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As most people say there is no way he can use techniques like these in trainned people or tough people. He would be embarrassed. Even that one to break the fingers if your oponent is stronger you will never be able do any damage. He would squash Van Damme like an ant.😂😂😂
Really loving the arc from loving aikido, to hating aikido, to starting to look for the value that can be found in it. I think we have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater when we're disappointed, esp by things we care about, and it's great to see you putting the work in to see if aikido can work. Proving something doesn't work is the easy part, and I'm over the moon to get to ride along for the hard part of trying to figure out how to *make* it work. You are easily one of my favorite creators in the martial arts space, and your open-mindedness but uncompromising practicality is refreshing. Keep it up!
This is actually how I felt about Karate. I did Shotokan for many years and then fell out of love with it and switched to Muay Thai. But then after many years, I started adapting karate for my kickboxing style. Kind of its own character arc.
I think every martial art has its value... I mean, I think Ueshiba could do a lot of damage and survive a lot of combats.... I think It's like, it depends on the fighter, and his use of the differents arts.
@@JuanHiribarren " I think It's like, it depends on the fighter, and his use of the differents arts." Indeed that's what it comes down to and MOST people figure that out with experience....every now and then you have the odd 40 year old who hasn't learned it yet and insists that MMA or [insert technique here] is the only one that's "effective" but most people have learned better by that age. 🙂 In the Navy we say "wooden ships, iron men"....which is just another way of saying "it's the artist, not the art." 🙂
So good to see you back, Rokas! I hope you enjoyed your well deserved break, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been missing your videos. Thanks for blessing us with some new content.
@MartialArtsJourney Even better! I absolutely loved season 1, but for some reason thought season 2 was being filmed early next year. With that said, you won't hear any complaints from me about season 2 coming sooner rather than later. So yeah, definitely NOT a break, cuz I know it must be a TON of work, but I am incredibly psyched to see everything that comes next!
I did Aikido for years and I’m a BJJ purple belt so I’ve also pressure tested Aikido against grapplers as well. In my years, I’ve managed to pull off Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankyo, Shiho Nage and Kotegaeshi, and the very odd Kokyu Nage. Although out of all of those techniques, easily the highest percentage was Kotegaeshi as it works even when their hands are close to their body. Even still, you can usually use these techniques to catch your partners by surprise once, but usually that’s it. 😂
I bet you still got dominated as a day one white belt in BJJ class. I bet you were only able to apply those things after you had learned other basic fundamental grappling skills from an art like BJJ.
@@judosailor610 Actually this is completely correct. I went to train BJJ because I knew Aikido was very incomplete and more of a supplementary art. So when I was a day 1 BJJ white belt I was not trying to do Aikido to my training partners, and pretty much all of my successful Aikido takedowns happened with the combined BJJ knowledge I had accrued (and I was no longer a BJJ white belt), much like Rokas here. 😊
My man, you're what steven seagal wished to be. Keep this journey on and I'm 200% sure that you will succeed to apply it in a mma fight. I truly believe it as a long time subscriber
I think the lesson may also be that you pulled off more techniques that you weren't TRYING to pull off . That's pretty much how it goes with most styles we pressure test. If you go out with a set goal in mind you are trying to create a moment versus either taking advantage of one or better yet simply allowing it to happen. Which if you think about it is really the core of the more Zen based philosophies . You train until there is no longer thinking to what you do. The second you say "I'm going to try to....." you have lost the thread as it were .
Absolutely! It's in the title "Making Steven Seagal Moves Work..." You can't go in "trying to make technique work. In real life you have to deal with what is, not what you want.
Up to a point. If he pulled out a technique, he would very likely know that he did, given that he did them for more than a decade. Most likely, if he doesn't think he did, he probably didn't do any.
I am a lover and student of the martial arts, i had a brief moment that I went to an aikido club. I had many years of MA experience before I trained there and there were a few take aways that I got from the experience. The biggest take away i had was: I had seen aikido before. When I learned Japanese jui jitsu, I had witnessed some of the techniques from my instructor, but HIS instructor would show up from time to time and the stuff I saw this guy do was incredible. I was also aware that aikido instructor was not actually landing strikes, but i noticed that he was always positioned to do so, (his unoccupied hand) was always just inches away from landing a blow. I was lucky enough to be able to train in Iai-do for a little bit. In the particular aikido club i trained in, they said that every technique was meant to done with a blade(sword) in hand. I noticed that some techniques worked much better when I mimiced how I would move if I was holding a sword, but more importantly that this resolved a lot of issues with the context of aikido. If everyone is holding a sword or blade, you would be much more hesitant to release a control grip, even if you were in a slightly less advantagious postion. it was my take away that aikido is just japanese jui-jitsu once you've spent 20 years doing it with some weapon techniques thrown in because the founder had a few martial arts he had practiced also. Aikido, IMO, is mismarketed. it is not a beginners martial art because it requires years (decades) of refinement of technique and muscle memory that untrained people do not have. I have my own issues with aikido, but I think that it has merit in the idea that it is JJJ with the least amount of strength used to make techniques work.
Jui jitsu is Japanese o 0 Sighs Heavily That's why the new stuff is explicitly called Brazilian jiu-jitsu 0 O Chuckles a little These people are fucking hopeless
As a cop I was trained in aikijujitsu. The techniques we studied had their place and were very useful, but every situation is different. Overall, I was happy with my (limited) ability.
I trained Daito Ryu while active duty military and it's served me very well in self defense while off duty & post service. So has Judo, Emin Boztepe Wing Tsun, Keith Fain KunFa, Latosa Escrima and Uechi Ryu . Boxing has helped by allowing me to read opponents, see incoming punches in slow motion and evade them.
Aikido has at least two valuable uses: One, retaining your weapon when your opponent tries to take it away - not surprising since the roots of aikido was part of a weapons based system. And two, when excessive use of force is inappropriate. Imagine if your opponent is one of your students that is assaulting another in the class room, or one of your family members who has had too much to drink at a party and has gotten aggressive. Or a violent senile person who is in your care. For many people, this kind of situation is much more likely than a pitched battle against a skilled opponent.
Ob er noch so elegant und einfach gewinnen würde in einem Straßen Kampf ohne Regeln gegen erfahrene Kämpfer wage ich zu bezweifeln. Natürlich er wer jemand den man nicht unterschätzen sollte nur aber auch keine sichere Sieger.
"Since my partners were only defensive " that explains pretty much by itself why you were not able to apply any of the defensive techniques of aikido at that point, designed to use the attackers momentum.
Yes. And to me it looked like he was trying grappling, too. If your style is Aikido, don't try to grapple against a bjj man and don't try to box against a boxer. You will always loose.
“The attacker’s momentum” means catching someone off guard or open. One punch can cause a KO! But some people do go apeshit and there are people you really don’t want to hurt or face charges for - the techniques are definitely valid. Everything’s not a ring match!
