process, and reflect the concept of Yin & Yang in a tangible, physical way. This is purposely hard to put into actual words, and, at its core, isn’t about a struggle at all. The real goal here is the state of mind that it intends to produce when approached in this ritualistic way. This state of mind is one of peace, harmony, & flow that represents an evolved state of consciousness beyond the barbarism of crude combat that has been, and still is a part of the human condition. Morihei Ueshiba was a mystic who I believe understood the violent roots of Bushido very well. He also understood that he lived in a time of great change, where the old ways and mindsets had to evolve or perish. He was sharp enough for his time to realize that the warrior spirit and teachings still had much to offer the world, but could be transmuted into a physical practice that was congruent with the physicality of Budo, but inseparable from the intellectual and philosophical tenets of Asian spirituality that he believed contributed to significant personal growth. The real question, then, is this practice valuable today when viewed through this lens? I believe that it depends on the individual and his or her long term intentions with training. But, under the right circumstances, the answer is a resounding yes- and that it doesn’t contradict the practice of a more direct method such as BJJ, Boxing, Wrestling, Muay Thai, etc. In fact, I’d say that it would enhance those practices significantly by adding the more metaphysical lessons that Aikido has to offer. All of this being said, MANY of today’s Aikido practitioners don’t get this. Many are delusional thinkers that have been trained by other delusional thinkers who have never understood the roots of their art, nor the need to pressure test things that they believe will serve them in a real, violent clash with a determined attacker. I realize this has been a long reply, and I hope it maybe adds a little perspective to your journey from the observations of a fellow martial artist. 🙏🙏 Best regards from New Orleans, USA.

I'm so happy you're covering Aikido in this way. This is how i've used it.

As a former Aikido practioner, my opinion is it's moves and concepts have it's proper place (as with all martial arts). Admittedly learning how to fall has by far been the most useful in average life and even saved my ass twice!

I’m actually happy there’s a place in Aikido, how the locks can be applied properly, while applying the original katas/techniques and keeping the tradition. It’s good to see this

One of your last videos, you left open speculation on why Kano Jigoro, the founder of Judo, was so impressed by Aikido as "the true Judo". From what I can observe as an outsider, I think it's because Aikido further distills the principles of efficient use of energy (one of Kano's central principles for Judo), by using pain compliance to supplement the throwing. It's why Sensei Lenny Sly always said that "if it hurts, it works": because I suspect that Aikido was always originally meant to use the induced pain from small joint manipulation, in order to further minimize the force you have to use to get someone down. Will this always be practically doable? Probably not. The direct use of strength and positioning for grabbing and leverage in Judo throwing is still, for example, going to be more commonly doable. But Aikido's use of minimized flowing movement while supplemented with pain compliance, is certainly still biomechanically and psychologically sound. It tells us a lot about how the human body and mind works, which can always find itself implicitly manifest in how we deal with fights.

As a fellow Aikido Black Belt, I am also training in BJJ, Kickbxing, Filipino Kali and JKD. I see the links and gaps from one to the other. I also, see the trends where techniques from one are the big new thing in the other art. I haven't personally met Professor Knight, but I like what he has to say and hope to meet him soon and maybe even get to train with him.

Most people don't have to fight other people physically on a regular basis. Aikido's principles work for a wider range of situations, as well as being fun and flowing and linking energies, softening the ego and being more relaxed. And there are a range of "hard" and "soft" styles. The principles of aikido also link well with Buddhism and Taoism, with tai chi and qigong (and bagua with which there are some more visible similarities).

Great conversation. Thank you

Thank you for sharing your martial journey ^^🙏.

I was hoping to see a video elaborating on this topic. Very interesting indeed

Really enjoyed this, Eli is one of the most intelligent person you have interviewed and your topic was spot on as it's a subject he had something important and insightful to say on.

Great discussion of the topic and theory.

Wow! I added another gem to my collection. Thank you!

