Well it can't look like Aikido because he wears gloves... even if this would have been a cooperative training partner it couldn't look like Aikido because like 90% of the Aikido techniques rely on NOT wearing boxing gloves ;-) And the few remaining techniques that can be executed with boxing gloves are mainly some throws that are identical to Judo.
Well done m8. You are very brave. Most martial arts teachers are all talk no walk, they never try to practice what they preach in a real situation. Win or lose you get my respect.
YES and that's EXACTLY why he's finding MOST martial arts to be totally INEFFECTIVE-- because the lousy teachers that were either totally fake- or just NOT good at what they do or CAN"T TEACH- some very good folks at practice can't teach for sh... all these situations are why he's finding out most arts are NOT effective.. a good pro at any art- can easily be VERY effective against average street BS.. and most good at their arts- unless the practitioner is VERY talented on top of his years of training.
This is important really - no other channel that I can think of, honestly sets up fights or situations that you expect them to lose. They don't genuinely test stuff out, where you see the failure. If they show failure, they show it in a "this is how it looks when it fails" kind of way. As someone who has, in a different field, gone through just a little of what Rokas is doing - in his own wise words: "this shit ain't easy".
That's what "studying Martial Arts" actually means! Way to go, Rokas! Keep it up! 🙇 Nice to see a community taking form around this project also! May it bring insightful experiences and healthy exchange of it!
haha yeah. was doing some light boxing sparring with my fiancee recently. The cat got upset and started squawking at us until we reassured him that it wasn't a real fight :) Then he just watched us with a 'you're idiots' expression.
Instead of using big hybrid mma gloves and boxing gloves try using the standard 4oz mma gloves. You can always throw on full headgear and a mouthpiece to protect your face from the strikes.
I usually train with 4oz and a mouthpiece, sometimes shin pads. It has a more "realistic" feel because they're smaller and allow better technique as the larger gloves get in the way.
4oz is just the standard mma glove size. It will allow for much better grip during grabs and wont impede wrist manipulation if your opponent is wearing them too. If you arent trying to do any grabs and you just want to work on striking other gloves are good as well.
Stick to what you have for now. Your not ready for such a dramatic or drastic change in equipment. Over all as you progress eventually you will want to go bare knuckle. But your now rewiring you mind and body so take it easy. I know I did aikido my self for a while before I got in to stand up, Japanese jujutsu and eventually MMA.
Just as a reminder, headgear only protect your skin, concussions still happen. If you happen to get headgear, don't go up in the intensity of the strikes as it gives a false sensation of protection.
I am very very impressed with what you are trying to do. I a judoka but I when I lived in Japan I trained for a a year and a half with Fujitani Sensei at the Tenshin Dojo in Osaka. I left Aikido because of it consistently proved ineffective against a resisting opponent. I wish you luck in your endeavors and look forward to Your development and evolution of Aikido.
I once tried to help a friend train for her aikido black belt grading. It was really strange. Every time she tried any takedowns she would look at me and say something like "you should be off balance by now". I tried to be a compliant partner but because I had no idea what these takedowns were, my body just naturally did whatever to stay balanced and she grew frustrated. Granted I do have a background in traditional and sports martial arts, but she couldn't understand why she couldn't throw me around like her classmates. She then proceeded to train me how to be off balance and that's when I understood the problem: her classmates expected a fixed outcome in training and threw themselves off balance for her benefit. Aikido can be fun but I just find the practioners too compliant with one another. I'm sure there are some good aikido guys around that can toss me like a rag doll, but I have yet to experience it.
I had that experience too when I got attacked by guys who know some martial art, 3 of them were trying 3 different takedowns at the same time and I could just pull my arm free and knock one out, it’s better to find a counter in the moment then to practice a specific moves counter
I'm really enjoying these videos. Much respect for what you are doing here, admitting that your chosen style wasn't quite up to scratch in a modern setting and actively trying to fix the problems rather than burying your head in the sand takes balls man.
My instructor always told me it works great on people that give up their momentum. Angry people or someone that isn't used to sparring and throws haymakers
Thank you for sharing your honest and vulnerable training journey. Many people get discouraged by the rough learning process, but I'm so happy to see you display confidence and humility.
Dude... I commend you for what you are doing... it takes such a strong sense of self and humbleness at your approach with an openess at true expression of what truly works in your experiments and experiences.
It's very good that you're doing this and filming it. Not only is it good for you, but I think it will be good for a lot of open minded individuals that stumble on to this.
It's great seeing you test your aikido skills in sparring against different styles and levels of competency while adding to your skill set from other arts.
Great job!! You’ve improved so much from your first sparring session with the mma guy! You were successfully able to implement your aikido techniques. Way to go! Keep at it Rokas!
The fact that you're pressure testing your aikido is excellent. It's also clear that with some of your techniques were effective. Keep up the great work.
You seem to have a heavy forward lean (along your back and your neck), and tend to lead horizontally with your head. I think that is a bad tendency to have.
Very true, try to keep your back straight, arms up, stay sideways and if you need to get low do it with your legs without bending your back. And always go sideways, this is what Aikido is about.
I like this sparring match vs your first one with the trained MMA fighter. Very specific, you were not afraid to get hit this time. The confidence in your ability to handle some punches really comes through. You looked a lot more comfortable in your own skin and dealt with random attacks more relaxed. Great improvement! I hate comments with criticism of application, but I dare add something to help. The transition points of going from fighting to Aikido are the keys to making Aikido work. That is where Aikido lacks, its transitions do not adapt or harmonize with a different type of attack. BJJ, wresting, and boxing have some great transitions that you could use to get to Aikido. You used a couple that seemed effective. Here are some that I like to use during sparring to transition to Aikido: 1. Jab counter: slip to the outside of the jab and simultaneously counter with your own lead hand for an irminage to the face (or just a jab counter). 2. Jab-cross counter: slip outside of jab then cover for cross, catch the elbow, tenkan, koykunage/sumiotoshi 3. Offensive back fist: trap lead hand, back fist to the outside of the head, pull head down, kaiten nage And there are many many more that can transition real nice. Good luck!
Cesar Aguirre wasn't scared to take a hit? Did I just watch a different video? He showed lots of improvement yes, but he'd flail his arms every time he thought he was gonna get hit instead of countering.
A lot of improvements, honestly I continue to be impressed with your dedication, some interesting exchanges in that video. Edit : You could probably be more aggressive in those clinch exchanges. I think that's probably a natural grappler habit hehe, you guys are stubborn in there, always trying to keep pulling off whatever just failed while you get kneed in the ribs. The clinch is heaven for a lot of strikers, if what you initiated failed, don't stick in there unless you intend to dish out some punishing yourself before you attempt a take down again. Otherwise you're just digging yourself into a lot of trouble.
I'm not even subscribed to this channel yet I'm getting recommended. Whatever it is you're doing, from what I heard you're trying to add things more to your aikido, good luck.
Hey! Really love these videos. Really like the integration of different styles, AND the fact that you're keeping the Aikido! It's so creative and interesting to see how this varies from where I train, which is just straight MMA with a Muay Thai & BJJ base. I have some comments about the good things I saw, and the areas that could be improved. I would say the primary area that needs improvement here is in your striking defense. You're doing a lot of flinching, and leaning your head back over your back leg, which compromises your balance and movement. Also, by leaning your head back, you compromise your chin. Finally, it compromises your foot positioning - check around 2:47 for a particular moment where you're basically facing away from your opponent, which opens you up to strikes, and limits your ability to respond. THAT SAID: I really liked the takedowns, and the way you're using strikes to close the distance and impose your aikido. The throws/takedowns look really good. You don't necessarily need to be Lomachenko, and you've definitely become more comfortable with strikes since your first MMA bout, but the strike entry (I think it's called "atami" in aikido?) looks good. So impressed at how this experimentation is going! Inspirational!
basically, if he was throwing real punches, he would have beat the shit out of you. You didn't duck or react or anything, you were jist knowing he will not hit you.