This is too cool. Your goal is in sight. Don't give up, Rokas Sensei. Making Aikido functional isn't the end of your heros journey. You still have to share the boon with the world and your former classmates. Maybe Segal sensei is in fact onto something. Also, personally when I play dirty and do finger or toe holds, I grab the smallest one I can. You're trying to grab index like classical aikido when maybe you should grab a pinky. Idk, just an observation, but you're really inspiring with this. Thank you for putting this up.
The pinkie might be good, but remember it's quite small compared to the index.. the index has a lot more connection to the hand so maybe it's overall better to go for that one?
You watched hours of Steven Segal movies for this video? Thank you for your sacrifice! 😂 Good to see you back, Rokas. Excellent video as always. Would be interesting to see you try these techniques against strikers. As you've pointed out many times before, most strikers won't just leave their limbs hanging out to be caught. They'll either pull back or fire off other techniques as part of a continuous combo.
I think Rokas's lightbulb moment with the kokyu nage and irimi nage in this video shows us something really important about this. Rokas needed to get into a situation where the Aikido technique was taking advantage of the opponent's existing motion and energy and, like you said, most skilled strikers won't commit that heavily in a vacuum. They'll use less committed techniques to get you into a position where they think they can land the committed one. Maybe that means you could combine it with an evasion-heavy striking style, where you guide your opponent to openings you leave intentionally, but I think it would still be difficult, because you still have to react to an opponent you aren't connected to, versus with grappling where you have the direct connection element providing sensitivity to their intention. But, also, grapplers have to find a way to get in on strikers by getting them to commit in a way the grappler can defend enough to get in the shot. Maybe the "catching a strike" aspect of Aikido is a pipe dream, but using a committed strike to enter grappling range and then apply pressure to get the striker to panic and direct their weight/energy somewhere? It works for Judoka, wrestlers, and BJJ practitioners, so I imagine some of these Aikido techniques could work there, too. Otherwise, I think the stuff with strike-catching might be a holdover from the techniques that assumed your opponent was armed with a sword. The way you react to getting grabbed is different when weapon retention is a focus, and I wager it could be that context where stuff like finger holds could apply, since the fingers themselves are likely trying to stay wrapped around the hilt of the weapon.
Aikido techniques can actually make sense in grappling. Especially when these techniques appears randomly and instinctively not being forced to apply. One time when I'm having a Gi roll. When my partner grabs my collar. Instinctively I pulled Nikyo technique and he taps. Another when my partner took my back I broke his seatbelt grab by applying Sankyo lock although I didn't tapped him with Sankyo. But that technique breaks me free from his back take and manages me to control my position. The coolest part is Aikido will surprise you in a situations where you didn't expect it's working.
In 1977 I watched from a comfy chair whilst Koichi Tohei demonstrated for the 2nd-graders gathered in the Wailuku Library. He had never excelled in English. He held up a finger - "One! Posture!" and he demonstrated with his body. "Two! Breath!" and he demonstrated a deep breath that seemed to take ten minutes to inhale and exhale then he did a quick breath of fire "for energy!" Three, point (mid point on the body) and four, "extend self"...what Tohei did in that library on that late morning (and yes I utterly failed in the "extend self" practice while half the 7-year-olds got it). At one point he said "stand like a mountain!" and he took a gentle stance whilst letting his COG drop to the center of the Earth. It would take a day to type the details, what I can remember. It was the most surreal demonstration by a human that I have ever seen. I once peeked into his dojo through the window to see the whole class sitting zazen and breathing deep and slow in a room as silent as death. "This isn't about fighting", I thought.
I think the main issue is that Aikido techniques are based on using the driving power of the entire body, like a double leg take down but focused into different points of contact. In a sense they require you to "hit" the opponent with the force of the technique. Without being more free with your use of force, Aikido techniques are going to be difficult to pull off as they don't work incrementally like BJJ techniques. It might be better to have someone put on protective gear and see how much force you can generate in the techniques and then you can work on scaling down the force from there for use in sparring.
Someone I know that is a bouncer uses Aikido like that and it works very well. It'd be difficult to pull off against a trained martial artist but it's perfect for that occupation if you're willing to apply more of a judo mindset to it.
I love your pursuit of testing techniques. It is very informative. I would like to add that many of these techniques do work. Remember that in self defense situations, the attackers usually are not martial artist expecting you to try a technique, that's why police and bouncers (as example) are successful using many techniques. Not Allway's. I have used multiple techniques that have worked in a real situation, where as in the dojo they did not against resisting opponent. I'm not necessarily Aikido specifically. I'm Hapkido and Aiki-Jujitsu which Aikido came from. Great work. Keep it up.
In 1996 Steven Seagal was the highest non Japanese master of the martial art Aikido in the world. He did not get there by accident and is legit in what he does. How many Seagal bashers are legit in what they do? Good video.
Cool vid man! Glad to see you back with another banger, my favorite Aikido styles personally are Tomiki, Tenshin and Yoshinkan because they’re harder than typical Aikido, so it was nice to see one of those in real action
This is a wonderful video! You have such incredible skill. I really like how you are willing to learn from others and not pretend that you know it all.
So is Sensei Lenny Sly who is only 5'-8" and built up. Aikido techniques work as I'm an experienced aikidoka as well and had to use it on the streets when I was being followed and confronted since I did know that it was coming as in a frontal confrontation. I was just waiting with two guys or more coming to towards me to say that they didn't like me, I paced my opponent into the car window. While the first uke, and it doesn't matter if she/he. I kicked the first uke over a medium little sharp picket fence of metal which surrounded the semi-attached row apartment homes. He fell right into it and on-the-grass whether brazed by the metal, I'm not sure but it worked. There were other moves that I did, but they ran off across the street into an alley, where I ran after them. One had skidattled off leaving the partner alone. This last guy picked up a 7/8" which is a 14th/16th of an inch thick a "no parking sign" which is foldable, it's made out of plywood this "no ground parking sign" it has a white border with a prohibited red circled slatch over the P. The perp picked this up since I placed this uke, can't confirm or deny the sex. Which doesn't matter was pinned against the wall and who picked up this plywood sign and was trying to hit or slam with both of uke's arms since it was a heavy thickness. Was trying to slam this on my head!!! Like 8 times over and over again. Which it never had hit my face, since I had deflected these hard slams onto my left forearm block above my head like krav-maga or karate, doesn't matter which style you use it was just common sense and from my youth age of karate, aikido, krav-maga which took over as in stincks. I deflected these slams and then it was tiresome of relentless slamming on my forearm, which I had no choice to either kick him in the balls or grab that thick plywood out of his hands either or had happened and he then ran away. But taking since my childhood lots of training of martial arts I saw all the punches in slow motion whatever their body did it was viewed as slow motion movements like keanu reeves in the Matrix film in slow motion because it was all preconditioning. I fell in love with aiki as I did of karate, which I skipped a belt in karate and went into studying Aikido many years after watching Sensei Seagal perform in his movies as did a lot of karate practitioners who turned to Aikido afterwards, like thousands of practitioners but karate is just as fricking slick good after Jason Statham.
