Ex-Aikido Sensei Taught Aikido That Works For The First Time
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- I was an Aikido Sensei for 15 years until eventually I realized it doesn't teach what it promises. Three years later this is the first time I taught functional Aikido that works.
Check out other martial arts vlogs here:
Martial Arts Vlog #2 - Why I nearly quit BJJ - • Why I Nearly Quit BJJ
Martial Arts Vlog #1 - The hardest martial arts training of my life - • The HARDEST Martial Ar...
Watch the full functional Aikido lesson here: • Full Functional Aikido...
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Welcome to the Martial Arts Journey TH-cam channel!
My name is Rokas. I'm a Lithuanian guy who trained Aikido for 14 years, 7 of them running a professional Aikido Dojo until eventually I realized that Aikido does not live up to what it promises.
Lead by this realization I decided to make a daring step to close my Aikido Dojo and move to Portland, Oregon for six months to start training MMA at the famous Straight Blast Gym Headquarters under head coach Matt Thornton.
After six months intensive training I had my first amateur MMA fight after which I moved back to Lithuania. During all of this time I am documenting my experience through my TH-cam channel called "Martial Arts Journey".
Now I am slowly setting up plans to continue training MMA under quality guidance and getting ready for my next MMA fight as I further document and share my journey and discoveries.
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If you want to support my journey, you can make a donation to my PayPal at info@rokasleo.com
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Check the video "Aikido vs MMA" which started this whole Martial Arts Journey:
► • Aikido vs MMA - REAL ...
#Aikido #MartialArts #FunctionalAikido
Check out my other martial arts vlogs here:
• Martial Arts Vlog #1 - The hardest martial arts training of my life - th-cam.com/video/7o3S6c3oH7k/w-d-xo.html
• Martial Arts Vlog #2 - Why I nearly quit BJJ - th-cam.com/video/KOtiyYOYeFs/w-d-xo.html
Or watch the full functional aikido seminar here: th-cam.com/video/lgPSZiueobw/w-d-xo.html
Dude your production quality is amazing! What camera do you use?
dude train here (rondori daily) and ask for police training.. ask for actual technique use in the field... you already know bs moves & scams th-cam.com/video/9U631Sll9mc/w-d-xo.html
if you could answer my question how should 1 man defend against 3 then you would know my belt... the defender in the video i sent i will fail
louie sy one single man could beat 3 people is not just use a plain martial art skill. It takes mental, strategy and martial art. And one more thing that we need most, luck.
@@ngocehgayabebas2118 spoken with wisdom.. keep on teaching.. this world needs lots of it
I'm glad to know that you enjoyed getting back to teaching aikido. It is something that you dedicated so much of your time after all.
As Kwonkicker said, your experience with Aikido is exactly what makes you the best person to teach it. You can contextualize and keep perspective on why things are being done the way they're being done, and make corrections/adjustments for people who want a more "functional" approach to their Aikido. Excellent video.
The gathering was at an absolutely gorgeous setting. I think Poland deserves more international visitors.
So glad you had this experience. Aikido gets a bad reputation for several things, but frankly there is no art that will teach you blending and redirection as well as Aikido. People from many different styles would benefit from spending time practicing Aikido. The way I see it, you just learned it first before you had context to add it to. It is extremely impressive that you've made the effort afterward to understand how and where it can apply. Congratulations on all of these successes. I wish you a continuing fruitful journey. All my best.
Interesting! I would be very much interested in seeing you sparring and applying these techniques!
You have just guessed the next video!
@@MartialArtsJourney nice!
Sparring isn't the e all and end all.
Sparring is important, but you can't train pre-emptive striking in sparring, and nobody questions the fact that they work.
Similarly, you can't really train joint locks in sparring, because the dynamic is just wrong - I've pulled off dozens of joint locks in live situations, but I think I've only done it once or twice, once the opportunity to use them has gone and we have ended up trading blows.
I spent 17 years of training in aïkido. I stopped for personal reasons and practiced Muay Thaï and a little MMA. When I see your journey, I feel like it is the journey every aïkidoka should take.
Like what it is said : the man of science will read every book, and still think he doesn't know. A man of fait will read one and think he knows everything. Being doubtful is what we need to be.
What a shame when I hear you were left by your students and betrayed by your former sensei.
Your path is the one of the wise and I wish you to reach your goal.
Sincerely from Belgium.
JC
You are in poland?! why i did not know that... i would go to meet you man:D
Hey Azurael. I actually wanted to make an announcement that I'm around and to invite anyone who's up for a drink. Unfortunately I came up with this idea too late... I'll announce my next visits earlier though!