I'm just stating the obvious. Practice means to at least have SOME intention to the punch, so the other person doesn't just ignore it. Sting him a little once or twice, so he knows he must not ignore what's coming.
I love what you're doing here! It's inspiring to see a martial artist take what is derided as useless and try to improve on it to make it viable again. I've always wanted to learn Shaolin kung fu, and the only school in the area is Shaolin-Do. I know, I know. I still go and learn, because it's cheap to train there and the people at this SPECIFIC gym are very open to what I want to do, which is re-invent the art into something useful. I also train at local boxing gyms and judo schools to gain the useful drills and attributes I need to see the project through. Seeing someone else doing this inspires me to keep taking the next step. Thank you !
You may be the most honest aikido practicioner in the world. You will suck at first of course but I see great potential of creating something knew with experience. Keep exploring and practicing, we may learn a lot from you. Aikido revolution!
Great start! Definitely looking better already than your Aikido vs MMA. Great also you got some Aikido techniques in there, glad to see Aikido can work! Please keep pressure testing and find out what works best.
qnz_78 I don't think that is exactly working, mainly because he seems so much exposed to be hit by an "untrained" fighter. The moves seems to work only when the aikido guy just ignore hits as nothing... In a real fight, the aikido guy should probably be found bleeding on the ground. And this is a little sad...
CopernicoTube I agree. You commit to the technique and take a big risk. It can work but probably but success percentage will depend on how well you've practiced it with a high level of resistance. But again personally it's probably something I won't do unless there's a special reason like taking down a drunk friend.
Excellent! Great to see you so humbly allowing us to watch your failures and successes. It's a very useful experiment. Interestingly, as you adapt the aiki techniques a little, they get very close to (standing) BJJ techniques despite you deliberately trying not to use BJJ. Essentially, what works, works! All martial arts, IMHO, when pushed to use their effective techniques only, end up looking surprisingly alike.
Good points! I was talking about this with my fighting coach as well and he said something I liked as well: that all effective techniques end up looking similar even in different styles, because they are effective so they are universal :)
I currently train in a Korean traditional martial art that has elements of Taekwondo, Hapkido, and Judo (as in we train with punches, kicks, pressure points, joint locks, throws, and falling techniques) and I have recently started training in BJJ to help develop my close range skills. I see how training in both styles helps me in the other. One such example is that when I spar in BJJ, I have no problems engaging while standing up and looking to throw/sweep someone to the ground vs resorting to pulling guard to bring the fight to the ground quickly. I also have learned quickly how to deal with grips and recognize when I am in danger (even though I may not always know how to deal with the threat). Due to rolling after class, I have learned how to better train/drill the jointlocks as well as I have better cardio for when I am doing forms. My biggest advice for modernizing aikido is implementing sparring involving strikes but encourage the joint locks/throws/sweeps so that it forces the practicioner to learn how to use those techniques while being punched/kicked. Keep up the work!
You definitely improved a lot. I think your journey is going fantastic. Here are my suggestions (my own personal suggestions/opinions based on my muay thai and kick boxing experience): 1. Keep a straight/upright back. You're bending forward too much. That will make your spine and back muscles more tired. Being too bent forward will give your opponent less room to try and close their distance. They'll have an easier time hitting you. In my opinion, controlling the pace and distance is key regardless of martial art. 2. Keep your chin down too when you're guarding against punches. In a fight (sport or self defense), you're most likely going to get hit once unless you have Kryptonian/Barry Allen like reflexes. Protect your chin. Get in that proper habit. 3. You're trying too hard to get the submission going from the very beginning. I recommend setting it up more with more than one punch. Look for openings in your opponent's defenses, fake them out. A good fighter will immediately adapt to what you're trying to do. To combat this, be unpredictable. 4: At 3:40 ish, you were trying to get a submission going on but your partner slipped. Which will happen. But you stayed too long out of position. Reset your fight stance as soon as possible. If you face away from your opponent too long, that can open up opportunities for him to unload on you. All it takes is one second. Get in the habit of resetting your fight stance. You did score a couple of take downs, which is good. You were definitely more aggressive and you were controlling the pace of the fight for a bit. He seemed more reactive and you seemed more proactive. Keep up the good work.
Yeh quietly following your progress... excellent stuff mate. Reminds me of Bruce Lee’s exploratory development and learning... which led him to greatness.
Man, definitely seeing stuff moving with this. Obviously it's not there yet, but this is going in a cool direction. I noticed the irimi nage as well! :D Super neat idea to set up a "control" sparring session to have something to compare to - like that a lot!
I had the audio off at first and I was watching the vid thinking, "the untrained dude doesn't look untrained" but you covered him being kyokushin which is a rowdy karate. like really rowdy. I had to rewind. He's clearly kept some of the skill from his training
A quick note on your foot work, don't step forward like you're walking when you come after him. Your balance will be terrible if you're caught in the middle of it. There are rare exceptions but for the most part, shuffle, don't walk or run in.
Thanks for the tip. Yes, I was also a bit confused with having more difficulties with him then planned and then realized he did have training :D Will be cool though, since he will continue to develop along side my training and the challenge will keep rising :)
Great stuff! Your confidence is up by a lot, if your body language is any indication. Two questions: Why the gloves? And, you frequently mention making aikido "efficient," is that term precisely defined in another video? I think I missed it. I enjoy your vids, and continue to wish you the best.
That makes sense. Keeping in mind that you're actually doing it, while I'm just watching from a comfy chair, may I suggest that making a working definition of "efficient" might be helpful? Respectfully yours, f.
3 things. 1. Looks life you're trying to recreate Japanese jujitsu when you add bjj and punches in. I think if you want to keep it aikido you should avoid striking altogether and focus on throws and escaping from grappling then maybe the spirit of aikido is still there. (Not saying you shouldn't practice those things). 2. If you ditch the punches ditch the gloves. They just get in the way and in full contact fighting they're more dangerous than bare fists. Even the punches you throw now look like taking the gloves off wouldn't make a difference. 3. Love what you're trying to do. Keep it up.
I like your approach and willingness to learn your open mind thumbs up. My old sensei the late Simon Deering once taught us is that once you are standing toe to toe you are doing something wrong. His philosophy was deflate the situation before it gets to the point of no return. Example: most fights start with pushing, a way to size up your opponent. He called this phase 1, this is the phase where you want to be at with aikido and are at an advantage. Phase 2 is raised fists, 3 the red phase is fists are swinging. He said do a basic ikkyo omote, even better the ura version for more control over your opponent. He also said on the average untrained opponent it has a shock and awe effect. Do remember to apply some pain pressure and TALK with some reasoning to your down opponent, like I don't want this so let's stop . Of course walking away is the preferred method
I hate to tell you but that 1.2.3. Bullshit is only true for those whose intention is not to fight in the first place. It's chest beating and working up the courage for violence. They want you to respond and hit first. It is fear that is guiding their actions. There are others who are not fighting to show dominance the intent is to injure and maim there is a lack of fear and do not need to be worked up. There is no 1.2.3. Aikido is fairly useless against them as are almost all other forms of martial arts unless you as a person has their head on a swivel and is always redlined. Point of action your skills are useless when instead of a blustery show or verbal que I simply walk up showing no intent and smack a bottle over your head and don't let up until you go down and can't get up or keep stomping once your down. There are people who believe that if your going to commit an act of violence then there is no halfway and it must always be justified. That's why they are mostly pacifist and far more patient than most.