I think you hit the nail on the head at the end - Aikido techniques only work well when they're a genuine response to an appropriate situation. When you're 'looking' for a technique, or trying to apply a specific technique no matter what your opponent is doing, it's never going to go well. Much better to see what your opponent is actually doing and respond with the appropriate technique, as in your Kokyu nage at the end. Good to see you back by the way!
When using Aikido the best way to apply most of the techniques is when your attacker is moving towards you and or when they are reaching for you. It is also very helpful to hit your attacker as he is coming for you or grappling with you so you can move their mind from their attack or grab. Yes Aikido works, but you can not try to force as you were trying to do in this video.
This is a really good point. Aggressively going for the wrist and then playing tug of war with the other person is not how you accomplish these techniques. What I'd really love to see is Steven Seagal in a real fight. That's the pressure test I want.
@@TwystedSyn - You will never see Seagal in a real fight. Aikido can work very well but you have to get your flow your timing and practice patiences. Everything has to be done at the right time. (Everything in life is about Timing).The more tricks you know the more options you have. You let it blend don't Force it like this guy in the video is doing, He is trying to Force. If it does not blend move on to something different. In Life Don't force anything !!
Aikido is an exercise without a katana, but with the understanding that it is in your hands. To see the effectiveness of Aikido, give them a real sword.
The kokyu nage you did encapsulates the true form of aiki. Feeling your opponents energy, and redirecting it or taking advantage of it. You can see aiki happen a lot in martial arts that have a heavy emphasis on boundaries, such as sumo. Great work Rokas!
People like Steven Seagal can make Aikido work because of their mass and size of how big they are. To make Aikido work consistently nowadays, you have to combine it with other martial arts that are more practical like Judo, BJJ or kickboxing in MMA.
Yeah, one of the first things my Aikido teacher told me was that Seagal's techniques worked for Seagal because he's a big guy who can body slam people. Since I'm much smaller, he recommended more traditional Aikido as something I'd have an easier time making work. (And it didn't hurt that I had a background in a few other styles to draw upon as well.)
He was Dan Graded by Mas Oyama in Karate and has studied many other styles he just doesn't brag about it notice non of these guys go over to Russia and challenge him.
I'm currently studying chi nau which is a Chinese system of joint locks that's somewhat similar to aikido, and one thing we do before we go for a lady views her fan (our name for kote gaeshi) is making sure the opponents weight is predominantly on one leg before we go for the technique. This is really helpful for the off balancing action of the joint lock. While i have not yet pulled this off in sparring, I've been thrown this way multiple times by multiple people at my school in sparring. We're always taught that understanding which leg your opponents weight is on before you go for any technique in particular is very important. Hope this helps you on your journey to make aikido more practical and bring it back to its martial roots!
I worked in a prison system for many years. I was trained in traditional karate. I also trained in AIKIDO. In actual hand to hand combat situations, I can tell you that they are incredibly affective against single and multiple attackers. But you must remember 2 things, first, all martial arts movies are extensively choreographed for safety. And when training in the DOJO, practitioners move with the techniques applied for their safety.
Self-defense is the opposite of sparring. An attacker will attack, that is what attacker means. It would be absurd for the attacker to become the defender. In a self-defense situation you gotta make many sudden decisions: How close can you allow a stranger to get to you before you feel threatened? What if there could be a hidden weapon at play? How dangerous is the opponent? How much force are you willing to use? Are you defending yourself or someone else? Being a martial artist would be helpful, but so would be being a sprinter, a basketball player or a football player. If you want to be good at self-defense or real fighting you should train for that.
Some wrist locks will probably work in some situations (cop - detainee situations for example, when opponent doesn't want to fight, but to break free and flee - or drunk - bouncer situations), but as far as I know after few years of research - most aikido techniques were derived from ju-jutsu techniques that were meant against armored, armed with sword opponent. Armed dude in armor behaves differently than unarmed, unarmored opponent. And that's why most aikido techniques don't work.
aikido techniques are not armored fighting techniques, nor are they armed grappling techniques. it's a grappling style meant for maintaining freedom of movement in multiple attacker scenarios, as seen in the randori. and it actually works much better than any combat sport-oriented martial art in that context.
Thanks! Had to take a break from posting to film the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship season 2, but I'm back to post a couple of videos before I start editing USDC again!
@@MartialArtsJourney little chance that you’d be able to share details yet, but is it going to be as long as the first season or are there gonna be more episodes? Any chance of a third season?
Seagal's moves are solid....when the opponent lets you do whatever you want. As a trainer or double in 007 Never Say Never Again he did break Sean Connery's wrist...which shows he's strong to break old James Bond's bone, or has no control.
As a judoka with aikido experience, I think iriminage has a lot of the same as osotogari. When your opponent is quickly coming to a close distance trying to push/throw you back, iriminage/osotogari mostly works fine. Sankyo is also a good technique to apply on ground as well. It can be used for example as a counter to a strangle from behind (such as okurierijime). I have a judo/aikido friend who also does shodokan aikido, and he loves to do sankyo on the ground. I also think that kotegaeshi is quite good to apply especially against an unexperienced opponent. When I sparred with a friend with no martial art background but who is bigger and has more strength than I, I did quite a many kotegaeshi to him. (Yonkyo is another one I like to try, but its success heavily depends on whom I'm trying to apply it.)
If you've not trained in Seagal sensei's Tenshin Gakuen Bugei then you can't test "his" art nor attempt "his" art because aiki kai aikido is an art he's a shihan in, that he teaches, but his personal art is a mixed martial art he named Tenshin Gakuen Bugei derived from his training in kara te, kenjutsu, jojutsu, daito ryu, koryu jujutsu and judo which he combined w/aikido footwork & principle of blending.
I think there's a flaw in this experiment in that you're doing it in a sport BJJ context. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Aikido is a self-defense art that rely on a certain amount of surprise that is not present in consensual combat. Also, I have never studied Aikido in any form, but my understanding was that Seagal's art is more properly called Aikijutsu and that includes more striking and more strength/speed elements...is that correct?
I did aikido very briefly. Thanks for pointing out your partner or opponent will not go flying, usually, with a kote gaeshi technique. I did think Segal’s techniques and fight scenes were a little jazzed up, compared to what I remember of aikido practice.
