Countering the ATTACK! - TenShin Aikido 

The attention to detail is outstanding.

As a kenjutsu instructor who is familiar with the history of Aikido (and of Osensei in particular), I love hearing you describe Aikido movement in kenjutsu terms! Likewise, I love seeing you demonstrate, essentially, Fencing advance/retreat footwork. As for "framing" your uke with your hands, I first learned this technique as "The Fence"...a barrier your attacker must either circumvent or dismantle before he can harm you, that also happens to place YOUR weapons that much closer to YOUR target. That Frame/Fence thus acts as both shield AND sword. The one "warning" I would give is that, as with any technique IN TRAINING, a realistically dynamic attack won't give you time to "post up". However, any training that makes getting your hands up and between you and your attacker is good, even when conditions aren't ideal. As for, "...going through the motions," the old addage, "Practice makes perfect," is incorrect. PERFECT practice makes perfect; all other practice makes bad habits. That's why, as firearms instructors say, "Slow is precise, and precise is fast." Thus, every one of my students (from martial arts to music) learns this Nietzsche, quote. "He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance. One cannot fly into flying." Along those lines, once again as a sword instructor, I love how you fine tuned your uke's attack. The lead hand on a kesagiri maintains the same position and line as a shokugiri; all that changes is the angle of the blade. You translated that principle beautifully! Speaking of that, if one finds oneself too "tight" after the initial suriage, dropping a similarly tight elbow down his center line can still enable a very effective hammer strike to the nose; it will be more like a ball pean hammer than a twenty-pound sledge, but it will still deliver a hefty dose of down-and-in impact energy. Plus, if you step too deep, your suriage might even land an incidental upward elbow to the face. None of these options is ideal; however, as mentioned above, reality seldom is, so it's good to have backup tools in one's bag of tricks. GREAT VIDEO, BROTHER!

Yes sir you are a Rock StarSensei.Thank You for sharing online.

Sensei Lenny, love the way you are pointing out all the usual mistakes of going through the motions as "reps", and telegraphed Yokomen Uchi cuts. The Ashi Sebaki you brought up is equally imperative to apply for mobility purposes, if we don't shuffle step forward or backward we will lose stability and good mobility and we will actually create openings our Uke will pick up on and take advantage of! Great stuff, I have utilized the Hammer punch and taught it, that will be the end game or game changer in any real confrontation that went to blows as well, thank you for affirming the focus and initial set up points of, lining up Uke, and lining up Nage before you start your engagements, this is how I have recently adapted my Happo Undo exercise to learn and apply this principle, still working that discipline into my students, they are learning to internalize it as I have, God bless brother, this was one of your greatest yet, because all those fundamentals are being employed and brought to the forefront!

Another great demonstration and explanation of body mechanics. We use the same concept in Kenpo to demonstrate the transition from an upward block to an inward block, leading with the elbow. Thanks for the great content!!

Excellent idea with grabbing the elbow. Keep it tight...love the knowledge shown in these videos..

A brilliant master instructor that speaks the truth.

LOVE IT!!! I personally like to attribute the yokomenuchi strike as ''the beer bottle strike.'' I picture the movement of yokomenuchi as someone swinging a beer bottle. THANK YOU for another great video.

Thanks for the info.There are very few martial artists who take the time to explain the basiscs,the little but oh so important things who make a technique work.Steps,knee aligment,body angle,etc...Your students ar lucky.

U keep it real sir. Thank u for showing us real aikido techniques that we can apply in real life and cut through all the bullshits and unnecessary movements

I like how Lenny explained how to apply Yokomenuchi as an effective attack. Not only did he show to strike close and quick like a hook punch, but he even held his striking hand by the elbow like the handle of a bokken. Very few Aikido teachers show you that.

Thanks for these videos...it's great to see aikido represented properly. So much like how Iwama and Nishio do things as well. Brill stuff...

Very very nice! I am glad I found a sensei who get's it. My hat is off to you.

Hands down you guys have one of the best Aikido channels on RU-vid! Really appreciate the detailed explanations.. Thank you!

Very nice, I like your aikido, it is different. Perhaps I would not do this style, as it does not suit what I personally look for in aikido, but for you and your students I can see it is great. Despite the intense combative techniques, any fool can recognise that this is still aikido, and I commend you for that. What is your favourite technique? Personally I like sankyo. I wish you nothing but more success in the future, it is good to see things like this. A minor concern I have is that it seems you rely on strength for many techniques, where a weaker person would falter, however that may be nothing but a miscommunication between real life and the camera picking you up. Well done!

Great stuff as always Sensei Sly! Thank you for always showing more traditional concept and then bringing it to that hardcore Tenshin concepts like in the "Fuck Someone Up using Yonko-Aikido that works! [in the real world application]" type of vids. I really appreciate how you do feel it is necessary to see both sides of the coin when it comes to Aikido and Aikijujutsu. Cheers!

***before I get to my comments (adding this after the fact) I just want to say that anyone less experienced in aikido, or who never received proper combat oriented aikido instruction, this video is easily worth paying for. Like if you paid $80/month to go to a dojo, this guy is giving you about $20 worth of instruction for free, so listen up.*** Being honest, I found this a little tedious, but I had a sensei who didn't skip on the atemi waza. In truth, your detailed explanations were good for the less experienced, or for those who were not properly taught atemi. The tangent on footwork was rather long, but again if people never had this broken down for them... I mean, how can you possibly execute good technique if your footwork is off? It's literally the foundation of everything we do! So in summation, this was a good lesson. A little slow paced for *me* but I can still fully appreciate what you are doing here.