Can't lie this is making me want to go learn aikido just so i can try to blend it with some bjj, catch wrestling and boxing. The thing about sparring like that is that you're not being given enough energy to really do something with it. Do some drills where you're getting legit committed punches thrown and drill at least one technique full speed till completion. Wish i knew the names of the moves so i could give an example lol
I am not highly trained in Aikido, but my understanding of Aikido is that it is to be used in accordance with his momentum - not as a static-type take down how you used it, because it is to easy to adjust and just step back? There was no stepping in and sliding to the side when he stepped in to punch, there was no push or pull at right angles to the line between his feet to make him unbalanced? I am strugging to see how you did anything more than a few trips?
Well done. Great stuff. It seems that Aikido works when put into a realistic context. Your first take down certainly shows that your Aikido is of a very high level. I also loved seeing the Alaskan Malamute - it reminded me of a sparring session I had with a student many years ago. We were in my back yard and my Malamute thought that I was being seriously attacked and sprang to my defence. Needless to say, we had to stop sparring as I had a somewhat unfair advantage! ;)
Aikido has been changed from a fighting form to an art to a fighting form and back to an art again many time over the years. To make it work against modern opponents who aren't in full classical armor. I would add some wrestling, bjj or sambo and some form of striking. I don't hate aikido but when I was mostly untrained often I was too much for aikido black lets to handle. Im not some high level pro or anything fancy, a black belt should be able to handle them self against me. So I don't trust it as a stand alone style to protect my family with. Nothing against the art it's just I only have but so much time to train so the training has to be practical.
While still far away from real progress, it's a step in the right direction. There are 2 adaptations. One for sport and one for self-defense. You'll have to develop both. Respect!
Are you sure you know Aikido?? You do understand Aikido is the defence not the attack. All you did was a poor attempt at Judo. And if you do believe that was Aikido, you dont have any talent for it.
Hi Lokas. What I find interesting is that in the practice of the Dojo, we are told not to use any force and always play on the unbalance of our opponent, by leveraging and using this unbalance. Using your weight or your force in the Dojo is usually seen as a lack of Aikido skill. But in practice like in this fight, the few techniques which you managed to slip in where done by using strength. And in no way has your opponent lost his balance, which is why you have to play with your strength and intensive locks as well. This matches with your other experiments that Aikido like it is taught is not exactly what works in practice.
Keep this training and pressure testing up and soon you will be the face of new aikido/combat aikido/ or whatever you decide to call it. The basic principles may come from Aikido it will be an art all your own. We are literally witnessing the birth of a new art.
Much respect for pressure testing. Very admirable. I'd also add that you should do some mma classes, they would really help you close the distance a Lil safer so you can apply your Akido. But fair play man!!
Hey, man. What I thought when watching your sparring was that you seemed to be more offensive than I have thought aikido should be. To me aikido is more passive, allowing your opponent to come to you and redirecting their attack in a way that you can then exploit. I have not engaged in an aikido vs untrained puncher sparring session so I don’t know what it’s like. However, I would personally like to think that I would have a straighter stance as this is more classical and my personal preference whereas you seemed to adopt a more boxing styled stance, ie hunched and closed guard around your head and ribs. I really love your videos and your quest to see if you can use aikido in a real world setting! Keep it up!
Someone already pointed out the leaning forward, but something I noticed was the lack of decisiveness in pursuing a technique - and in particular, no specific breaking the balance before completing the technique. From my experience aikido technique seemed to require a real strong decisive element on top of the initial balance break - that is, not tentatively grabbing and pulling back, or trying to do a technique without first breaking the opponent's balance. Break the balance with a strong entry - whether it's a push, strike, whatever... then the technique is possible, but it needs to be deliberate and not uncertain. Without the balance being broken though, then you have to 'grapple'/'jostle' around a bit, which aikido doesn't prepare someone for.
I don't know if this has been asked previously, but have you spoken to anyone who practices Hapkido? I know it has some common roots with Aikido but is actually intended for street fighting, so it might be possible that Hapkido might offer some insight into making certain Aikido joint locks or takedowns more effective/efficient.
That's a good point about the conflict in philosophy; I admit that I was looking at it from a purely practical standpoint, but I believe that Rokas is looking for ways to make Aikido more effective while also maintaining its underlying philosophy. A friend recommended I look into Hapkido when I told him that I like Taekwondo, but have trouble staying interested because I don't actually like kicking very much. It doesn't look like TH-cam will let us send private messages, but do you have any suggestions for picking a Hapkido school? (I have found one that offers "traditional Korean Hapkido," and the school's website clearly explains the different classes and the lineages of the programs offered, but that isn't terribly helpful and if I were to audit one of the classes, I don't know what to look for in Hapkido)
I guess it would have been easier to perform real Aikido techniques without those boxing gloves because they seem to limit you in terms of proper grabing.
Especially against an untrained person, I think you're best strategy is covering your head and vital areas and forcing your way in against his attack and jam him up. Most untrained fighters only have long-range weapons --albeit not really effective ones -- punches and kicks. Once inside the range of those the opponent tools are ineffective and your tools work best: elbows and knee strikes, locks, throws and takedowns, or an old-fashioned headbutt. Trying to dance with the opponent trading punches at his striking range just doesn't make sense when you can move in, unbalance him and control everything from there. If you were up against a trained person you'd find out right away: you'd never get close to the trained boxer and the BJJ or judo guy would try and take you to the ground. But trained people don't fight in the street so it probably wouldn't happen.
To all the haters: the idea wasn´t for Aikido to win, there was nothing to "proof" here. It is simply experimentation. And when someone is so honest, they´re willing to take a couple punches to learn and improve, I really don´t know what there is to dislike about it. This guy has understood that in fighting half of the time you hit, the other half you get hit - no need to be a superior "master of everything". I find that inspirational.
Huge respect to you for trying new martial arts. Looks to me like you learnt a lot from BJJ in your short journey in that sport. A lot of your takedowns look 100% like BJJ/judo takedowns.
I'm a bit curious. As far as I know, Aikido is associated with pure defense. Why did you take an aggressive approach? Correct me if i'm wrong, but your effort to take your opponent down in this video translated to using what mostly seem more like BJJ and judo techniques.
First off, just wanted to say great video, nice to see someone actually testing and analysing their martial art without ego getting in the way. I'm intrigued through, when you started sparring you were leaning forward quite a bit, has this been taught as a strategy/kamae or just a habit? I certainly have a bad habit of leaning forward in training, especially when over-thinking or learning new movements. I have always been taught (Even in the few Aikido lessons I have done) that a straight posture is key to any good technique, especially, for grappling/control/throwing.
You are absolutely right, it's a bad habit mainly. I think it's mainly to do with the fact that I'm tall and my desire to go under a punch, etc. I've started working on it though ;)
Very good experiment. I'm in Aikido for more than 20 years and my modest opinion is that in general, Aikido is not so suitable in a direct confrontation- like boxing for an example.... In the end, that's not a purpose of Aikido. But, if we cut some particular and non-practical rules, Aikido can be really effective. Most of the "hard-Aikido-styles", like a Serbian "Real(istic) Aikido" are based on those priniciples. Rokas, try to find an angle- where you can actually use your Aikido. Then, cut the situations where you can't.
Good job on your quest. 2 things that may help : 1) you have a tendency to move on a straight line which makes you both predictable and exposed, 2) when you fight the opponent in closer range you fight his arms instead of his body, which allows opponent to re asses, recharge and counter with same speed and power. Another one that may or may not help is the guard position which is a double punch close to face which allows opponent to get closer as it forms a gap in front and free entry on the mid line. Aikido posture is missing there, and I'd incorporate that just to check it's flaws or benefits.
I love what you're doing! I think as you get more and more comfortable and confident in live sparring you can start to use more Aikido in the sparring. A thought that I had may be interesting to you. When I was on the wrestling team, I found that if I focused on my stance and footwork while sparring, other aspects of wrestling became much easier to me. Perhaps wrist locks and takedowns will be much easier once you become adept at using Aikido footwork in a live sparring situation (just make sure you use sideways movement as well).