@@MartialArtsJourney sadly you did not announced it. I would do a loot to know you but regardless. You are inspiring for me at liest. I know the hardship of a training those mentally and body wise.
Keep a good work:) maby another time
I went back to my Japanese Jiu Jitsu club for the first time in 2 years. In the past I had realised while it was more functional than Aikido, it wasn't as good as BJJ. We did some pressure tested techniques. The governing body has changed the syllabus to put more emphasis on functional techniques, more pressure testing, more realistic attacks which I was happy to see
Always great to see your your journey rokas!
Thank you Ruben! Many more journeys are about to come :)
Nice going Rokas - good to see the Aikido voodoo in you still stirring :-)
Very happy for you! Things are looking up...
Thanks Walt. I'm doing my best to keep it positive and keep moving forward these days :)
Good content. I have trained and taught Muay Thai and aiki jujutsu and a live drill was a big part of aiki jujutsu training. A lot of locks and throws are also done after an atemi(strike). My shihan always said that learning aikido is like learning the highest form of akijujutsu without learning the fundamentals first. Many principles like atemi, nage, otoshi that use force to compromise the opponent’s structure are just not taught in aikido. If you watch some old videos of morihei ueahiba, you can actually see the use of force in some of his techniques when there was a resistance from Uke.
I am enjoying your videos a lot. Thank you.
Thanks! Glad to hear it!
How are you? I'm so glad that this is happening to you, I'm also a practicioner of different martial arts like: Capoeira, BJJ, Wing Chun, Aikido. Every one with their good and their things hard to applied in real situations but yes it is possible. Thanks for take your time to do this. Hugs
Really enjoyed watching this. Thank you 🙏
Thanks Lazarus Grey. Glad to hear it
Well done.
Brother in law does aikido and I do karate. When he’s wanted to muck around I make sure I stay well away and keep distance lol he’s done a couple of the moves in a static position and I felt them the next day lol
Roy Dean is an Aikido guy and a well renown BJJ practitioner.
Coming full circle now, realizing how traditional martial arts can actually be functional.
Rokas you should create a style of aikido based on your experiences.
Just sayin
We'll see where the journey will take us :)
My teacher taught a culmination of martial arts he had learned traveling threw the Pacific, Japan and China. His philosophy is that each style is like a piece of a finely tailored suite . Each style has its place and use but only in combination with techniques that complement it . You wouldn't use just one fighting style in battle just like you wouldn't wear a sheet to a wedding .
good for you. keep playing with it and see where it takes you.
I usually say that training Kung fu, aikido, wing chun and that sort of stuff is not wrong for health reasons or just because you enjoy it but don’t be blinded since in a real life situation it doesn’t go well. I’m glad to see you adapting Aikido to a more real environment for a real use other than set up training and instead of being down by how much time you spent training aikido and found it to be useless in a fight. Instead try to implemented and modifying the technique to be more realistic, One recommendation is that you try out Muay thai to see if you like.
Great teachings and experiences you bring us!i d love to see sth that many teachers of Aikido seem to forget:could you show us techniques that you practice on a real taller or heavier guy thn you?it d bring back another realistic approach and faith in all of us Aikijutsu/Aikido lovers!On e again your channel has made me expand on others martial arts knowing that a martial art is more fun a sport…
Hey that wrist lock at the beginning, if you grab the hand and lock it to your hara or upper stomach area you turn one way its an elbow lock you turn the other way its a wrist lock. The counter is to turn your wrist in a circle. A few seconds of training will show you this. The reason you lock it down is you can turn irimi or tenkan. And grind the opponent. Is you look at putting someone into a arm bar where the fulcrum is you belly and you place your arm around there head like your leading them when you turn your body slowly to lock the arm and lead them around the circle with a couple of times by there locked out joint this is grinding. I think if you look at your aikido techniques and understand grinding you will find you have alot of useful techniques that you just didn't understand a key concept of. Almost all the techniques looked off that I saw you fo and then it clicked.
All the old teachers had fighting background, many worked in security. Hope, you could find some, and learn from them. Some O-sensei's students are still alive. It is the modern aikido, that abandoned it's budo roots, not the old. I do not think it is possible to understant the art without undetstanding it's techniques original use - military, armed mass combat.
Oh Poland Poland!!!
Im grom Poland!!!!!!!!!!!
Poland is the Beast!