One thing he wasn't clear about is the people who do Aikido flip to avoid serious injury. It's looked upon as choreographed. It's not; it's just they flip to avoid injury and can then go in for another attack for training. An untrained person is going to have an arm break and go down at the first time
Thanks! I've been busy filming the second season of the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship, but I'm back to release a couple of videos before starting to work on editing USDC 2 🙏
@@MartialArtsJourney Can't wait for USDC2! 🥳, ps. I never got the chance to say a proper thank you because I wanted to slowly build my channel first and not bother you too much, but without you and your inspiration Martial Geeks wouldn't exist! Thank you sincerely🙏 ~ Tomo
I liked most of Steven Seagal’s movies and I think he is a legit Aikido master. He is 70 years old, famous, has a beautiful wife, and more money than he will ever want in this lifetime. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose by fighting anyone for real.
Seagal is a Shihan in multiple martial arts but his claim to fame is Aikido. Several years ago, Seagal made arrogant, denigrating comments about Michael Jai White's martial arts experience and all these haters continue to create TH-cam programs in an attempt to discredit Seagal. I never thought of White as a true martial artist because his initial claim to fame was the movie "Spawn" and he was outstanding in that role. I always thought of Wesley Snipes, Jason Scott Lee, Billy Banks, Don Wilson, Jeff Wincott, Jeff Speakman, Cynthia Rothrock, Jackie Chan, Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Scott Adkins as true martial artists for films.
As Aikido derives much from the earlier Ju-Jitsu/Aiki-Jitsu, many techniques/movements are only performed in conjunction with an Atemi. This is especially true when Uke pulls as an attack. Try striking in conjunction with your techniques.
As with all martial arts there are moves/techniques which can be utilized. Aikido is no different. Blending one into another as something you try is blocked/failed/worst of all backfired on you is a skill of itself. I was taught by a very competent Aikido proponent decades ago that Aikido should be translated as something like unexpectedly opportunistic adaptation. What he meant was no matter how well choreographed you are be ready to deliver whatever telling blow your opponent offers you and does not expect from you. He further explained if that meant the opportunity for a head butt, a knee to the gonads, a kick and scrape down the shins, to drop your knee hard into the side of the face of the individual causing you grief after your wonderfully executed wrist lock has forced him to the ground or even a stamp to the head in order for you to run away - then that's called successful Aikido. I learned that particular philosophy stood me well in my career choice. I also learned the art of never doing it alone when you can do it as a team and putting distance between yourself and your protagonist to buy you the time to form that team and just getting the f--- out of the situation which is now miraculously beginning to de-escalate because mr Angry now no longer has a potential victim and you don't have paperwork to do or a maybe a court to answer to. Worked for me for 16 years military and for decades in a law enforcement associated field where the philosophy hard learned and the official techniques with an ability to bluff and adapt as required stood me in very good stead. Not once did I or a team I was a part of come off second best and only rarely did an encounter stretch into minutes rather than seconds. Retaliate first has a comforting ring to it.
I trained under Seagal and Matsuoka, and a few other of his older students from Japan. For a decade was a street cop and used sankyo and yubi Dori for handcuffing. I used nodotsukiage and a variety of entering techniques. Aikido is highly useful. In jiu-jitsu, all of the hand joint manipulations are present. I like your videos a lot. And I like how you’ve been pushing for so many years. But Aikido is contextual, but every martial art is contextual.
Woot woot love your videos Rokas! As someone who has trained on and off in different martial arts (but not aikido) I feel aikido techniques when applying them are very hard to force and end up being most effective when it just instinctually happens at trapping range. When you did the ultimate self defense championships u pulled off some of the most successful and consistent aikido blended techniques. As u keep getting better and better I feel u will end up "accidentally" (but really its you getting better as a fighter so u can use more techniques in a fight) making aikido better than when u are forcing it to try and make it work. Keep it going! Can't wait to watch USDC season 2 with my mom when it's out!~ 🎉
Ngl, I've always thought Steven Segsls more intense Aikido is an upgrade. He just doesn't ever seem willing to show it. He also puts his own foot in his mouth and tried to cash crap checks. He had a blue print but his ego just eclipsed what could have been... I've always thought it Aikido pulled a Jon Jones and use the outstretched hand as an entry and use that footwork to get in from angles, add back the utemi they removed that Aikijujitsu kept, and just really rough and tumbled it, I think it could be a decent defense system. I do security and have done striking for years. Aikido can have its place if folks put in the work. But you got to rough up some to see what can be pulled and adapted. Lariats? Work. Hits to the face before shooting or initiating a submission? Works. High guard and foot movement to maneuver into position? Works. It's just working it out so it aint theory. You can't afford theory in the moment. I even tried some of it in sparring, and if you're willing to acknowledge that folks aren't going to sell it, I've found that I'll try to start a submission and then let it go when the other person commits, and then do another one while they were committed to the first. Just little things jujitsu folks have been doing. They have to be more realistic about training and make distinctions on expectations. I do kung fu. I have to be realistic. We also learn kickboxing. Just be honest about it. With that being said, Rokas, I love this synthesis of action. I see you 🤌🏾 it didn't work as you learned it, you went and changed your training, and brought back the nuance to make it better. You walked it when folks only talked it
Reality check: Seagal is an experienced martial artist and a physically big dude who would destroy the majority of normie attackers. Akido- jujitsu based techniques are used daily by correction officers and security.
Yeah, as just one example, there is an arm behind back technique from Hapkido, which was mandatory to law enforcement in West Germany in the 70s. Since the 90's they abandoned any mandatory training. PS: If you get the person in the position all you need to do is hold their wriste and elbow, press together, push in and lever upwards. Only someone without pain receptors and no muscles will not respond to it. Its for restraining and moving them abouts. Ofc that means you can only do that vs 1 person and then you need backup for other stuff. However police and army come mostly in plenty of numbers, always a numbers game.
@@adamgrimsley6455yeah that would be pretty weird for a bjj guy to do when they have every takedown from wrestling, and judo ,grip breaks, and standing subs, and transitions at their disposal
My dad who trained with Senta Yamada in 1959 who was 6th Dan in judo and aikido reckones if aikido is done right, it' like trying to grab a handle on a door to push open it, while someone on the other side is pulling the door their direction. ( If that makes sense ).
Steven Seagal also learned Wing Chun from Sifu Randy Williams (he was also his bodyguard) then continued learning Wing Chun from GM Samuel Kwok... there are the videos where Seagal and Kwok are doing together Aikido and Wing Chun seminars
the one diffrent thing is the fight itself. i see this often in training szenario. a fight as combat sport is diffent. our parter use tactics, strategy, waiting to counter and so on. when you train self defence, mostly you deal with attacks goin all in and meant to harm you in an agressive way. something what a trained fighter under full control would not do, i assume. i imagine this szenario as example: one attacker goin all in for 10sec and you have to defend yourself ( or a person with you) and leave soon and fast as possible right after
One thing in all these videos that doesn't get mentioned about Aikido is; when on and about in public and you encounter someone; when you don't know what the other guy knows. You can be in for more than you bargained. I remember in the beginning of the UFC back in 1993. My Uncle who is now in his late 80's had wrestled extensively in High School and College. He talked about how it's one thing to fight in an Arena/Cage but on the street it can be a completely different ball game. Paraphrasing what my Uncle shared back then.