Great video. The untrained fighter has unpredictable rhythm. When afraid or angry the untrained man will use unpredictable attacking movements like a wild animal that refuses to be caged. Great video. I can tell by your speech and attitude that you are on the path of self Mastery
Not saying I can do what you are trying, but I do feel you are doing it wrong. All respect. The reason I say this is because I have had a passionate but casual love of aikido for many years, and for a few, I had opportunities to spar and wrestle and use it. I was in a zone of understanding for a bit there, self taught. There was a certain fearlessness and confidence you must muster (ESPECIALLY if it's just playing pretend with yourself) in order to apply the philosophy and technique of no resistance. What I see is the tenseness and apprehension of a regular man...not an aikido man. You MUST play pretend my friend. It's ALL mental. I hope this info helps, I recommend you take it to heart my friend. Rooting for you.
I presume you've seen that footage of Tohei against the Judo guy in the 60s. Any thoughts on his change of techniques from 'Hombu' aikido since he encountered larger people in Hawaii? Great work! Can't wait to see you with the Aikido flow lot. Awesome!
I'm not an Akido practitioner but have an interest in watching pretty much any fighting are video. I think Akido criticism from outsiders has validity because as I understand it most schools don't spar much, if any. Plus they don't spar with outsiders. As I understand it Akido was not devised as a fighting or self defense art, but specially as a means to develop one's self. that being said I don't think it is a useless art, but if one plans to use it for self defense one must test & spar with it. This vid, to me at least, show potential for Akido application & is overall just interesting to watch. Thanks for sharing
Best video yet in respect of starting to play with it all and discover...the only bit I'm really not keen on is how you give up your own structure so easily, either trying to clinch or in the middle of 'grappling' - maybe that's the MMA and BJJ coming through, but give up your structure like that and you're asking to be owned...break their structure, their kuzishi, I am guessing that is aikido principles too, they're very important in my opinion.
This was a good session. My advice for avoiding punches would be to get on the outside of your attacker. Then it’s much harder to hit you and it would be easier to get throws off
I spotted something and again I just had to wait til the end where you identified it yourself. Good job with your analysis. I was going to mention the korogashi leaving the back of your head open to his punches which would be a very vulnerable spot to be hit. BJJ can have the same issue going for certain leg attacks. I see people go for them in MMA and leave themselves open for punches with all limbs focused on one leg and none for defense.
Love the videos dude and I know people are going to absolutely pile on me for this comment but is there any chance you could lose the pants? It makes it kinda hard to see what you are doing
I believe to see that you have problems deciding on the fly which technique to use based on your opponents movements and position. This is probably a huge part of what you can learn from sparring instead of practicing isolated techniques (even with a resisting partner). It might even make many Aikido techniques a viable option once you can find the right time to apply them.
Hey, I know you cancelled the project, but I do not see really a try out to use aikido here. No distance control, you initiate attacks, no pulling opponent's center (hips) in your stance. I would think aikidoka should work more on distance to get out from the attack and when the attacker get angry about it and use more force and mass, you should use his force to pull out him from balance. Although I do understand. I had similar project years ago... and find out aikido is not suitable for self defence anymore and I quit. Meantime I tried judo, TKD, karate, krav maga and bjj and found out aikido gave me great skills except techniques, which are very limted in use.
I think one thing to consider is that you're gonna struggle to get him off balance. When you tried to kotegaeshi you need to pull him back more by pumping your biceps and then excecuting kotegaeshi. I also recommend that you use blinding techniques like a smack with an open hand to the face works just as effective as a punch to set up techniques
This was great! As far as using bjj (which comes from judo anyway), the founder of judo was known for saying that good judo should look like aikido. The better the technical ability gets, the more aiki-like it will look, whether there is a resisting opponent or not. :) It's all uphill from here!
ToTheStars! Ninjutsu as in art is just for weeabos it holds no connection to real ninjas a lot of mysticism and impractical training, it Needs modernization more than any other
I love what ur doing! I'm introducing boxing to my taekwondo classes. I hate the olympic style tkd bouncing competitions with irish dancing head defence!! I've done tkd for several years now and was absolutely shocked that the blocks are totally useless against boxing! Took me several months of boxing to learn some real defense. What ur doing is great and is hard to get it fair. Ur opponent couldn't do much to resist when u grabbed him because he had big gloves on. U mentioned it already but u can't just look for grabbing techniques when the other guy is punching u! U have to punch back til u get the opportunity to grab. Same if they're kicking.. I can keep a boxer at bay now with kicks. There's several ranges that u will use different techniques in. Keep up the great work.
I really like your video especially you spar with( fight) MMA fighter, I have few questions for you.. 1. What's the limited( weakness) of the Akido in your opinion? 2. Could you please spar with wing chun fighter or systema fighter?( I think these sparring will help you to improve)
Thanks. I feel the most limiting aspect of Aikido is it's lack of pressure testing / training with no live resistance I am considering to do a sparring with a Wing Chun person
![ละลาย (LALALYE) - DAOU PITTAYA ต้าห์อู๋ พิทยา [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wo6r9TgausI/mqdefault.jpg)
The husky says "meh, I could take them both with jaw-jutsu".
Rofl :D
Thomasuki267 you're so wrong.
Its karate...
ליאת מאיר he's talking about the dog
Nicolás Paradoja I knew that LOL
ליאת מאיר for sure you meant Jawrate.
Attempts at 'live' aikido always end up looking like bad judo.
:) Your point may be right
I have been trying to figure out how to describe it, and you just nailed it.
Well it can't look like Aikido because he wears gloves... even if this would have been a cooperative training partner it couldn't look like Aikido because like 90% of the Aikido techniques rely on NOT wearing boxing gloves ;-) And the few remaining techniques that can be executed with boxing gloves are mainly some throws that are identical to Judo.
@@b00nish he used mma gloves he could grab so you arent completly right
@drsandkastenschaufel Believe me, with this gloves you can't grab in any way that comes close to the requirements of Aikido.
I think if you ever got jumped while walking your dog, your dog would react like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I wrestled with my dog all of the time, so when my brother came to visit and started wrestling with me, the dog would attack me too.
Well done m8. You are very brave. Most martial arts teachers are all talk no walk, they never try to practice what they preach in a real situation. Win or lose you get my respect.
Thanks
YES and that's EXACTLY why he's finding MOST martial arts to be totally INEFFECTIVE-- because the lousy teachers that were either totally fake- or just NOT good at what they do or CAN"T TEACH- some very good folks at practice can't teach for sh... all these situations are why he's finding out most arts are NOT effective.. a good pro at any art- can easily be VERY effective against average street BS.. and most good at their arts- unless the practitioner is VERY talented on top of his years of training.
One of the few honest Explorations into the effectiveness of a martial arts. I applaud your willingness to be open and learn. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
This is important really - no other channel that I can think of, honestly sets up fights or situations that you expect them to lose. They don't genuinely test stuff out, where you see the failure. If they show failure, they show it in a "this is how it looks when it fails" kind of way.
As someone who has, in a different field, gone through just a little of what Rokas is doing - in his own wise words: "this shit ain't easy".
That's what "studying Martial Arts" actually means! Way to go, Rokas! Keep it up! 🙇
Nice to see a community taking form around this project also! May it bring insightful experiences and healthy exchange of it!
Thanks. I agree! The community aspect is amazing! It makes it go and progress so much better by learning from everyone
That dog is so excited trying to help LoL
"HOOMAN YOU SEEM TO BE IN DANGER!!!!"
Great video. Thank you!
Henrique Nakamura my friends dog got concerned when I was training him. Dogs seem to like getting involved when people are training XD
"OOH OOH! YOU'RE DOING STUFF? I WANT TO DO STUFF!!"
haha yeah. was doing some light boxing sparring with my fiancee recently. The cat got upset and started squawking at us until we reassured him that it wasn't a real fight :) Then he just watched us with a 'you're idiots' expression.