I liked it there. Warsaw is awesome
I‘d really like to take part at an Aikido-Seminar with you! Maybe you might want to consider this option in the future :)
Thanks. Who knows, maybe one day I will become good enough at this to teach it more publicly :) It may take a while though until I will feel comfortable
The Aikido practitioner can maximize the palm strike potential as a weapon in UFC , if it's allowed and considered legal in UFC fight..
Practice aikido with realistic scenarios and resistance. Its the same with all martial arts, you need to do realistic sparing to stay level headed in a real life situation and also so your muscles are used to do the moves with resistance.
I agree with you but don't comfort yourself too much for all those lost years. You could probably learn all Aikido techniques in a few months while crosstraining in some other functional art. It's fine though, because being a bjj black belt isn't all its cranked up to be. It's about the individual. A super athletic competitive purple belt beats a gym black belt. I'd much rather be a competitive judo black belt+wrestler than a bjj black belt who pulls guard..
While it is true that there is more 'profit' in certain types/areas of 'labor' than in others.
Yet it is still true that "In ALL labour, there is profit".
I 'took' (trained in) Aikido down in Miami (Florida, USA) for only about a 1-1/2 to 2 years way back in 1976-77 to late 1978 or early 1979. The *founder and instructor of the Miami dojo was solid, a great instructor and a great guy. No nonsense, but little to no typical 'dojo' politics. Otherwise I would not have continued therein. [*Nelson Andujar: I don't remember, but I think he was a 2nd or 3rd Dan at the time, I really can't recall - I see on the internet that he is a 7th Dan now - in Houston, Tx].
Though I loved and enjoyed Aikido very much, and enjoyed the other people I trained with there under Nelson (and his wife). Nevertheless I left Aikido behind, in pursuit of something I discovered and came to love even more - and I really loved and thoroughly enjoyed Aikido (I had a profound conversion experience that lead me down a different pathway).
But to this very day I am thankful for the short time I was involved with Aikido. My only regret is not continuing a relationship with Nelson and building a friendship with him. I really appreciated and respected him.
You may never, but I think that you may end up one day teaching 'Aikido' again - but perhaps a very different type and style of your own making that naturally will incorporate the skills you've acquired afterward, in your 'journey'...and will continue to acquire.
Or who knows. You may discover something else entirely different along the way in your journey that you'll find eclipses the level of love, enjoyment, satisfaction and otherwise that you are presently experiencing and enjoying.
I enjoy your videos young man and your desire to attempt to live as honestly with yourself as you are able to and see things as they are; not feeding fantasy.
wrist grab defense in aikido isnt useless heres why
if you dont agree to fight a assailant and run what do you think they will do next ofcourse they have to grab you because if they dont they wont be able to reach their punches to you They have to grab you when that happens feel free to do what ever moves you like im an aikido practioner too this is my tactic this is like those bjj person where they pull their oppenent to the ground
this is the same towards what i shared in my comment ofcourse no one will grab your wrist for nothing there should be a reason why they have to do that like trying to reach you sensei rokas dont give up on aikido
Maybe it could be your path in life to introduce a new style of aikido to the world. A style that is fully functional. I think you might be able to make this a reality. Instead of moving away from it. Continue to learn different styles and see how these styles couls influence aikido. You can do it! Give life to it.
Very cool. 👍👍
Thanks 🙂
I like how you pronounced Warsaw.
Also Rokas I was wondering what the name of the throw from Aikido was where they don't let go of your wrist for the whole time and you can use that to throw them. I remember you commenting that it was unrealistic that they would keep holding on but I feel that would be useful for gun retention
Please visit and review a Takemusu and a Tomiki school, this might actually help you understand why your aikido comes short.
Why is that then in your opinion ?
Nice vid
Thanks Chief!
I know this is a vague question that will probably have a more nuanced answer but what feels more fulfilling for you, learning a martial art or teaching what you've learned to others?
Used to be teaching. Now it's learning
I wonder how effective aikido could be if you incorporated it into judo+BJJ
Working on it :) I'll make videos about it in the future
Sweet man I’ve always wondered how aikido would do in a strict grapple only
I think aikido can be used to counter punches or grappling attempts with these circular motions aikido uses, rushing to oponents under arms/armpits, and getting a hold of the opponents arm, elbow, wrist and then throwing them, bending whatever the limb is grapped and so on. I thought aikido was that, countering attacks in a way where you disbalance opponent and get a hold of their crucial limbs but when I signed up for it it was mostly careography.