I'm lobbying for a collaboration between Martial arts Journey and Gabe Varga. There's tons of great martial arts channels but these two dudes seem united in wanting to be real about martial arts and not just show off.
You'd be better served if perhaps you string your techniques together or use them in conjunction with others rather than in just isolation. Uke is leaning in on you, pull him off-balance forward and then charge into iriminage or go into kokyunage. Or perhaps arm drag into iriminage? Fighting for a lock when uke's arms are directly in front of him is going to be difficult because that is where he is strongest. That's why that guy could just yank his hand away. When you take too long it becomes too obvious and you're giving him time to figure out what you are doing. Just like arm-barring someone on the ground, you have to pull their limb away from their body where it is the weakest. Additionally, you have to draw their attention away from the arm or hand. This can be accomplished by strongly jarring his balance e.g. shoulder butt, head butt, striking etc. which helps drive their head and attention away from the arms and hands. Then continue pulling them off-balance when you have the lock so they can't regain a base. Also if one lock starts to fail, transition into another lock e.g. kotegaeshi into wakigatame. I think for the grabs, you may also be better served to use nikkyo instead to break the grips or help peel them off into yubi-tori.
Another idea would be that you keep coming up with counters for counters. You know, for instance, that if you do A he'll pull back, so you have a secondary move that allows you to take advantage of him pulling back, and you can come up with these for multiple contingencies.
@@Selrisitai yes I already mentioned that you need to transition from one lock or move to the next. If you can crank the lock one way and it starts to fail, you can go the other way. Stubbornly fighting for one move takes too long and gives uke time to reset. It's as much a psychological game as it is physical. If you're trying for kotegaeshi and he's pulling his arm back or his body is bent from the wrist, go for the head and right into a throw like iriminage for example or against the throat like nodotsukinage
I remember when Steven Seagal landed as an action movie star in the late 80s. Many aikido practictioners at the time criticized his aggressive form of Aikido.
Roka thank you once again for sharing another brilliant video lecture. I bless and lovely wife. Continue your martial arts journey, and own your dream.
The starting point is absolutely different. When someone is on the rage, drunk, aggressive and attacking "on the street" (in bar etc) he is putting all his power to his blows, he doesn't hold back or sneaking cautiously around you like in BJJ Dojo. Then is possible to use his momentum, rush towards you. In dueling sports the awareness of the contestants is very different.
I remember one of the things I learned in my dojo was combo techniques where you have two techniques, A and B, where you hope to do A, but if A doesn't work because you're in the wrong position or your opponent ends up not where you expect, you can perform B which is any of a myriad of techniques from your arsenal that might apply to the situation. We developed our ability to determine which was the best B technique through lots of practice. That's how we were able to overcome the thoughts from critics of, "Well, that technique A doesn't work."
The word you‘re looking for is Henka Waza, lit. change technique. A must after learning the basics. Guess this was intentionally kept out in this video. 🤔
I would like to see you investigate setting up Aikido techniques, and or investigating the opponents circumstances or 'energy' (as towards the end) that best lend themselves to techniques and varients.
So, when you were planning a specific technique, you could not pull it off but the moment you did not think of what technique to use and just go with the flow on what technique in the current situation, you managed to do aikido? I think you got the answer for aikido.
8:10 "If you being only defensive, that will prevent other people perform many of other techniques" amazing! I have come to realization why it is taught that martial arts for 'self defense' and not for bokoboko beating people on the streets. When people into martial arts say that, they say it like if it's immoral and unethical to perform your techniques on people to beat them and not using your techniques on people was becauses of our nobility and righteous self. I never thought because it was useless if the opponent only defends.
Frankly no martial art is all that great against a highly defensive opponent who refuses to engage. Boxing and kickboxing have issues with someone who just gets on their bike and runs the whole time. For people inside BJJ, it's hard to understand what a weird construct pulling guard really is. It's a purely defensive response to aggression, and only applies in a fight if someone is defending themselves or in a duel format where people are agreed that a fight is going to happen. To use Aikido on a guard puller is kind of like trying to use Aikido to mug people.
Loving the content. I think the big thing is situational, his movies were mainly showing him go against either former aikido students as his attackers or guys who had zero clue. once you have someone trained even a little in one style they're going to stick to that and you're going to be limited on what you can use to penetrate their style. For Steven Seagal specifically his martial arts worked well being a tall lanky guy, if someone short and stocky tried to imitate it wouldn't work the same. You can also see that he isn't tied down to aikido with some karate/judo influences on his fight scenes. Much less but with a keen eye it can be spotted. I've noticed in my personal journey learning other arts improves how i am with others. My wrestling has never been better since i have done karate, and my striking got better while taking some judo/aikido classes.
I totally agree that size matters, im.not saying it doesnt... as someone who competes in openweight, i do notice the difference... however... Not all combat sports have weight classes... pro sumo has only open weight... and many that do have weight classes have an open weight class too Great video tho, amazing work 💜💜💜💜💜
In my experience with contact fights, Aikido can only work if the first blows are punches and kicks like karate, then when the opponent is dizzy or being knocked out, he starts to protect himself, desperately, then yes, it is a great time to Apply immobilization techniques such as Aikido, if your desire is to immobilize him without causing further damage. Even JiuJItsu and Judo need some time to perform an immobilization, a sequence of punches and kicks ends up being more effective and safe in any fight.
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You can, of course, you just need actors.
Go Google: Real Aikido, Ljubomir Vracarevic ;)
You might find it interesting.
I used to practice that.
Por que?????....?
Vantagem????????
То самое чувство когда англоязычный ютубер использует записи с российских соревнований по Самбо
As most people say there is no way he can use techniques like these in trainned people or tough people.
He would be embarrassed.
Even that one to break the fingers if your oponent is stronger you will never be able do any damage.
He would squash Van Damme like an ant.😂😂😂
Really loving the arc from loving aikido, to hating aikido, to starting to look for the value that can be found in it. I think we have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater when we're disappointed, esp by things we care about, and it's great to see you putting the work in to see if aikido can work.
Proving something doesn't work is the easy part, and I'm over the moon to get to ride along for the hard part of trying to figure out how to *make* it work.
You are easily one of my favorite creators in the martial arts space, and your open-mindedness but uncompromising practicality is refreshing. Keep it up!
This is actually how I felt about Karate. I did Shotokan for many years and then fell out of love with it and switched to Muay Thai. But then after many years, I started adapting karate for my kickboxing style. Kind of its own character arc.
@@backwardscapguy1476 Well, as a middle ground between Shotokan and Muay Thai, you could try Kyokushin...
I think every martial art has its value... I mean, I think Ueshiba could do a lot of damage and survive a lot of combats.... I think It's like, it depends on the fighter, and his use of the differents arts.