Love your videos. And your phrase “owning your journey” is so true. I took up aikido over 25 years because I wanted an activity to help improve balance, coordination and health in other activities including kayaking, dance, squash,swimming... I found out more about aikido and I was drawn to it’s principles, the “listening” and connection, flow and the sheer fun and atmosphere of the aikido class. Learning to fall, to stumble etc was useful on numerous occasions. I only had to disarm someone once (someone attacking someone else with a spade, and the other person would have had his head smashed in)- the bokken practice was handy for that I’m sure and I loved aikido sword work- the flow, feeling the weight change and extension through various movements. Later, I took up tai chi and qigong and loved those too for the meditative, awareness and energy aspects. I was very, very surprised at how much “zhan zhuang” (standing form) improved my aikido.

this is a super cerebral analysis of fighting 'harmony' and really amazing. love hearing stuff like this

Another very good video, thank you very much 🙏 I agree on the whole topic💪🙏🥋

Eli Knight is great. I liked him very much when I met him. As a Tai Chi practitioner, I tell people it makes a great polish for other arts .

In truth Eli is saying something that applies to ALL martial arts at a high level. All paths no matter how different eventually lead to the same destination.

Great video!!!

Great Video!

That was a great video.

I've practiced taekwondo, 2x styles of kung fu, muay Thai and judo. Now at the age of 40 I've started learning aikido partly out of curiosity and partly out of a love of Budo Japanese martial culture. Aikido (compared to Judo and other martial arts) is - infinitely more subtle, footwork, balance, posture is far more important. Footwork is very very similiar to wing chun interestingly. It's far more cognisant of anatomical structure of the human body. I believe it's more focused on "balance" even than judo, also hand positioning is far more important than in judo. I think aikido is kind of a far more efficient and refined version of Judo, but it comes at the cost of requiring significantly more precision and training. The benefit is if you can make it work, you don't need any strength in your techniques. I also think aikido is more effective the more aggressive the attacker is. There are better offensive martial arts. I'm finding it's actually quite a close range art, like judo and Wing chun. Wing chun pairs with it better than any striking art by far, which isn't surprising because it also isn't a strength dominant stiking art.

Eli 'Fantastical' Knight The man with the many hairdos. He's my favorite BJJ guy to learn from. Great video!

thank you for this video

Nice video as someone who practised aikido for many years I agree with a lot here. When people talk about aikido not working I've always said the science works, the theory is sound but it's so technical and has to be so precise that it works but it rarely works. As someone who comes from a tomiki background where we do compete against a resisting opponent I can testify how hard it is to pull off and that's against somone sticking to a competition rule set. Most the time we don't get the technique it becomes like a game of the chess and eventually somthing happens and you get a throw. A lot of the time guys are also cheating themselves and muscling it too so even when we do get a throw its not always strictly pure aikido. But as Rokos says theoretically if you were able to catch that punch at that right time etc it will work and it does work because we get it to work in competition. Now when people talk about putting it up against a skilled mma fighter any aikidoka that claims it would stand up is either delusional or lying and I say this as somone with many years of aikido under me. You would have to be so good and so perfect it's just not going to be happen in reality even if you put the best I've ever trained with in there. The science is good enough to win but there is nobody who could pull it off in real time. Because when we find it that hard to pull off in an aikido competition rule set where you don't have to worry about getting kicked or punched etc. Then you have no chance in that environment. We have to remember the aikidoka of old were highly skilled in other arts before ueshiba would even train them. To compare it to mma is pointless it will loose mma has more weapons. Aikidoka are working on a certain skill set. Of course the person with more weapons will win. Having also studied Japanese sword work, escrima and Western fencing I'd say well how long do you think your ufc fighter will last against those? If we were putting an mma fighter against an akidoka I'd be far more interested in seeing how well the mma fighter lasts under a tomiki aikido competition rule set. Both armed with just the basic 17 randori no kata. I'd like to see how it pans out. I already know the akidoka will loose in the mma environment, the mms fighter has twice as many weapons. Aikido has its place. Its a beautiful art and not everyone does things because they want to be a fighter and that's fine. That's why you still have people practicing sword arts that they are never going to use in a real fight. If you want to learn to fight don't do aikido. There is room for both and both should be respected and we should always keep an open mind and have fun with it.

My favorite begginers trap is the double hook. I really like when a big guy who dosen't know the position just rush to smash me with full momentum, just to get rolled over and to be mounted.

Eli's a legend!

Great, thoughtful video. It can be helpful to think of martial art systems in terms of 'tiers' - some are high level but essentially useless without combat experience or black belts in pressure-tested systems underneath them. Aikido, Taji and perhaps some other estoric systems (keep in mind, many are total BS) are a kind of 'finishing school' art that you place on top of the other hardcore systems. It is easy to understand Aikido in this light, particularly when you consider when it was created and where in his lifetime the founder happened to be.