It is said to be many things :)
Live drills possible when joint locks are clear. Most Aikido people I saw has no clue how to do locks and just apply pressure to joints. Why don't you teach how to lock body prior live drills?
Hi Rokas,
Looking at your hand grabs etc, I am sorry to say whoever taught you Aikido did it all wrong. You don't snatch your hand away- you actually 'give' the opponent your hand, also it is not so much an escape but a practice for the mind - you should not tense up at all when doing the technique, the uke should not feel you are trying to escape at all and you should be eventually positioning yourself next to the uke. The aim is to practice moving with balance and centre through the whole technique - you should practice it slowly and the uke should be testing you as you move to see if at any stage you are off balance. The aim of Aikido is to always maintain your 'centre' - this technique is to practice that. Also you should not be using force, it is to practice that too - if you rely on force or speed eventually you will find someone who is stronger and/or faster and the technique will fail.
Also that Sankio technique - where you go under the uke - I have never seen that done, and I would never do it - the uke is not off balance and could easily escape the technique and/or hurt you as you move.
lol @ "Worse Off", Poland
I did traditional jiu jitsu for about 2 years before starting bjj (12 years now). The last technique you showed (sunkio? sorry not knowing the name), I get that fairly frequently when grappling. I get it from bottom of side control and whe defending my back from rear naked choke.
First thing the physical training is the basic for combat ,bruce Lee's taught this first in his martial arts secondly aikido needs heavy dumping bags executing Aikido techniques for more for more efficient functional Aikido moves. all students in training should wear protective padded gear when practicing Aikido...Aikido needs to practice real fight rings style and street fighting...all martial arts is fight to win .
You are the best aikido teacher in the world.
Whoa! That's a big statement. I really appreciate you saying it
Basically yes, because he actually admitted the traditional form isn't functional in combat and he had actually learned from other arts
@@MartialArtsJourney somewhere on YT there is a blond haired ninjutsu teacher in Japan who actually puts on armor and shows how a technique originally came from defeating a samurai, but for modern clothing the angle would have to be changed
@@jryanp find me a link of this I'd be interested in seeing
You obviously have yet to see Nishio Sensei.
I can't thank you enough for helping me go through the "awakening" about my past style. I trained Krav Maga for 11 years, and I feel like our stories are very similar. Over time I realized how Krav is more "theory based" than "reality based" and now I am starting fresh with Kudo (also known as Japanese MMA). Everything you said about how you feel is literally what I am going through right now and I got to feel like I am understood. Thank you for that!
- Also, please give us your insight on Kudo someday!
Thanks for sharing. I am glad you found a better way in your journey. I heard great things about Kudo and I'm planning to try it out and document my experience, hopefully soon
How does kudo differ if at all from other MMA practice?
@@jryanp Different rules and how matches are refereed (I think groundfighting can last for 15 seconds before both fighters are made to stand), and they fight with gis and helmets.
How is it theory when those guys in israel are actually putting to work the material they train in? You got a taste of watered down krav just like there's watered down jujitsu/Jiujitsu, judo, Karate, etc. or you're just another ¶d¶0+ like Rokas.
Sankyo and kotegaishi do work pretty well in free standing grappling scenarios.
Many years ago I also left aikido and managed to demo a sankyo and lock my BJJ skeptic friend during standing pummeling.
His eyes opened a bit there to see that most if not all martial arts which have a subjective global popularity, have something functional to offer.
Takes aliveness in training though.
Yups they do work very well in grappling I've used them in my line of work as a security officer
In case anyone is interested in the more descriptive name for the "sankyo" technique, it is tenkai kotehineri. Sankyo just means 3rd technique, which is what Aikikai teaches: a numbered system. In Tomiki or Shodokan Aikido we use descriptive names for everything - so that for all techniques, the name tells you what the technique is, and not just some number that you were supposed to memorize and associate with a particular technique. Kotehineri is the opposite wrist/forearm (kote) rotation from kotegaeshi. Where in gaeshi you rotate the hand/wrist/forearm "outward" (hold arms out in front with thumbs up, now rotate your thumbs out and down), with hineri you rotate the hand/wrist/forearm "inward" (hold arms out in front with thumbs up, now rotate your thumbs in and down). Gaeshi and hineri - the two wrist/forearm rotations. Good aikidoka will lock up not only your wrist but also your elbow and your shoulder and control your center with either. The tenkai adds a body turn/rotation, so in Rokas' example he steps through, under the uke's arm, and then turns/rotates (tenkai) and once he rotates he holds the kotehineri lock. Careful! Kotehineri is very painful for the uninitiated, even more so than kotegaeshi. Practice slowly and softly at first - with tori being protective of uke's wrist and elbow. (Relax the hineri grip a bit during the tenkai, for beginners.)