@@JuanHiribarren
" I think It's like, it depends on the fighter, and his use of the differents arts."
Indeed that's what it comes down to and MOST people figure that out with experience....every now and then you have the odd 40 year old who hasn't learned it yet and insists that MMA or [insert technique here] is the only one that's "effective" but most people have learned better by that age. 🙂
In the Navy we say "wooden ships, iron men"....which is just another way of saying "it's the artist, not the art." 🙂
Theres a guy on YT who actually shows Aikido moves in MMA sparrings
So good to see you back, Rokas! I hope you enjoyed your well deserved break, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been missing your videos. Thanks for blessing us with some new content.
Thanks! I was actually filming season 2 of the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship 😁
and we have been waiting for it :P@@MartialArtsJourney
@MartialArtsJourney Even better! I absolutely loved season 1, but for some reason thought season 2 was being filmed early next year. With that said, you won't hear any complaints from me about season 2 coming sooner rather than later. So yeah, definitely NOT a break, cuz I know it must be a TON of work, but I am incredibly psyched to see everything that comes next!
@@MartialArtsJourney Very excited to see what's in store for season 2!
I did Aikido for years and I’m a BJJ purple belt so I’ve also pressure tested Aikido against grapplers as well. In my years, I’ve managed to pull off Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankyo, Shiho Nage and Kotegaeshi, and the very odd Kokyu Nage. Although out of all of those techniques, easily the highest percentage was Kotegaeshi as it works even when their hands are close to their body. Even still, you can usually use these techniques to catch your partners by surprise once, but usually that’s it. 😂
In a real fight, or even a friendly match, you really only need the one!
@@Selrisitai kokekaeshi is the chosen one
When they are know you are the aikido guy, they always watch out your hand grabbing…
I bet you still got dominated as a day one white belt in BJJ class. I bet you were only able to apply those things after you had learned other basic fundamental grappling skills from an art like BJJ.
@@judosailor610 Actually this is completely correct. I went to train BJJ because I knew Aikido was very incomplete and more of a supplementary art. So when I was a day 1 BJJ white belt I was not trying to do Aikido to my training partners, and pretty much all of my successful Aikido takedowns happened with the combined BJJ knowledge I had accrued (and I was no longer a BJJ white belt), much like Rokas here. 😊
My man, you're what steven seagal wished to be. Keep this journey on and I'm 200% sure that you will succeed to apply it in a mma fight. I truly believe it as a long time subscriber
I'm no fan of Seagal but I bet my bottom dollar that he can wipe the floor with any keyboard warrior
I think he would instantly neutralize his opponent with his experience, and everyone would consider him fake anyway.
Segal couldn't pull off a cheese cracker, let alone take down the town drunk
I think the lesson may also be that you pulled off more techniques that you weren't TRYING to pull off . That's pretty much how it goes with most styles we pressure test. If you go out with a set goal in mind you are trying to create a moment versus either taking advantage of one or better yet simply allowing it to happen. Which if you think about it is really the core of the more Zen based philosophies . You train until there is no longer thinking to what you do. The second you say "I'm going to try to....." you have lost the thread as it were .
Absolutely! It's in the title "Making Steven Seagal Moves Work..." You can't go in "trying to make technique work. In real life you have to deal with what is, not what you want.
Up to a point. If he pulled out a technique, he would very likely know that he did, given that he did them for more than a decade. Most likely, if he doesn't think he did, he probably didn't do any.
I am a lover and student of the martial arts, i had a brief moment that I went to an aikido club. I had many years of MA experience before I trained there and there were a few take aways that I got from the experience. The biggest take away i had was: I had seen aikido before. When I learned Japanese jui jitsu, I had witnessed some of the techniques from my instructor, but HIS instructor would show up from time to time and the stuff I saw this guy do was incredible. I was also aware that aikido instructor was not actually landing strikes, but i noticed that he was always positioned to do so, (his unoccupied hand) was always just inches away from landing a blow.
I was lucky enough to be able to train in Iai-do for a little bit. In the particular aikido club i trained in, they said that every technique was meant to done with a blade(sword) in hand. I noticed that some techniques worked much better when I mimiced how I would move if I was holding a sword, but more importantly that this resolved a lot of issues with the context of aikido. If everyone is holding a sword or blade, you would be much more hesitant to release a control grip, even if you were in a slightly less advantagious postion.
it was my take away that aikido is just japanese jui-jitsu once you've spent 20 years doing it with some weapon techniques thrown in because the founder had a few martial arts he had practiced also.
Aikido, IMO, is mismarketed. it is not a beginners martial art because it requires years (decades) of refinement of technique and muscle memory that untrained people do not have. I have my own issues with aikido, but I think that it has merit in the idea that it is JJJ with the least amount of strength used to make techniques work.
Jui jitsu is Japanese o 0
Sighs Heavily
That's why the new stuff is explicitly called Brazilian jiu-jitsu 0 O
Chuckles a little
These people are fucking hopeless
As a cop I was trained in aikijujitsu. The techniques we studied had their place and were very useful, but every situation is different.
Overall, I was happy with my (limited) ability.
I trained Daito Ryu while active duty military and it's served me very well in self defense while off duty & post service.
So has Judo, Emin Boztepe Wing Tsun, Keith Fain KunFa, Latosa Escrima and Uechi Ryu . Boxing has helped by allowing me to read opponents, see incoming punches in slow motion and evade them.
Aikido has at least two valuable uses: One, retaining your weapon when your opponent tries to take it away - not surprising since the roots of aikido was part of a weapons based system. And two, when excessive use of force is inappropriate. Imagine if your opponent is one of your students that is assaulting another in the class room, or one of your family members who has had too much to drink at a party and has gotten aggressive. Or a violent senile person who is in your care. For many people, this kind of situation is much more likely than a pitched battle against a skilled opponent.
👍
Steven Seagal sure is a special operator. He’s a Gravy SEAL with MEAL Team 6. That’s what’s up. TWU
He in the Russian special forces now..he he
Ob er noch so elegant und einfach gewinnen würde in einem Straßen Kampf ohne Regeln gegen erfahrene Kämpfer wage ich zu bezweifeln. Natürlich er wer jemand den man nicht unterschätzen sollte nur aber auch keine sichere Sieger.
"Since my partners were only defensive " that explains pretty much by itself why you were not able to apply any of the defensive techniques of aikido at that point, designed to use the attackers momentum.
Yes. And to me it looked like he was trying grappling, too. If your style is Aikido, don't try to grapple against a bjj man and don't try to box against a boxer. You will always loose.
Yes, exactly. This doesn’t really say anything about Aikido techniques.
“The attacker’s momentum” means catching someone off guard or open. One punch can cause a KO! But some people do go apeshit and there are people you really don’t want to hurt or face charges for - the techniques are definitely valid. Everything’s not a ring match!