At my bjj gym we call it the funnel. You have your own personal A game and you funnel your opponent into it. The wider your funnel is, the more effective your bjj is

few month ago about 5 guys attack me on the street. They started pushing me and punching. All what I was doing was blocking, moving forward and avoid punch as I could. I was not agrresive, no punch or graps or levers even when was oportunity for it. When they noticed that I do not want fight they just went. And I'm quite sure if I was aggresiv and start against them, propably they would beat me more becasue they looking for fight. I was trainig Akido for 8 years, BJJ 0,5 year, Krav Maga for 1 year, and now Karate for 3 year. And for sure only blocks, moves and dexterity which I was lernead on Aikido and KravMaga propably saved my life. Punching and be agressive agains many oponents on the street never work, becuase they always could grab knife and kill you when realized that you want also hurt them.

Back when I did Aikido I was also doing Tai Chi (Yang Pan Hou form), and I would say that the techniques mostly go together quite well.

Nothing made me fall in love with aikido more than practicing mma. I had been trying not to use aikido BECAUSE I didn't feel that it would work well in the situation. Training partner throws a superman punch and out of sheer instinct I had thrown him gedanate. I went back to aikido to develop my aikido in that area and more "self defence" application.

Eli Knight talks beautiful about martial arts and i can listen to him for hours. 🥋🙏⛩️☯️

Rokas, maybe you can try to get in touch with a guy named Roy Dean? He's a BJJ and Aikido black belt and teaches some aikido principles and moves for BJJ, for example wrist locks

I really enjoyed this video! Its always good to look at Aikido from a different angle, from a more realistic pov - I'm sure you know what I mean. The love is still there! What I just realized is that the stupid ppl are still there also... With that said, I would like to hear more from Elly aout this, though... As always, ty Rokas! Great stuff!

I love Eli, I've pondered similar things Ive been training bjj and judo for over 10 years, and would love to also train aikido if given the chance. You can extract good principles of footwork and leverage from it.

That final bit about uke having the hardest job is true, but it also made me realize something. In 3 years of Aikido practie I learned mucho more valuable things from the uke side than the nage side of it. Because the techniques one learns, aside from basic principles like moving your center of mass and a few locks, aren't useful in a practical situation as they are taught. But as uke you have to learn how to fall right and get un quickly again in a very harmnious way, and also how to react to an opponent in ways that aren't intuitive for an untrained person. You also gain some resistance to pain from the locks and learn where your limits are. The main thing is falling though, because several times in life you will fall to the ground, wether it's during a fight or just cause you sliped on some ice, and knowing hoy to fall correctly might actually save your life. The same can be said about judo and I don't know how much of this is trained in BJJ, but I would expect they train this too.

Hi Rokas. Greetings from a Brazilian fan. I would be interesting if you could make a video talking and training with Yoshihito Shibata, a Japanese Aikido teacher living in the US. I think he can bring interesting points about the biomechanics of Aikdio.

I like this video. In my humble opinion any martial art practiced with dilligence becomes a viable form of self defence, including Aikido. In my journey with Aikido I met so many Akidoka that were also trained or training in multiple arts. In fact they came from other arts to Aikido simply for the fact that it can compliment and enhance a martial artists repetoir. I have found that it is a situational martial art. A particular opening will present it's self and having trained enough my muscle memory takes over and the Aikido technique simply flows out of me. So many arts have useful and amazing techniques that are wonderful to have in your back pocket if needed. But there are several Martial Arts that truly bring to light the spiritual and inner strength that a long time practitioner eventually seeks and I believe Aikido is one of them. It almost seems like a graduate school for a martial artist. As others have stated it brings a whole new level of understanding but I don't think it is meant to stand on it's own.

Well said

Coach Ramsey Dewey has a story about a quick fight against a real practitioner of Taijiquan. He was submitted quickly by this old man who was clearly a talented fighter. How long had the old man been trainin? (I forgot his name) He said 80 years, basically all his life. Taijiquan literally means "supreme ultimate fist". My understanding is that Taijiquan is meant to be a capstone to all other training. On top of your Muay Thai, BJJ, Sanda, Sambo, and what have you, Taijiquan acts as a pinnacle on top of which to advance your training. Taijiquan does have legitimacy. And there are still people out there who preserve effective Chinese martial arts. The problem is that a lot of the schools and teachings were lost during the Cultural De-evolution under Mao, creating contemporary wushu, which is cool and all, but a shell of what it used to be. This was not just a tragedy for Chinese martial arts, but martial arts as a whole imo. I can't speak for Aikido though. I'm less well versed in that history.