@@rhmayer1good explanation of the theory of that technique, I'm fimillar with some aikido techniques due to my background in jujutsu. I agree with you once the elbow wrist and shoulder are immobilised it's a very painfull experience and the joints can be easly damaged
Great to see you teaching Aikido Rokas. Hope you do more stuff like this.
Thank you Alex! While it is not my main goal to make my aikido functional, I have quite a few plans to keep digging into this direction to see what will come out of it :)
I hope this can help you!
Thanks!
I think there's probably room for Aikido to blend with the grip fighting we seen in judo and ju-jutsu. Hope this is not just a one off experiment.
Planning to continue it
Okay, I'm just gonna say it. Consider teaching aikido to for use in stunt work. It can look super cool on screen. You don't have to worry about the ethical issue of teaching functional combat, you can still do something that was a huge part of your life that seems to bring you joy. Just a thought.
Aikido is definitely great for movies. I'm friends with a person who added some Aikido moves to Keanu Reeve's John Wick. We spoke with him that it would be cool sometimes to look at how I could do some Aikido on the movie set :) I don't think it would be my main focus though
@@MartialArtsJourney Are just do Wushu, Wushu is the ultimate dance acrobatic form of martial art expression from China.
Ah cool rokas say that seminar with Jesse was fun and hopefully you can modify aikido in the future as it definitely needs to be readapted to modern attacks
I've been saying that for a long time to this guy, bro. Join me in having this guy fix his aikido and stop being a combat sports cage fighter. You can't do cage fighting at 50 years old.
@@J3unG I agree with you brother 100 %hopefully he will bring aikido to its next stage of evolution
It already has hapkido is a thing
@@jashardwallington hapkido is different from aikido in every single way possible. Aikido has differences in how its taught, example, sensei goza shioda his aikido is rough not like the main style. Aslo hapkido is Korean and has its influence from its native arts. The founder of hapkido did study daito-ryu aikijujutsu, it's where aikido Derived from. Even hapkido has its differences in its approach for example Combat hapkido is not like traditional hapkido at all
Would be awesome to see footage of the actual class. Great job. Since you know the weaknesses of aikido you can actually improve on it's functionality. I remember when I did Kenpo Karate they did aikijutsu short techniques which were combined to actual Kenpo movements to make it more effective. It was fun and functional. Go for it Rokas.
Thanks. The full footage of the seminar is available in the description :)
I can't trust a teacher who's never failed. It either means you ain't trying hard enough or your blind to your own failings.
I love your channel.
You’re a great sensei, seeing you coach it’s like you’re in your element and have a passion for it. And hopefully you’ll make a fine BJJ coach one day when you reach brown. No beat yourself over it you’re still young and you already a wealth of experience behind you.
Aikido is misogi.
Hi Rokas , last night at Japanese Jiujitsu we were working on defence against lapel grabs using those same wrist locks. The wrist locks were always done after a quick sharp distraction strike.
When it came time to drill the techniques being grabbed by the lapel I tend to disregard the wrist locks and go straight in for a good knee strike or elbow then go straight into Osoto or O uchigari throws instead as that’s what my muscle memory reverts back to.
Aikido by O' Rokas.
Haha 😂
@Jessica💋 Sweety Hotgirl - Vlogs I like Rokus because of his thoughtful and introspective personality, but really a fighting style should only be created by someone with a high level fighting history. Like a successful UFC MMA fighter.
This is the video i needed and i didnt even know it ❤️
Keep walking your journey, this is amazing 💪
Also, if you can ever go train with heinz and experience his stuff live, or doing tomiki aikido, or hatenkai, to see personally what others have done to make their aikido work... But i understand that you have other objectives right now that you are working on ❤️
Thanks Gingercore! I'm really glad you liked the video. Meeting with Chris Heinz is definitely on my plans. So is doing Tomiki aikido and hopefully hatenkai too one day. The States are out of reach now for me because of travel restrictions, but I am looking to go to UK to do tomiki aikido and full contact aikido weapon sparring sooner than later
@@MartialArtsJourney i wish you good luck and success on all that, it will be very interesting to see!
but you ARE a blackbelt!! LOL
Haha 😂 That's technically true, although I keep forgetting it
@@MartialArtsJourney 😁
What is " Functional aikido"?...if you are ignoring aikido entrance foot works, it is not aikido any more. All the locking techinques such as 1,2,3kyo can be found most of arts already anyway.