This is too cool. Your goal is in sight. Don't give up, Rokas Sensei. Making Aikido functional isn't the end of your heros journey. You still have to share the boon with the world and your former classmates. Maybe Segal sensei is in fact onto something. Also, personally when I play dirty and do finger or toe holds, I grab the smallest one I can. You're trying to grab index like classical aikido when maybe you should grab a pinky. Idk, just an observation, but you're really inspiring with this. Thank you for putting this up.
The pinkie might be good, but remember it's quite small compared to the index.. the index has a lot more connection to the hand so maybe it's overall better to go for that one?
You watched hours of Steven Segal movies for this video? Thank you for your sacrifice! 😂
Good to see you back, Rokas. Excellent video as always. Would be interesting to see you try these techniques against strikers. As you've pointed out many times before, most strikers won't just leave their limbs hanging out to be caught. They'll either pull back or fire off other techniques as part of a continuous combo.
I think Rokas's lightbulb moment with the kokyu nage and irimi nage in this video shows us something really important about this. Rokas needed to get into a situation where the Aikido technique was taking advantage of the opponent's existing motion and energy and, like you said, most skilled strikers won't commit that heavily in a vacuum. They'll use less committed techniques to get you into a position where they think they can land the committed one.
Maybe that means you could combine it with an evasion-heavy striking style, where you guide your opponent to openings you leave intentionally, but I think it would still be difficult, because you still have to react to an opponent you aren't connected to, versus with grappling where you have the direct connection element providing sensitivity to their intention.
But, also, grapplers have to find a way to get in on strikers by getting them to commit in a way the grappler can defend enough to get in the shot. Maybe the "catching a strike" aspect of Aikido is a pipe dream, but using a committed strike to enter grappling range and then apply pressure to get the striker to panic and direct their weight/energy somewhere? It works for Judoka, wrestlers, and BJJ practitioners, so I imagine some of these Aikido techniques could work there, too.
Otherwise, I think the stuff with strike-catching might be a holdover from the techniques that assumed your opponent was armed with a sword. The way you react to getting grabbed is different when weapon retention is a focus, and I wager it could be that context where stuff like finger holds could apply, since the fingers themselves are likely trying to stay wrapped around the hilt of the weapon.
At first I thought he learned aikido for ten years so that he can watch hours of Steven Segal movies so that he can make this video.
@@momiaw Not intentionally
@@momiaw 🤣
@@Shelby_Arr All very good points!
Aikido techniques can actually make sense in grappling. Especially when these techniques appears randomly and instinctively not being forced to apply.
One time when I'm having a Gi roll. When my partner grabs my collar. Instinctively I pulled Nikyo technique and he taps. Another when my partner took my back I broke his seatbelt grab by applying Sankyo lock although I didn't tapped him with Sankyo. But that technique breaks me free from his back take and manages me to control my position.
The coolest part is Aikido will surprise you in a situations where you didn't expect it's working.
😂
Yes.
I've also started doing Sankyo to defend the seatbelt grip. I saw Roy Dean do it in a video.
@@IphigeniaAtAulis 👍
💀
In 1977 I watched from a comfy chair whilst Koichi Tohei demonstrated for the 2nd-graders gathered in the Wailuku Library. He had never excelled in English. He held up a finger - "One! Posture!" and he demonstrated with his body. "Two! Breath!" and he demonstrated a deep breath that seemed to take ten minutes to inhale and exhale then he did a quick breath of fire "for energy!" Three, point (mid point on the body) and four, "extend self"...what Tohei did in that library on that late morning (and yes I utterly failed in the "extend self" practice while half the 7-year-olds got it). At one point he said "stand like a mountain!" and he took a gentle stance whilst letting his COG drop to the center of the Earth. It would take a day to type the details, what I can remember. It was the most surreal demonstration by a human that I have ever seen. I once peeked into his dojo through the window to see the whole class sitting zazen and breathing deep and slow in a room as silent as death. "This isn't about fighting", I thought.
I think the main issue is that Aikido techniques are based on using the driving power of the entire body, like a double leg take down but focused into different points of contact. In a sense they require you to "hit" the opponent with the force of the technique. Without being more free with your use of force, Aikido techniques are going to be difficult to pull off as they don't work incrementally like BJJ techniques. It might be better to have someone put on protective gear and see how much force you can generate in the techniques and then you can work on scaling down the force from there for use in sparring.
Someone I know that is a bouncer uses Aikido like that and it works very well. It'd be difficult to pull off against a trained martial artist but it's perfect for that occupation if you're willing to apply more of a judo mindset to it.
I love your pursuit of testing techniques. It is very informative. I would like to add that many of these techniques do work. Remember that in self defense situations, the attackers usually are not martial artist expecting you to try a technique, that's why police and bouncers (as example) are successful using many techniques. Not Allway's. I have used multiple techniques that have worked in a real situation, where as in the dojo they did not against resisting opponent. I'm not necessarily Aikido specifically. I'm Hapkido and Aiki-Jujitsu which Aikido came from. Great work. Keep it up.
„Can I laugh in your face”
~Steven Seagal
In 1996 Steven Seagal was the highest non Japanese master of the martial art Aikido in the world. He did not get there by accident and is legit in what he does. How many Seagal bashers are legit in what they do? Good video.
Cool vid man! Glad to see you back with another banger, my favorite Aikido styles personally are Tomiki, Tenshin and Yoshinkan because they’re harder than typical Aikido, so it was nice to see one of those in real action
Oh this is what I’ve been waiting for! Let’s see if Rokas can make Segal moves actually work properly in resisting combat.
Good job, Rokas
This is a wonderful video! You have such incredible skill. I really like how you are willing to learn from others and not pretend that you know it all.
So is Sensei Lenny Sly who is only 5'-8" and built up. Aikido techniques work as I'm an experienced aikidoka as well and had to use it on the streets when I was being followed and confronted since I did know that it was coming as in a frontal confrontation. I was just waiting with two guys or more coming to towards me to say that they didn't like me, I paced my opponent into the car window. While the first uke, and it doesn't matter if she/he. I kicked the first uke over a medium little sharp picket fence of metal which surrounded the semi-attached row apartment homes. He fell right into it and on-the-grass whether brazed by the metal, I'm not sure but it worked. There were other moves that I did, but they ran off across the street into an alley, where I ran after them. One had skidattled off leaving the partner alone. This last guy picked up a 7/8" which is a 14th/16th of an inch thick a "no parking sign" which is foldable, it's made out of plywood this "no ground parking sign" it has a white border with a prohibited red circled slatch over the P. The perp picked this up since I placed this uke, can't confirm or deny the sex. Which doesn't matter was pinned against the wall and who picked up this plywood sign and was trying to hit or slam with both of uke's arms since it was a heavy thickness. Was trying to slam this on my head!!! Like 8 times over and over again. Which it never had hit my face, since I had deflected these hard slams onto my left forearm block above my head like krav-maga or karate, doesn't matter which style you use it was just common sense and from my youth age of karate, aikido, krav-maga which took over as in stincks. I deflected these slams and then it was tiresome of relentless slamming on my forearm, which I had no choice to either kick him in the balls or grab that thick plywood out of his hands either or had happened and he then ran away. But taking since my childhood lots of training of martial arts I saw all the punches in slow motion whatever their body did it was viewed as slow motion movements like keanu reeves in the Matrix film in slow motion because it was all preconditioning. I fell in love with aiki as I did of karate, which I skipped a belt in karate and went into studying Aikido many years after watching Sensei Seagal perform in his movies as did a lot of karate practitioners who turned to Aikido afterwards, like thousands of practitioners but karate is just as fricking slick good after Jason Statham.