I see Aikido more as a way of self defense and, like other self defense methods, it works pretty good when the attacker is not expecting any kind of attack and is caught by surprise.

From what I read a while back most Japanese martial artists who did Aikido had already trained in Judo and Karate prior to training Aikido and they have a good base then with which to make Aikido work.

I’m soooo glad you came back to aikido amigo! I was disappointed years ago when you made that detour, but now happy you went through it. Hard won!

I see aikido as the Latin language of the Martial Arts World. Nobody speaks Latin (anymore), but you have a solid foundation in learning other (especially european) languages. Aikido will give you a very solid understanding in Martial arts, which will make it easier to learn other fighting styles.

I love how you bring new light to Aikido might be more relevant in military than ever. Most discard it as outdated just for samurais fighting in armour when lost their weapons. But maybe relevant than ever again as modern infantry again wear quite heavy body armour. I’d love to see you test how well Aikido would work dressed in full modern military body armour. Thanks for sharing your journey.

It may be good to explore Daito Ryu Aki Jitsu, as well as Aikido.

I'm pretty critical of youtube grappling teachers, but Eli has one of, if not the best BJJ info on youtube. Explains very well stuff that works. HUGE knowledge base.

This is by far the best realization about aikido yet. Im not really an aikidoka but i see it all the time in other arts and when i do its amazing! And feels amazing to find.

One of the best things of aikido is how fall with minimal damage many underestimate how damaging falling can be

Great video, Eli is very knowledgeable I see. I will say aikido and tai chi are very different from my experiences. Chen tai chi in particular is very focused on good body structure, yielding, off balancing and neutralizing incoming force. A lot of what I’ve seen from aikido is very compliant partners allowing someone to throw them without much effort being given to the throw. Tai chi is very explosive as well with great shoulder strikes and great power from being very well rooted and using whole body power. One part moves all parts move. That’s the beauty of Chen tai chi.

Another guy worth talking to is Paul Cale black belt in 3 styles of Aikido and professor at machado Sydney Australia, he also holds black belts in Judo and Kudo, he is a Australian commando(famous for storming a enemy stronghold in Afghan and choking out a taliban leader) and the CQC instructor for the Australian defence force, why do I mention him because Paul has stated that Aikido gave him the tools/principles to learn combat.

Rokas, you should look into a seminar called hard ready. It's in October. Eli will be there, icy Mike will be there as well some other great instructors. Some of the best training I've had. The guy who runs it is named Ryan Hoover

It was a pleasant surprise to see a Dr Tadashi Tokieda cameo here

You should check out Tim Cartmell. He started off in kung fu and was a high level practitioner doing leitai matches. But picked up bjj after returning to the US because it meshed so well with his internal martial arts.

Have you ever looked into Goju Karate? It has a lot of the principles your talking about here. It is all about the interplay of hard/soft power. It is focused mostly on stand up striking and grappling. I have studied various martial arts but my favorite is Goju Karate because of the balance of the physical and philosophy.

Hi Rokas, i love your approach of martial art. At the same time you like to discuss with professionals of all styles. You put Coralie Camilli on your miniature, she is an aïkido, mma martial artist and philosophy doctor who wrote "the art of fighting". You could try to interview her and also you could ask her international level fighter boyfriend what he thinks about aïkido... ;-)

whoa , that problem and dilemma thing.. it works on so many levels even outside of martial arts

Eli is a very intelectual man, and knows his stuff Respect!!

I had a friend who recently passed away who was very good in muay thai. But he always insisted that he's good because of his 25 years of tai chi.

I have a question have you looked into daito ryu aikijujutsu. I originally saw aikido as ineffective, but looking at it through daito ryu aikijujutsu made it more effective.

Great video once again. Have you seen Loyd Irvin’s video on the Subject of Every Martial Art being good for what it’s created for? I’ll leave the link below. I would love to hear your review of his video.

at the highest levels of Judo, where the Judoka understands movement and balance so well, it resembles Aikido

I'll start taichi chuan. I'm already I striker, and more I realized about myself more I can see how to use the wrestling of taichi. I was never an agressivo fighter until last year, when I realized the place I have more fear in a fight is where I can get flow state, the infighting zone, the ground where it begins to come a wrestle but still can be a striking zone, now I use my elbows and knees much more effectively. And in that middle ground if you understand the wrestling behind taichi you can be a beast. Like the wind, flow gently yet can bring down mountains

You can fall in to someone's rhythm very easily in the dojo. You can even be hypnotized by their skills. High level BJJ doesn't translate to the streets or Self Defense just the basics.