Fantastic content and it's nice to see a fellow Aikidoka evolve into something more. Keep training and keep growing! OSU
i just realized oliver enkamp was there
Yes he was! It was funny to have him as an uke since I kept telling him: I'm showing my moves on you although you could kick my ass at any time with minimal effort 😂 I'm going to go over to train with Oliver in Sweden in a month too :)
@@MartialArtsJourney ay you're going to Sweden nice have fun there
Your experience is interesting.
My own experience is telling me that the problem with aikido isn't so much its techniques or principles but the way we usually train there.
Hmmmm Rokas, you are an explorer, and that's something I will also consider with Aikido. I am thinking first of applying my ikkyo nikiyo sankyo etc in closed guard bottom, :-)
Good ideas JSM. So far I found kotegaeshi to be most useful in standup grappling. I have a feeling it may also be applied on the ground. I also pull off sankyo, also in stand up. It also works great as an escape from back control. I'm sure other techniques may be valuable too. I am yet to discover their applications though
@@MartialArtsJourney interesting, I guess you have drilled kotegaeshi from a standing grappling point, I imagine maybe from a failed arm drag attempt ? it's very fast up there, not like in our traditional aikido practice lol, I like your idea of escaping from the back with sankyo, it never came to me, but the placement is so accurate, thanks Rokas, keep it up, you are the man :-)
@@MartialArtsJourney There is a video daniele bolelli did with stephen of grapplearts. showing aikido moves that work in BJJ, Daniele is a black belt in Aikido and a 4 stripe brown in BJJ, some stuff works surprisingly well.
Great video, been waiting for this! Glad to see the Aikido come back... but on a side note, as a "content creator" myself, I gotta say, that is some slick editing!
Thank you David! Really glad to hear it. I've been working my ass off lately to make the videos better... 😅
4:14 I can hear O' Sensei pulling his hair in his grave: "oh no, you totally didn't get my teaching, boy! Almost no one got it!" :-) But, he truly is impressed by the honesty of your journey. :-)
Haha, thank you Tomas
True. Ueshiba was known to say this. In particular, he stated that students don’t understand in and yo / yin and yang. There are specific methodologies for using these Taoist principles to develop aiki and other flavors of martial internal skills (such as those in Chinese internal martial arts), but Ueshiba was not capable or willing to effectively transmit that knowledge, though some of his students, such as Koichi Tohei, used Ueshiba as an inspiration and springboard then put in the work to develop such skills. A key question to ask and investigate is: if we examine the personal training regimens of Ueshiba and Tohei (for which there is some video evidence online), what do they have in common with each other and other internal martial arts?
@@varamaur9567 oh thank you man for further info and confirmation! I didn't know! :))
@@MartialArtsJourney you are welcome :)
@@tomastelensky-vlog8723 - I appreciate your open-mindedness about this. If you further investigate it, please share your thoughts.
I never understood, why you broke so hard with aikido.
From my point of view (I did Judo for a long time and tried some other stuff out (also Aikido)), I never saw Aikido as "functional" in terms of real fighting (sport or self defence).
I saw it as a traditional way of movement, a philosophy. Compareable to Tai Chi. Or even Yoga.
Something with a lot of principles which are still valid for "more functional" martial arts.
Training in Aikido helped me thinking differently about my judo and making it better. Also in my Ju-Jutsu training was a lot of stuff I've seen in aikido. But with a different training.
In my understanding Aikido was always something more hollistic thing for people who didn't want to fight or pressure test. Something you could still du when you are 70ty.
Something to help you with your body coordination, flexibility and so on.
I think everybody who thought, that Aikido was effective for fighting was esoteric delusional. But this is not how I understood it purpose.
I still see a richness for a modern martial artist in Aikido in it's historic traditions and very flowing moving patrens and more insight of the principle of of winning through giving.
I don't see the benefit in making Aikido "effective". There is already effective stuff. But showing the effectivness of aikido principles in martial arts technics is gold.
Have you tried training ab bit in Judo?
I am an engineer and people often talk about Functional Programming. Now you talk about Functional Aikido!
Has it really been 4 years???
Where does the time go?
Haha, good question. A lot has happened over that time though when you think about it :)
I thought those two words in the same sentence were an oxymoron until I saw this. You managed to pull it out. Nice!
Haha. Thanks Anthony!