I really appreciate this. Instead of constant downing a martial art, you said,"Hey! Let's improve it and make it more practical." It means a lot.
Instead of using big hybrid mma gloves and boxing gloves try using the standard 4oz mma gloves. You can always throw on full headgear and a mouthpiece to protect your face from the strikes.
I usually train with 4oz and a mouthpiece, sometimes shin pads. It has a more "realistic" feel because they're smaller and allow better technique as the larger gloves get in the way.
Thanks Daniel for the advice! We are looking into getting head gear already. Could you give more details why you suggest 4oz gloves?
4oz is just the standard mma glove size. It will allow for much better grip during grabs and wont impede wrist manipulation if your opponent is wearing them too. If you arent trying to do any grabs and you just want to work on striking other gloves are good as well.
Stick to what you have for now. Your not ready for such a dramatic or drastic change in equipment. Over all as you progress eventually you will want to go bare knuckle. But your now rewiring you mind and body so take it easy. I know I did aikido my self for a while before I got in to stand up, Japanese jujutsu and eventually MMA.
Just as a reminder, headgear only protect your skin, concussions still happen. If you happen to get headgear, don't go up in the intensity of the strikes as it gives a false sensation of protection.
I am very very impressed with what you are trying to do. I a judoka but I when I lived in Japan I trained for a a year and a half with Fujitani Sensei at the Tenshin Dojo in Osaka. I left Aikido because of it consistently proved ineffective against a resisting opponent. I wish you luck in your endeavors and look forward to Your development and evolution of Aikido.
I once tried to help a friend train for her aikido black belt grading. It was really strange. Every time she tried any takedowns she would look at me and say something like "you should be off balance by now". I tried to be a compliant partner but because I had no idea what these takedowns were, my body just naturally did whatever to stay balanced and she grew frustrated. Granted I do have a background in traditional and sports martial arts, but she couldn't understand why she couldn't throw me around like her classmates. She then proceeded to train me how to be off balance and that's when I understood the problem: her classmates expected a fixed outcome in training and threw themselves off balance for her benefit. Aikido can be fun but I just find the practioners too compliant with one another. I'm sure there are some good aikido guys around that can toss me like a rag doll, but I have yet to experience it.
I had that experience too when I got attacked by guys who know some martial art, 3 of them were trying 3 different takedowns at the same time and I could just pull my arm free and knock one out, it’s better to find a counter in the moment then to practice a specific moves counter
I'm really enjoying these videos. Much respect for what you are doing here, admitting that your chosen style wasn't quite up to scratch in a modern setting and actively trying to fix the problems rather than burying your head in the sand takes balls man.
Thank You!
Looks hard to use aikido
It is O_O But I am seeing how and if it's possible
Hard but not impossible. I think at some point Rokas-san will find better transitions to get himself to Aikido. Good video!
But not impossible you just gotta train the right way.
It might be possible to utilise those akido techniques on a kid, or someone a quarter of your size
My instructor always told me it works great on people that give up their momentum. Angry people or someone that isn't used to sparring and throws haymakers
Husky comes and checks "is my master ok?". Great !
Thank you for sharing your honest and vulnerable training journey. Many people get discouraged by the rough learning process, but I'm so happy to see you display confidence and humility.
Is the dog the ref?
Dude... I commend you for what you are doing... it takes such a strong sense of self and humbleness at your approach with an openess at true expression of what truly works in your experiments and experiences.
It's very good that you're doing this and filming it. Not only is it good for you, but I think it will be good for a lot of open minded individuals that stumble on to this.
Thank you
It's great seeing you test your aikido skills in sparring against different styles and levels of competency while adding to your skill set from other arts.
Great job!! You’ve improved so much from your first sparring session with the mma guy! You were successfully able to implement your aikido techniques. Way to go! Keep at it Rokas!
Thank You!
Take a look at this: th-cam.com/video/0j_lCc-BM8A/w-d-xo.html I think this will help you learn to close and not get hit.
Any half-witted wrestler will be able to destroy that guy
AikidoSiauliai should you be wearing this at your level?
He is trying to use Aikido moves to see what works.
The fact that you're pressure testing your aikido is excellent. It's also clear that with some of your techniques were effective. Keep up the great work.
You seem to have a heavy forward lean (along your back and your neck), and tend to lead horizontally with your head. I think that is a bad tendency to have.
I agree, it´s not good for pure wrestling/grappling and terrible if striking is included.
Thanks! I keep that in mind, yet yes, I need to work more on that. Thank you for your advice
Very true, try to keep your back straight, arms up, stay sideways and if you need to get low do it with your legs without bending your back. And always go sideways, this is what Aikido is about.
Nour Eddine Yaghmour sideways is not good.
Everybody is an expert on youtube lol
I like this sparring match vs your first one with the trained MMA fighter. Very specific, you were not afraid to get hit this time. The confidence in your ability to handle some punches really comes through. You looked a lot more comfortable in your own skin and dealt with random attacks more relaxed. Great improvement!
I hate comments with criticism of application, but I dare add something to help. The transition points of going from fighting to Aikido are the keys to making Aikido work. That is where Aikido lacks, its transitions do not adapt or harmonize with a different type of attack. BJJ, wresting, and boxing have some great transitions that you could use to get to Aikido. You used a couple that seemed effective. Here are some that I like to use during sparring to transition to Aikido:
1. Jab counter: slip to the outside of the jab and simultaneously counter with your own lead hand for an irminage to the face (or just a jab counter).
2. Jab-cross counter: slip outside of jab then cover for cross, catch the elbow, tenkan, koykunage/sumiotoshi
3. Offensive back fist: trap lead hand, back fist to the outside of the head, pull head down, kaiten nage
And there are many many more that can transition real nice. Good luck!
Thanks Cesar! By the way, I wanted to check, if I remember you live in UK. May I ask where in UK?
AikidoSiauliai I live in the U.S., specifically Houston, Texas.
Cesar Aguirre wasn't scared to take a hit? Did I just watch a different video? He showed lots of improvement yes, but he'd flail his arms every time he thought he was gonna get hit instead of countering.
Keep up the good work! Aikido needs you.
Thank you!
Your best moments here are when you throw a strike *immediately before* entering into the clinch range.
Thanks. That's a good point!
A lot of improvements, honestly I continue to be impressed with your dedication, some interesting exchanges in that video.
Edit : You could probably be more aggressive in those clinch exchanges. I think that's probably a natural grappler habit hehe, you guys are stubborn in there, always trying to keep pulling off whatever just failed while you get kneed in the ribs. The clinch is heaven for a lot of strikers, if what you initiated failed, don't stick in there unless you intend to dish out some punishing yourself before you attempt a take down again. Otherwise you're just digging yourself into a lot of trouble.
I'm not even subscribed to this channel yet I'm getting recommended.
Whatever it is you're doing, from what I heard you're trying to add things more to your aikido, good luck.
Thanks!
Hey! Really love these videos. Really like the integration of different styles, AND the fact that you're keeping the Aikido! It's so creative and interesting to see how this varies from where I train, which is just straight MMA with a Muay Thai & BJJ base. I have some comments about the good things I saw, and the areas that could be improved.
I would say the primary area that needs improvement here is in your striking defense. You're doing a lot of flinching, and leaning your head back over your back leg, which compromises your balance and movement. Also, by leaning your head back, you compromise your chin. Finally, it compromises your foot positioning - check around 2:47 for a particular moment where you're basically facing away from your opponent, which opens you up to strikes, and limits your ability to respond.
THAT SAID: I really liked the takedowns, and the way you're using strikes to close the distance and impose your aikido. The throws/takedowns look really good. You don't necessarily need to be Lomachenko, and you've definitely become more comfortable with strikes since your first MMA bout, but the strike entry (I think it's called "atami" in aikido?) looks good. So impressed at how this experimentation is going! Inspirational!