My dad taught me to push hands from Taichi. I now use it to bind a person's blade and hit them with close quarters in fencing. The technique does transfer somehow.

It took me 3 years of Aikido practicing to start, just start, understanding how can be actually applied in real life. But I could have not used it in real life. At 5 years of practicing, I could see how to use it. And of course, just then you understand that you don’t expect to execute the technique as per sensei’s execution. My sensei always said that, at least the Iwama Ryu Style, encouraged the provocation of the opponent so this latter would create “space” to apply the technique. And that would rarely end up looking like what we do in the dojo, at least in terms of “catching the fist” kinda thing. It is quite interesting to appreciate certain trending animosity towards Aikido, specially from jiu jitsu. The kind of mockery that indicates rather fear over true, sound-based criticism.

We’re all just looking to have fun. Aikido is fun and you can practice it into your 80’s. That’s reason enough for me to continue practicing it. It is a martial art.

Whats your opinión of Hapkido as a form of aplying Aikido in combat situations?

Eli has some of the best hair in BJJ. Also he's kind of good at it.

I have a question for those who have trained both Aikido and sport tested forms of grappling. It seems to me that once an Aikido hold is applied it definitely works, so would you say the difficulty is in how Aikido proposes to obtain the hold, or is it something else?

I’ve been practicing different MA and now I’m in Tai Chi Chuan. I like comments about usage of TCC: using opponents energy, if someone is committed it is easy to manipulate, weak v.s. strong, yielding etc. It is hard to tell that TCC is very useful due to (mostly) bad teachers and masters that are “selling” TCC for health and never been fighting. So they erased most topics and issues from TCC. What I learned in last few years is eye opening about TCC. I have to say that TCC is mostly structure, proper alignment of a whole body and relaxing (not collapsing). Then it comes yielding, following, issuing etc. represented by punches, kicks and other "tools". Which are just the outcome of previous issues. We do practice them (also with MMA gloves) in sparing, so that one can properly understand what TCC teach and has. However, it is a hard and long way to understand it. In addition, on top of all unfortunately, most of the time people (instructors) are not teaching those basics. Rokas so, a video with someone (that really knows TCC) would be gr8!

Aikido , I used aikido in a street fight when attack by 2 people . And did good . The technic I got was from a book . I did punishing to one the other I used aikido .

So, the end product of a "Functional Aikido" would probably look something like a hybrid of Tomiki Aikido and a specialist in this Flowing Style/Approach to Jiu Jitsu. Yes, Tomiki Aikido is able to do what they do because of the ruleset they use. But it's still Aikido moves performed with resistance, therefore the set ups for them might be different in a real fight or in MMA but it should still be possible to do them. Also, as Joe Rogan says sometimes the best way to train techniques is by doing them under a ruleset that isolates them.

Hey Rokas. Cause you pin Eli's video on Tai Chi and Aikido? Interested to hear it in context!

if i remember correctly, Aikido, Judo and JuJitsu are all subsets of aikijujitsu. Each just focusing on a different area. its interesting to see its adaptation from armed warfare to unarmed individual competition or how culture modified them.( brazillian jujitsu on the beach and wrestling and boxing in the parking lots.) With modern MMA its combing the areas again more. As society continues to devolve we will soon go full circle and see martial arts in its purest and most effective form again.

Great

@Martial Arts Journey My friend once told me the main problem of Aikido in now days are they teach you how to defense yourself with no harm to opponent and all tourntament rules, but in past you'v got moves that could be dangerous for enemy life and that's the point. Aikido in time started to be more and more polite if you could restore old school Aikido from how it was at the beggining that could be deadly martial art. He told me previoulsly previously Aikido meant to be way to disarm and defeat armed enemy with Katata etc....