You should attend one of lenny sly sensei's sessions- that's pretty (brutal) functional Aikido. You mention often how ineffective Aikido is- but BJJ/ MMA also comes with a ton of rules that truly limit it on the street- although I think you hit the problem with Aikido on the head here- it's not the techniques by themselves- it's the way they are practiced- with compliant UKE and zero resistance- Watch Rogue Warriors TV- I think it might lend you some Aikido respect. Another thing that seems to be missing in modern Aikido practice is Atemi- or real striking- it wasn't missing with O'Sensei...
The thing is, Akido only works if you make it work. Many ex-soldiers, cops and security learned Akido and it has worked for them for many years. And it worked for the man who created it. Understand, Akido sensei’s in Japan know Judo or JuJutsu. Not just Akido. Plus there is AkiJutsu which is where Akido came from. But if you wanna make Akido work, you have to understand other martial arts. And for me, I know Karate (Kyokushin and Goju-Ryu), Judo and Japanese JuJutsu. I dabbled in other things but still main those three arts. Mostly JuJutsu now-a-days. Understand, it’s no different than BJJ based on evidence we have of documents of Japanese JuJutsu from old books and drawings of how the techniques work. They did live sparring, no gi and gi training, and they trained hard for combat as the style was intended for during the Samurai days. BJJ is more sport like compared to JJJ. JJJ is to finish. Not saying BJJ can’t be the same way, but in all honesty, JJJ and BJJ are the same. They are both JuJutsu. Neither offer anything new. Ground game, JJJ has it.
I have been training karate for
3 years(7-10years old) then i have stoped for another three years.
Im back now. I kinda regret stopping
I would been a brown belt by now
(one belt before black)
I get why so many people are tempted to ask if you regret not studying a more functional martial art but they never ask that to something like fencers. Sure, they have competitions where you can compete but it's not going to be "functional" in real life. It's a sport and as long as you enjoy doing it, it's completely fine to want to keep it up. If you meet great people and have fun along the way, while also getting in better shape, so what if you can't actually fight people effectively. Neither can people who practice archery but that doesn't make archery less fun.
Theres people like me that are genuinely interested in various MA like aikido. Dont stop learning and teaching if you love it. Goodluck
I'm so happy for the things that are happening in your life right now , Rokas! Always wish you the best! ✊🏽🌸
Thank you Mari 🙏
Rokas, you are doing more good to the Aikido community, by applying those techniques in a more active way. It's sad that most of the Aikido people are very conservative and unwilling to change, but I hope that in time, they will escape from their own box. Big ups to you, man.
Thanks Tayslay
Great video, I did aikido for 8 years and have also moved to BJJ, boxing, and judo. I am still trying to figure out what if any use it actually has. I think of the friendship I made, some really nice people it wasnt a waste
Hi Tom. Aikido definitely has good things to offer such as community and cultural experience. You can also salvage some of its techniques later on practicing other martial arts. But as a self defense/fighting method it doesn't teach you much, I believe
@@MartialArtsJourney I agree, I may try and go tonight after boxing. The only reason I stopped was because of the distance but then I started other things and realized aikido isnt practical. I think a little of a friend I trained with in aikido unfortunately he died of covid. I see him now as an inspiration he was a real mixed martial artist, he was a wrestler, had a black belt in Japanese jui jitsu, 4th dan in aikido. I believed he could make aikido work and he developed his own style which mixed all these together
Aikido's whole philosophy is avoid seriously hurting a belligerent person. A submission, a punch, to a throw can seriously injure or kill someone
@@andrewa9064 yeah it's a nice philosophy but as Rokus has demonstrated it doesnt work typically with live resistance. I trained tonight and nothing we did would work in real life with a trained fighter or even me with my basic boxing. We did shomen uchi and the unrealistic punch they usually do. If I was seriously sparring with someone there is no way I would attack like that. If you dont attack realistically how can you be sure it will work if you actually need it for self defence. But I'll probably go back because I enjoyed the company, they're a nice group of people but I'm not going for martial arts training when I go to BJJ, Judo or do a muay thai class that's self defence. The training in aikido BJJ, boxing, judo gives me confidence and is probably why I have managed to avoid fights in real life
@@tomsheppard378 - Rokas doesn't understand anything of fighting. It's not his cup of coffee and he needs to come to terms on that instead of trying to be something he's clearly not.