Thanks!
basically, if he was throwing real punches, he would have beat the shit out of you. You didn't duck or react or anything, you were jist knowing he will not hit you.
I agree. The untrained guy didn't hit hard...
If anyone's planning to rush through punches in order to get an underhook or a wristlock - the chance he'll get knocked out is quite big
Anton St
They're practicing and learning
Give em a break.
And full contact would look nothing like this on either side.
True but you gotta start somewhere
I'm just stating the obvious. Practice means to at least have SOME intention to the punch, so the other person doesn't just ignore it. Sting him a little once or twice, so he knows he must not ignore what's coming.
I love what you're doing here! It's inspiring to see a martial artist take what is derided as useless and try to improve on it to make it viable again. I've always wanted to learn Shaolin kung fu, and the only school in the area is Shaolin-Do. I know, I know. I still go and learn, because it's cheap to train there and the people at this SPECIFIC gym are very open to what I want to do, which is re-invent the art into something useful. I also train at local boxing gyms and judo schools to gain the useful drills and attributes I need to see the project through. Seeing someone else doing this inspires me to keep taking the next step. Thank you !
You may be the most honest aikido practicioner in the world. You will suck at first of course but I see great potential of creating something knew with experience. Keep exploring and practicing, we may learn a lot from you. Aikido revolution!
Great start! Definitely looking better already than your Aikido vs MMA. Great also you got some Aikido techniques in there, glad to see Aikido can work! Please keep pressure testing and find out what works best.
Will do! Thank you
qnz_78 I don't think that is exactly working, mainly because he seems so much exposed to be hit by an "untrained" fighter.
The moves seems to work only when the aikido guy just ignore hits as nothing...
In a real fight, the aikido guy should probably be found bleeding on the ground. And this is a little sad...
CopernicoTube I agree. You commit to the technique and take a big risk. It can work but probably but success percentage will depend on how well you've practiced it with a high level of resistance. But again personally it's probably something I won't do unless there's a special reason like taking down a drunk friend.
Excellent! Great to see you so humbly allowing us to watch your failures and successes. It's a very useful experiment. Interestingly, as you adapt the aiki techniques a little, they get very close to (standing) BJJ techniques despite you deliberately trying not to use BJJ. Essentially, what works, works! All martial arts, IMHO, when pushed to use their effective techniques only, end up looking surprisingly alike.
Good points! I was talking about this with my fighting coach as well and he said something I liked as well: that all effective techniques end up looking similar even in different styles, because they are effective so they are universal :)
I currently train in a Korean traditional martial art that has elements of Taekwondo, Hapkido, and Judo (as in we train with punches, kicks, pressure points, joint locks, throws, and falling techniques) and I have recently started training in BJJ to help develop my close range skills. I see how training in both styles helps me in the other. One such example is that when I spar in BJJ, I have no problems engaging while standing up and looking to throw/sweep someone to the ground vs resorting to pulling guard to bring the fight to the ground quickly. I also have learned quickly how to deal with grips and recognize when I am in danger (even though I may not always know how to deal with the threat). Due to rolling after class, I have learned how to better train/drill the jointlocks as well as I have better cardio for when I am doing forms.
My biggest advice for modernizing aikido is implementing sparring involving strikes but encourage the joint locks/throws/sweeps so that it forces the practicioner to learn how to use those techniques while being punched/kicked. Keep up the work!
You definitely improved a lot. I think your journey is going fantastic. Here are my suggestions (my own personal suggestions/opinions based on my muay thai and kick boxing experience):
1. Keep a straight/upright back. You're bending forward too much. That will make your spine and back muscles more tired. Being too bent forward will give your opponent less room to try and close their distance. They'll have an easier time hitting you. In my opinion, controlling the pace and distance is key regardless of martial art.
2. Keep your chin down too when you're guarding against punches. In a fight (sport or self defense), you're most likely going to get hit once unless you have Kryptonian/Barry Allen like reflexes. Protect your chin. Get in that proper habit.
3. You're trying too hard to get the submission going from the very beginning. I recommend setting it up more with more than one punch. Look for openings in your opponent's defenses, fake them out. A good fighter will immediately adapt to what you're trying to do. To combat this, be unpredictable.
4: At 3:40 ish, you were trying to get a submission going on but your partner slipped. Which will happen. But you stayed too long out of position. Reset your fight stance as soon as possible. If you face away from your opponent too long, that can open up opportunities for him to unload on you. All it takes is one second. Get in the habit of resetting your fight stance.
You did score a couple of take downs, which is good. You were definitely more aggressive and you were controlling the pace of the fight for a bit. He seemed more reactive and you seemed more proactive. Keep up the good work.
Yeh quietly following your progress... excellent stuff mate. Reminds me of Bruce Lee’s exploratory development and learning... which led him to greatness.
TheUnfetteredOne wtf
Nicee, very nice! Love what you are doing with aikido keep on questioning everything not just aikido!
Man, definitely seeing stuff moving with this.
Obviously it's not there yet, but this is going in a cool direction. I noticed the irimi nage as well! :D
Super neat idea to set up a "control" sparring session to have something to compare to - like that a lot!
Thanks!
I had the audio off at first and I was watching the vid thinking, "the untrained dude doesn't look untrained" but you covered him being kyokushin which is a rowdy karate. like really rowdy. I had to rewind. He's clearly kept some of the skill from his training
A quick note on your foot work, don't step forward like you're walking when you come after him. Your balance will be terrible if you're caught in the middle of it. There are rare exceptions but for the most part, shuffle, don't walk or run in.
Thanks for the tip. Yes, I was also a bit confused with having more difficulties with him then planned and then realized he did have training :D Will be cool though, since he will continue to develop along side my training and the challenge will keep rising :)
Love when the dog runs in :D Hilarious
Great stuff! Your confidence is up by a lot, if your body language is any indication. Two questions: Why the gloves? And, you frequently mention making aikido "efficient," is that term precisely defined in another video? I think I missed it. I enjoy your vids, and continue to wish you the best.
Gloves, just to get started :) Want to take it step by step. Efficient sounds good. Sometimes it's modernize Aikido, some times it's practical
That makes sense. Keeping in mind that you're actually doing it, while I'm just watching from a comfy chair, may I suggest that making a working definition of "efficient" might be helpful? Respectfully yours, f.
3 things.
1. Looks life you're trying to recreate Japanese jujitsu when you add bjj and punches in. I think if you want to keep it aikido you should avoid striking altogether and focus on throws and escaping from grappling then maybe the spirit of aikido is still there. (Not saying you shouldn't practice those things).
2. If you ditch the punches ditch the gloves. They just get in the way and in full contact fighting they're more dangerous than bare fists. Even the punches you throw now look like taking the gloves off wouldn't make a difference.
3. Love what you're trying to do. Keep it up.
Thanks!
I like your approach and willingness to learn your open mind thumbs up.
My old sensei the late Simon Deering once taught us is that once you are standing toe to toe you are doing something wrong.
His philosophy was deflate the situation before it gets to the point of no return.
Example: most fights start with pushing, a way to size up your opponent.
He called this phase 1, this is the phase where you want to be at with aikido and are at an advantage.
Phase 2 is raised fists, 3 the red phase is fists are swinging.
He said do a basic ikkyo omote, even better the ura version for more control over your opponent.
He also said on the average untrained opponent it has a shock and awe effect.
Do remember to apply some pain pressure and TALK with some reasoning to your down opponent, like I don't want this so let's stop .
Of course walking away is the preferred method
Precisely the point of Aikido.