While I was standing beside my motorcycle with my helmet held by the strap on my dominant right hand, a hobo grabbed my left wrist with hobo number 2 standing behind him wanting money. Turning my wrist palm up and pushing into him, I leveraged his wrist and unbalanced him, throwing him back into his buddy. I was ready to follow up by swinging the helmet but didn't have to as the white belt Aikido move worked perfectly. They slithered away and stopped bothering me. Also, as a doctor I might have to control a psychotic patient without punching him in the face, a situation where Aikido can be very helpful. In medical school an athletic football player type medical student classmate was cornered by a psychotic patient and he punched the patient in the face, resulting in a major reprimand.

You need an advanced grappling background to understand aikido in modern times. Some of these techniques really be working. Maybe you can't catch a strike but you can redirect a grab. If you were to study aikido responses to bjj situations like wrist/lapel grabs, and practice youd probably start opening doors.

My experience with aikido is that it works in many situations, but you can't force aikido techniques on someone. You really must use what is coming in your direction, otherwise it won't work. The "blending with your opponent" is crucial. You also should use some atemi when you can, in order to shock your opponent and put them off balance.

The story he refers to @ 3.35 is what happened to me, pretty much verbatim. I never knew that you could drown on dry land, without any water in sight, until that day.

Quick question guys, and also i come from an Aikido background, have you heard of Sauces-Ryu under Master Moses Powell. I think its combo of Kempo, Aiki-Jujitstu, and Arnis.

My Sifu called it "leaving the door open" when we leave opening for the opponent to take. Many advanced Chinese Arts use the idea of limiting the choices of the opponent and practicing ways of changing shape/structure to reduce their movement "impose your structure upon the enemy".

I managed the NYC Aikikai, and at no time was a real attack or punch used to defend against, with Aikido. Also atemi or strikes were not taught as part of the practice. Still great exercise for body and mind.

My only concern with BJJ is ground fighting. While one on one, you'll be in your element, fighting against multiple opponents you really don't want to be on the ground. I think BJJ has many fantastic grappling moves, but really you want to be on your feet against multiple opponents, well, not unless they all fall on the ground like you. As a former practitioner in Aikido (as well as other martial arts), my style was Tenshinkan (Heaven & Earth) and it was Aikido with more of an Aiki-Jutsu approach. Compared to other forms of Aikido, it was a much harder and sorer version. I was really taught how to instantly inflict pain to stop an attacker dead in their tracks, but what was good about it, was just enough pain to stop the opponent but not too much to injure them, well other than a sore joint for a little while afterwards. I would teach friends moves and tell them to hold a knife in one hand. I'd be holding their other hand/arm and tell them to attack me with the knife and fast, not slow. The minute they moved I'd simply put on the lock which IMMEDIATELY would result in the knife being dropped and my friends falling to their knees. This is what I liked about my style because it was realistic. Far too many people end up learning Akido but they never learn how to properly put on the amount of pressure needed to disable an opponent. And as you know, if you don't learn this, not only is Aikido useless to you in any situation, but you've put yourself in grave danger. When you put on a sankyo, nikyo, gonkyo, kotegashi, or one of the other moves, they need to be fast and controlled to instantly get a reaction.

I don’t know much about it but I could be wrong. Wasn’t aikido developed with armor? If you were wearing a full set of armor it would significantly slow you down, possibly allowing for the optimization of aikido.

Lowering your hands or sword to encourage a strike upward is called drawing and it taught in Boxing and Fencing.

Any experience with Yoshinkan Aikido. It doesn't seem as flashy as other Aikido styles. I've seen techniques against punches and kicks. It's also used by the riot police.

Eli is good people

i been enjoy series of videos and lead me to a line of think that aikido is a incomplete art that only meant to be learnt once use learnt another style but more importantly has learnt to fight under stress conditions like mma, so they got the experiences to adapt the principles of aikido to their chosen fighting style . you have taken the hard route of learning aikido first then learning how to fight. keep up the hard work on journey.

To be honest, I think that aikido is good, but what it used to be is difficult to find and learn and many end up not learning what the initial creator made it as.

I have a very smart young girl in my aikido class who is a bit childish but in a good way. Her behavior has often proved to me that some techniques don't work when the attacker switches to a defender. When I try to grab her hand or arm she often does the opposite and instead of attacking, she tries to push me back or escape the grip by running away and turning my aikido locks and holds into those of an attacker. When someone resits it's hard to do the typical Aikdio moves, but when the person is just attacking, it works for me. My teacher said if she refuses let her go, don't use a technique when the attacker dosen't want to attack you. We want to push something away when it seems to be dangerous or comes with force, but that dosen't work in every situation you want it to work, cause your opponent is not static.