Aikdio is cool just make it work for the street all you need, mix it with karate muay thai boxing jujitsu wrestling. Aikdio is cool cool video buddy nice work
This perfect! Teaching BUNKAI in a practical manner will help apply traditional arts and techniques in a modern manner. Roka has gone through a long journey to realize one can apply aikido in modern and practical ways that can lead to submissions. Awesome
Our aikido dojo makes us do cage fights (not tournaments but in our dojo) its more like aikijitsu in this point (a type of aikido that is a bit more fatal)
Good job. But did you propel anyone into the lake with your ki energy?
I was thinking about it 😁
this guy is hilarious. love him.
I love arrogant aikido people
@@MartialArtsJourney You replied!!! ❤ You are hilarious. Embrace it! You were sold a bag of bs about Aikido by a nobody teacher in nowhere-ville and then, rather than own your lack of discernment, you blamed the art. And now - da-tada-da! - you're going to fix it!!! Wins my vote for Poster Child for Millennial Narcissism. But ya gotta love you suck at something and get paid for sucking. mad respect. 👋 Glad too you seem to have discovered weights or at least cutback on exposure to soy lattes, microplastics and atrazine. Good luck on your "Journey" but, based on your movement, you may struggle functionalizing a toothbrush.
@@MartialArtsJourney and you like deleting replies too. 🤣 Post your 3 dan exam for us all. What was the tune you danced to? Tango or Rumba? Hilarious.☺ just be honest. then your "journey" can be legit. you're taking the crap aikido you learned and trying to see what you can make of it by studying other martial arts (superficially). You're hardly O-Sensei as someone said in your comments and you "Liked" it. LOL. Come on man. What a con. Sort yourself out while there's still time!
I'm glad that you've come to terms with your feelings on your Aikido training. Even if you don't want to teach your craft full time, what you do know should continue to be explored while you are on your martial arts journey. So, on that note, best of luck to you and your endeavors, my friend!
i told you you will comeback !
our teachers sucked that was the real problem.
add strikes to place the keys will be amazin aikido
I have a feeling the statement about our teachers may be true :)
@@MartialArtsJourney i m black belt in karate + 3 year of mma .
Same felling about my martial art .
95% of the karate teachers sucks
@bo xer possible yes
If you're ever teaching a class in my general area, I'll definitely check it out.
My Friend, this is awesome!! I truely believe you should focus your journey on developing and teaching practical Aikido.
i am sorry but I have to say that ..when you say that aikido is not funtional as it shoul be and telt betray by your senior and sensei..thats not because of the aikido doesnt work or fail...aikido is way of lifeand its found for self defense..it doesnt start..it wait and replay...aikido its not a streetfight...methology...I am not an akidoka..I learn other dicipline..the way you discrabe aikido and its used...is wrong...I am sorry to mention this..you just have to believe what you studied brother..no mather what dicipline you are doing if dont believe ...?? I am sorry..honor you sensei...onegaishimasu...oosh..
He is MMA inspired clown, which has no respect what he did and achieved in past, nor he has a class to understand that he is becoming generic fighter with only bjj in mind. Look at Sakuraba who was catch wrestling pro, who hunted the gracie familly and defeted them all. So bjj and mma not all the time the best option. But for clowns like this dude, it's like first time fucking a girl. One time he tryd thats it. He is completlly blind and making a shit show on aikido traditions and art.
You missed out not learning Aikido in the 60’s or from those training around then with some snap in their art. The soft ballet is not the original Aikido.
Totally agree with you. Morihei focused more on harmony aspect but the original aiki jujutsu that aikido evolved from has a lot of force and not at all passive. Many early practitioners of aikido were from aiki jujutsu, hence had a lot of fangs still.
I do regret practicing aikido for so long (8 years). I've just started BJJ 6 months ago I feel better.
Some people take even longer to move from aikido so don't worry! What matters is that you did and feel good about it. Congratulations
O-sensei only taught black belts of other systems after all...
I just love the fact that you realized what you was teaching was not really useful or practical in the self defense world and instead of trashing it all, you searched for answers and evolved to find where I can be practical. Its amazon how a little resistance can go along ways. Martial Arts these days are constantly devolving while MMA is evolving, because MMA has full resistance a good amount of time, while Traditional Martial artist often just find them selves dancing. Keep up the good work. I love to see to see Traditional Martial Arts come back alive.
Okay but real question: Do you watch Avatar the Last Airbender? Video examining the martial arts within that show please! 🤓
Avatar the last Airbender is great :)
More than anything, I am happy for your being able to meet those who want to be open minded and love progressing martial arts.
I know ton of people who are ironically stuck in their ways when it comes to martial arts.
I came to see dysfunctional akido. I was not dissapointed.