I hate to tell you but that 1.2.3. Bullshit is only true for those whose intention is not to fight in the first place. It's chest beating and working up the courage for violence. They want you to respond and hit first. It is fear that is guiding their actions. There are others who are not fighting to show dominance the intent is to injure and maim there is a lack of fear and do not need to be worked up. There is no 1.2.3. Aikido is fairly useless against them as are almost all other forms of martial arts unless you as a person has their head on a swivel and is always redlined. Point of action your skills are useless when instead of a blustery show or verbal que I simply walk up showing no intent and smack a bottle over your head and don't let up until you go down and can't get up or keep stomping once your down. There are people who believe that if your going to commit an act of violence then there is no halfway and it must always be justified. That's why they are mostly pacifist and far more patient than most.
happy to see your improvment
Great job man.I've been watching your videos and I love that your searching for the truth and your being honest about your results.Keep it up.
Can't lie this is making me want to go learn aikido just so i can try to blend it with some bjj, catch wrestling and boxing. The thing about sparring like that is that you're not being given enough energy to really do something with it. Do some drills where you're getting legit committed punches thrown and drill at least one technique full speed till completion. Wish i knew the names of the moves so i could give an example lol
Lol :D Sounds great :) Thanks for sharing
Respect for posting this
I am not highly trained in Aikido, but my understanding of Aikido is that it is to be used in accordance with his momentum - not as a static-type take down how you used it, because it is to easy to adjust and just step back? There was no stepping in and sliding to the side when he stepped in to punch, there was no push or pull at right angles to the line between his feet to make him unbalanced? I am strugging to see how you did anything more than a few trips?
Much respect bro for your continued exploration and experimentation. Really enjoy your humility and study. Keep it going bro!
the dog is legend , also really like your vids
Well done. Great stuff. It seems that Aikido works when put into a realistic context. Your first take down certainly shows that your Aikido is of a very high level. I also loved seeing the Alaskan Malamute - it reminded me of a sparring session I had with a student many years ago. We were in my back yard and my Malamute thought that I was being seriously attacked and sprang to my defence. Needless to say, we had to stop sparring as I had a somewhat unfair advantage! ;)
hahahaha, loved the dog sitting in front of the camera... lol
Aikido has been changed from a fighting form to an art to a fighting form and back to an art again many time over the years. To make it work against modern opponents who aren't in full classical armor. I would add some wrestling, bjj or sambo and some form of striking. I don't hate aikido but when I was mostly untrained often I was too much for aikido black lets to handle. Im not some high level pro or anything fancy, a black belt should be able to handle them self against me. So I don't trust it as a stand alone style to protect my family with. Nothing against the art it's just I only have but so much time to train so the training has to be practical.
While still far away from real progress, it's a step in the right direction.
There are 2 adaptations. One for sport and one for self-defense. You'll have to develop both.
Respect!
Are you sure you know Aikido??
You do understand Aikido is the defence not the attack. All you did was a poor attempt at Judo. And if you do believe that was Aikido, you dont have any talent for it.
Hi Lokas. What I find interesting is that in the practice of the Dojo, we are told not to use any force and always play on the unbalance of our opponent, by leveraging and using this unbalance. Using your weight or your force in the Dojo is usually seen as a lack of Aikido skill. But in practice like in this fight, the few techniques which you managed to slip in where done by using strength. And in no way has your opponent lost his balance, which is why you have to play with your strength and intensive locks as well.
This matches with your other experiments that Aikido like it is taught is not exactly what works in practice.
That's what sparing is like, not that other fake stuff on youtube. I'm talking about you Steven segal. Nice video
Keep this training and pressure testing up and soon you will be the face of new aikido/combat aikido/ or whatever you decide to call it. The basic principles may come from Aikido it will be an art all your own. We are literally witnessing the birth of a new art.
Much respect for pressure testing. Very admirable. I'd also add that you should do some mma classes, they would really help you close the distance a Lil safer so you can apply your Akido. But fair play man!!
yeh throwing a couple punches is prob the best way to get in range for yur wrestling or aikido locks.
Hey, man. What I thought when watching your sparring was that you seemed to be more offensive than I have thought aikido should be. To me aikido is more passive, allowing your opponent to come to you and redirecting their attack in a way that you can then exploit. I have not engaged in an aikido vs untrained puncher sparring session so I don’t know what it’s like. However, I would personally like to think that I would have a straighter stance as this is more classical and my personal preference whereas you seemed to adopt a more boxing styled stance, ie hunched and closed guard around your head and ribs. I really love your videos and your quest to see if you can use aikido in a real world setting! Keep it up!
How do you think this video would go after the 6 months program of mma? Just trying to pull off aikido techniques against an "untrained striker"?
I love the dog. So cute.
Someone already pointed out the leaning forward, but something I noticed was the lack of decisiveness in pursuing a technique - and in particular, no specific breaking the balance before completing the technique. From my experience aikido technique seemed to require a real strong decisive element on top of the initial balance break - that is, not tentatively grabbing and pulling back, or trying to do a technique without first breaking the opponent's balance. Break the balance with a strong entry - whether it's a push, strike, whatever... then the technique is possible, but it needs to be deliberate and not uncertain. Without the balance being broken though, then you have to 'grapple'/'jostle' around a bit, which aikido doesn't prepare someone for.
I don't know if this has been asked previously, but have you spoken to anyone who practices Hapkido? I know it has some common roots with Aikido but is actually intended for street fighting, so it might be possible that Hapkido might offer some insight into making certain Aikido joint locks or takedowns more effective/efficient.
That's a good point about the conflict in philosophy; I admit that I was looking at it from a purely practical standpoint, but I believe that Rokas is looking for ways to make Aikido more effective while also maintaining its underlying philosophy.
A friend recommended I look into Hapkido when I told him that I like Taekwondo, but have trouble staying interested because I don't actually like kicking very much. It doesn't look like TH-cam will let us send private messages, but do you have any suggestions for picking a Hapkido school? (I have found one that offers "traditional Korean Hapkido," and the school's website clearly explains the different classes and the lineages of the programs offered, but that isn't terribly helpful and if I were to audit one of the classes, I don't know what to look for in Hapkido)
I guess it would have been easier to perform real Aikido techniques without those boxing gloves because they seem to limit you in terms of proper grabing.
Especially against an untrained person, I think you're best strategy is covering your head and vital areas and forcing your way in against his attack and jam him up. Most untrained fighters only have long-range weapons --albeit not really effective ones -- punches and kicks. Once inside the range of those the opponent tools are ineffective and your tools work best: elbows and knee strikes, locks, throws and takedowns, or an old-fashioned headbutt. Trying to dance with the opponent trading punches at his striking range just doesn't make sense when you can move in, unbalance him and control everything from there. If you were up against a trained person you'd find out right away: you'd never get close to the trained boxer and the BJJ or judo guy would try and take you to the ground. But trained people don't fight in the street so it probably wouldn't happen.
Fantasic exploration and thanks for showing us the results!
To all the haters: the idea wasn´t for Aikido to win, there was nothing to "proof" here. It is simply experimentation. And when someone is so honest, they´re willing to take a couple punches to learn and improve, I really don´t know what there is to dislike about it.
This guy has understood that in fighting half of the time you hit, the other half you get hit - no need to be a superior "master of everything". I find that inspirational.
Huge respect to you for trying new martial arts. Looks to me like you learnt a lot from BJJ in your short journey in that sport. A lot of your takedowns look 100% like BJJ/judo takedowns.
I'm a bit curious. As far as I know, Aikido is associated with pure defense. Why did you take an aggressive approach? Correct me if i'm wrong, but your effort to take your opponent down in this video translated to using what mostly seem more like BJJ and judo techniques.
First off, just wanted to say great video, nice to see someone actually testing and analysing their martial art without ego getting in the way.
I'm intrigued through, when you started sparring you were leaning forward quite a bit, has this been taught as a strategy/kamae or just a habit? I certainly have a bad habit of leaning forward in training, especially when over-thinking or learning new movements.