I want to see Lenny join an MMA fight and show the world how Aikido REALLY does work in real situations- on the street or in the ring. Aikido is not the problem- no matter what Rokas at MAJ says right now. I''ve studied many different martial arts over my years- and Aikido can be very, very effective if applied properly with the right level of aggression and striking- I watched Rokas fight the MMA guy and cringed at his performance and general lack of real martial skills. It was like all he ever did was technique and never sparred in Rondori- or otherwise- like Lenny says below- he's a really nice guy- that's the problem- never be nice in a fight- Aikido is PRACTICED with a compliant partner- that's not the same as requiring a compliant partner for it to work- but you have to train for effective use in real-life situations- which I agree- very few modern dojos do that. The ones that do I think are Tenshin (even though now Rokas out there claiming otherwise) and Nishio (my style) because they're not Pretty- their Effective.

I've recently found the channel and started watching videos. Good stuff so far. The hammer-fist can done with the base of the palm, which puts curled fingers at the opponent's eyes for a gouge attempt at the same time. You can hit a bit harder with the palm from here, since the angle of the hammer-fist is awkward. You can also sometimes connect through the opponent's uncontrolled arm, should they get it in the way to block. If you step in (or the opponent steps in farther than anticipated), the main danger to you with this technique is a follow-up strike to your exposed ribs. Always be sure, if you will be out of position to execute your own strike, that you keep moving forward past the attacker. Don't stand still. Definitely don't try to back up if it won't get you the hammer-strike, because that will lose all your leverage in the deflection and put your opponent squared to throw a second strike. It's very important to get to the opponent's shoulder, off-line, so that their other arm is not in a position to hurt you until they can turn their body. I respect the teaching method, with traditional yokemenuchi. But it is also good, once you understand the defense, to change it into a more practical/realistic attack (such as a feinting jab, followed by a straight right; the ol' 1-2 combination). It's important to feel out the differences in how the attack times (because you ignore the jab and wait for their primary hand) and how your deflection feels against an incoming punch. It's my understanding that you may already do things this way, but it would be good to have it in the videos as well.

Awesome instructions lenny

Looking forward for more videos, please upload more!! good advices!!

Awsome, thank you!!!

Excellent

Great, thanks Lenny 😉

Very interesting, thanks👍.

so wonderful I fully enjoyed

Thank you very much !

I wish I have classes of TenShin aikido. It is really impressive.

Hope to see more vids like this thanks .

Man I love this new music!

Nice !

More power Thank you

ahaha "its not just tatara tatara tarara" checklist ha.. Thanks! One of the rare ones to find in RU-vid;;

Love it , wish you were in Cleveland

Good job

If you can't do it slowly, you can't do it fast... I've only had that taught as a key concept by two people, yourself and my own instructor...very important point but many see it and think it's wasted and 'not real'...their loss 😎

Edit: "clarification. I am mostly interested in why a point was specifically made about not stepping in. 14:33" What is the advantage of stepping back or am I misunderstanding what yokomenuchi is representing in this case? When I have trained before yokomenuchi was usually treated as practice against a swung weapon like a bat, stick or cane. With that in mind stepping in was the preferred choice to reduce the power of the swinging weapon's leaver-arm and stepping back was the last choice because it risks having to take the maximum possible force of the weapon when deflecting. I understand practicing from all likely positions is useful--you may not always have the option to step in or you already find yourself taking a step back when you need to defend. But there was a specific point made about not stepping forward and I am interested in the reasoning behind that since the recommendation is completely different from my prior experience.

I appreciate the instructional videos because now the art remains alive. However, You confuse me. Is it aikido? Is it a variant of aikido, a new standard or form? Is it your Aikido? How about sparring: which techniques do you use most? Striking, grappling or throwing? Aikido in Chinese is roughly translated into "grappling techniques". So by definition not a complete fighting art.

thanks for the te aching

Fucken awesome man

Ill be signing up at my local dojo asap. People talk trash about aikido but I know better than to fall for their inexperienced words. I saw a video that I can't find anymore but a guy said there's an aikido lick that works by grabbing the knee of an opponent and manipulating the knee.all the guy did was grab the knee and twist. He didn't go through with it because he was demonstrating a concept but he referred to this knee grab move. I've come up with no info on this. Are there moves that manipulate other joint other than wrist and arms??

Can use this technique to counter punches ? I think yes . Right ?#goodmorning

Great explanations again!!!! If I could ask God a favour it would be to make you prepare some videos with bigger guys and heavier also. it would definitely Inspire all of us to work harder with all size all weather anytime mindset. The saddest moment for Steven Seagal was the excellent t shows he did with a tiny 3 dan holder in aikido!!!!No offence but when a guy is smaller some how the automatic thinking says....hilarious....till some guylike O-Sensei,Bruce Lee shows up....that size makes no difference... Hope God blesses you with covering also this part in your Aikido study manuals study series!!!!

👍👍😎

I have never seen an attack in which someone tries using a karate chop!!!

Tenshin : forme de kokyo dit : terre-ciel

So is the knife hand block at hip level ?

Combinado com jiu jitsu fica muito bom

Is their way to do aikido alone?

saliva > substance

Aikido is the ww e of martial arts! It simply doesn't work!

Nice!