I have always been taught (Even in the few Aikido lessons I have done) that a straight posture is key to any good technique, especially, for grappling/control/throwing.
You are absolutely right, it's a bad habit mainly. I think it's mainly to do with the fact that I'm tall and my desire to go under a punch, etc. I've started working on it though ;)
頑張って :-) Always nice to have something (or in my case a few thousand things) to work towards in martial arts training.
loved the dog
May be if you try when No one has any sort of gloves or wrist wrapping on it may be easier?
Very good experiment.
I'm in Aikido for more than 20 years and my modest opinion is that in general, Aikido is not so suitable in a direct confrontation- like boxing for an example.... In the end, that's not a purpose of Aikido. But, if we cut some particular and non-practical rules, Aikido can be really effective.
Most of the "hard-Aikido-styles", like a Serbian "Real(istic) Aikido" are based on those priniciples.
Rokas, try to find an angle- where you can actually use your Aikido.
Then, cut the situations where you can't.
Good job on your quest. 2 things that may help : 1) you have a tendency to move on a straight line which makes you both predictable and exposed, 2) when you fight the opponent in closer range you fight his arms instead of his body, which allows opponent to re asses, recharge and counter with same speed and power. Another one that may or may not help is the guard position which is a double punch close to face which allows opponent to get closer as it forms a gap in front and free entry on the mid line. Aikido posture is missing there, and I'd incorporate that just to check it's flaws or benefits.
I love what you're doing! I think as you get more and more comfortable and confident in live sparring you can start to use more Aikido in the sparring.
A thought that I had may be interesting to you. When I was on the wrestling team, I found that if I focused on my stance and footwork while sparring, other aspects of wrestling became much easier to me. Perhaps wrist locks and takedowns will be much easier once you become adept at using Aikido footwork in a live sparring situation (just make sure you use sideways movement as well).
Good tip. Thanks
Keep it up bro. Practice makes perfection
Great video. The untrained fighter has unpredictable rhythm. When afraid or angry the untrained man will use unpredictable attacking movements like a wild animal that refuses to be caged. Great video. I can tell by your speech and attitude that you are on the path of self Mastery
Not saying I can do what you are trying, but I do feel you are doing it wrong. All respect.
The reason I say this is because I have had a passionate but casual love of aikido for many years, and for a few, I had opportunities to spar and wrestle and use it. I was in a zone of understanding for a bit there, self taught. There was a certain fearlessness and confidence you must muster (ESPECIALLY if it's just playing pretend with yourself) in order to apply the philosophy and technique of no resistance.
What I see is the tenseness and apprehension of a regular man...not an aikido man. You MUST play pretend my friend. It's ALL mental.
I hope this info helps, I recommend you take it to heart my friend. Rooting for you.
The problem is you actually need a jab to distract long enough to bridge.
Thanks. I was discovering that more at the end of the sparring. Need to work on that. I'm still unused to strike :)
I presume you've seen that footage of Tohei against the Judo guy in the 60s. Any thoughts on his change of techniques from 'Hombu' aikido since he encountered larger people in Hawaii?
Great work! Can't wait to see you with the Aikido flow lot. Awesome!
What do you think of Realni Aikido? As contrasted with mainline Aikido for example.
I'm not an Akido practitioner but have an interest in watching pretty much any fighting are video. I think Akido criticism from outsiders has validity because as I understand it most schools don't spar much, if any. Plus they don't spar with outsiders. As I understand it Akido was not devised as a fighting or self defense art, but specially as a means to develop one's self. that being said I don't think it is a useless art, but if one plans to use it for self defense one must test & spar with it. This vid, to me at least, show potential for Akido application & is overall just interesting to watch.
Thanks for sharing
Basic headmovent, parry punches and moving diagonally rather than back and forth and it would elevate your game at that time some
Best video yet in respect of starting to play with it all and discover...the only bit I'm really not keen on is how you give up your own structure so easily, either trying to clinch or in the middle of 'grappling' - maybe that's the MMA and BJJ coming through, but give up your structure like that and you're asking to be owned...break their structure, their kuzishi, I am guessing that is aikido principles too, they're very important in my opinion.
This was a good session. My advice for avoiding punches would be to get on the outside of your attacker. Then it’s much harder to hit you and it would be easier to get throws off
Thanks
Holy crap looking back at this you've bulked up and just look healthier now
I spotted something and again I just had to wait til the end where you identified it yourself. Good job with your analysis. I was going to mention the korogashi leaving the back of your head open to his punches which would be a very vulnerable spot to be hit. BJJ can have the same issue going for certain leg attacks. I see people go for them in MMA and leave themselves open for punches with all limbs focused on one leg and none for defense.
Good point!
i like that you never give up!! learn Muay-Thai-Clinch, fine jepp-boxing and gracie jj and you will get what you search for ;)
nice to see that you are brave enough to try it. Advice to block or soften the opponent punch
Love the videos dude and I know people are going to absolutely pile on me for this comment but is there any chance you could lose the pants? It makes it kinda hard to see what you are doing
You are awesome. You have a lot of courage to put yourself on camera trying this, success and failure!
I believe to see that you have problems deciding on the fly which technique to use based on your opponents movements and position. This is probably a huge part of what you can learn from sparring instead of practicing isolated techniques (even with a resisting partner). It might even make many Aikido techniques a viable option once you can find the right time to apply them.
Hey, I know you cancelled the project, but I do not see really a try out to use aikido here. No distance control, you initiate attacks, no pulling opponent's center (hips) in your stance. I would think aikidoka should work more on distance to get out from the attack and when the attacker get angry about it and use more force and mass, you should use his force to pull out him from balance.
Although I do understand. I had similar project years ago... and find out aikido is not suitable for self defence anymore and I quit. Meantime I tried judo, TKD, karate, krav maga and bjj and found out aikido gave me great skills except techniques, which are very limted in use.
I think one thing to consider is that you're gonna struggle to get him off balance. When you tried to kotegaeshi you need to pull him back more by pumping your biceps and then excecuting kotegaeshi. I also recommend that you use blinding techniques like a smack with an open hand to the face works just as effective as a punch to set up techniques
This was great! As far as using bjj (which comes from judo anyway), the founder of judo was known for saying that good judo should look like aikido. The better the technical ability gets, the more aiki-like it will look, whether there is a resisting opponent or not. :) It's all uphill from here!
ToTheStars! Ninjtsu though
(Thumb up!)
ToTheStars! Ninjutsu as in art is just for weeabos it holds no connection to real ninjas a lot of mysticism and impractical training, it Needs modernization more than any other
ToTheStars! Techniques you could get with out all the extreme bullshit
+Trinidad Molina Stupid comment about BJJ. Just like saying Judo comes from Jujutsu anyway.
I love what ur doing! I'm introducing boxing to my taekwondo classes. I hate the olympic style tkd bouncing competitions with irish dancing head defence!! I've done tkd for several years now and was absolutely shocked that the blocks are totally useless against boxing! Took me several months of boxing to learn some real defense. What ur doing is great and is hard to get it fair. Ur opponent couldn't do much to resist when u grabbed him because he had big gloves on. U mentioned it already but u can't just look for grabbing techniques when the other guy is punching u! U have to punch back til u get the opportunity to grab. Same if they're kicking.. I can keep a boxer at bay now with kicks. There's several ranges that u will use different techniques in. Keep up the great work.
I really like your video especially you spar with( fight) MMA fighter, I have few questions for you..
1. What's the limited( weakness) of the Akido in your opinion?
2. Could you please spar with wing chun fighter or systema fighter?( I think these sparring will help you to improve)
Thanks.
I feel the most limiting aspect of Aikido is it's lack of pressure testing / training with no live resistance
I am considering to do a sparring with a Wing Chun person
Keep up the good work!