*Y A W N*
I think you hit the nail on the head at the end - Aikido techniques only work well when they're a genuine response to an appropriate situation. When you're 'looking' for a technique, or trying to apply a specific technique no matter what your opponent is doing, it's never going to go well. Much better to see what your opponent is actually doing and respond with the appropriate technique, as in your Kokyu nage at the end. Good to see you back by the way!
When using Aikido the best way to apply most of the techniques is when your attacker is moving towards you and or when they are reaching for you. It is also very helpful to hit your attacker as he is coming for you or grappling with you so you can move their mind from their attack or grab. Yes Aikido works, but you can not try to force as you were trying to do in this video.
This is a really good point. Aggressively going for the wrist and then playing tug of war with the other person is not how you accomplish these techniques. What I'd really love to see is Steven Seagal in a real fight. That's the pressure test I want.
@@TwystedSyn - You will never see Seagal in a real fight. Aikido can work very well but you have to get your flow your timing and practice patiences. Everything has to be done at the right time. (Everything in life is about Timing).The more tricks you know the more options you have. You let it blend don't Force it like this guy in the video is doing, He is trying to Force. If it does not blend move on to something different. In Life Don't force anything !!
Aikido is an exercise without a katana, but with the understanding that it is in your hands. To see the effectiveness of Aikido, give them a real sword.
The kokyu nage you did encapsulates the true form of aiki. Feeling your opponents energy, and redirecting it or taking advantage of it. You can see aiki happen a lot in martial arts that have a heavy emphasis on boundaries, such as sumo. Great work Rokas!
There is a video of daito ryu and sumo side by side.
People like Steven Seagal can make Aikido work because of their mass and size of how big they are. To make Aikido work consistently nowadays, you have to combine it with other martial arts that are more practical like Judo, BJJ or kickboxing in MMA.
Or others as well.
Yeah, one of the first things my Aikido teacher told me was that Seagal's techniques worked for Seagal because he's a big guy who can body slam people. Since I'm much smaller, he recommended more traditional Aikido as something I'd have an easier time making work. (And it didn't hurt that I had a background in a few other styles to draw upon as well.)
He was Dan Graded by Mas Oyama in Karate and has studied many other styles he just doesn't brag about it notice non of these guys go over to Russia and challenge him.
That’s what the entire aikido art form is. A supplement to fighters who already know other disciplines
I'm currently studying chi nau which is a Chinese system of joint locks that's somewhat similar to aikido, and one thing we do before we go for a lady views her fan (our name for kote gaeshi) is making sure the opponents weight is predominantly on one leg before we go for the technique. This is really helpful for the off balancing action of the joint lock. While i have not yet pulled this off in sparring, I've been thrown this way multiple times by multiple people at my school in sparring. We're always taught that understanding which leg your opponents weight is on before you go for any technique in particular is very important. Hope this helps you on your journey to make aikido more practical and bring it back to its martial roots!
I worked in a prison system for many years. I was trained in traditional karate. I also trained in AIKIDO. In actual hand to hand combat situations, I can tell you that they are incredibly affective against single and multiple attackers. But you must remember 2 things, first, all martial arts movies are extensively choreographed for safety. And when training in the DOJO, practitioners move with the techniques applied for their safety.
seagal is a big guy but we have to admit, he has great reflexes. he's got fast hands
Self-defense is the opposite of sparring. An attacker will attack, that is what attacker means. It would be absurd for the attacker to become the defender. In a self-defense situation you gotta make many sudden decisions: How close can you allow a stranger to get to you before you feel threatened? What if there could be a hidden weapon at play? How dangerous is the opponent? How much force are you willing to use? Are you defending yourself or someone else? Being a martial artist would be helpful, but so would be being a sprinter, a basketball player or a football player. If you want to be good at self-defense or real fighting you should train for that.
Great video Rokas. Looked like alot of fun!
You cant force a technique, you have to take what you are given
Some wrist locks will probably work in some situations (cop - detainee situations for example, when opponent doesn't want to fight, but to break free and flee - or drunk - bouncer situations), but as far as I know after few years of research - most aikido techniques were derived from ju-jutsu techniques that were meant against armored, armed with sword opponent. Armed dude in armor behaves differently than unarmed, unarmored opponent. And that's why most aikido techniques don't work.
They work in sumo. Derived from there.
kempo a arte do tapinha kkk
aikido techniques are not armored fighting techniques, nor are they armed grappling techniques. it's a grappling style meant for maintaining freedom of movement in multiple attacker scenarios, as seen in the randori. and it actually works much better than any combat sport-oriented martial art in that context.
Glad to see your back Rokas!
Thanks! Had to take a break from posting to film the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship season 2, but I'm back to post a couple of videos before I start editing USDC again!
@@MartialArtsJourney little chance that you’d be able to share details yet, but is it going to be as long as the first season or are there gonna be more episodes? Any chance of a third season?
He's Back!
Seagal's moves are solid....when the opponent lets you do whatever you want. As a trainer or double in 007 Never Say Never Again he did break Sean Connery's wrist...which shows he's strong to break old James Bond's bone, or has no control.
Brittle bone disease ;) (Kappa)
As a judoka with aikido experience, I think iriminage has a lot of the same as osotogari. When your opponent is quickly coming to a close distance trying to push/throw you back, iriminage/osotogari mostly works fine. Sankyo is also a good technique to apply on ground as well. It can be used for example as a counter to a strangle from behind (such as okurierijime). I have a judo/aikido friend who also does shodokan aikido, and he loves to do sankyo on the ground. I also think that kotegaeshi is quite good to apply especially against an unexperienced opponent. When I sparred with a friend with no martial art background but who is bigger and has more strength than I, I did quite a many kotegaeshi to him. (Yonkyo is another one I like to try, but its success heavily depends on whom I'm trying to apply it.)
Iriminage - osotogari.
In Judo class, new student who previously learn Aikido,
need to be shown to grab collar.
In someway, Aikido is no clothes Judo.
Good to see another aikido video! Was great training with you guys in Sydney!
If you've not trained in Seagal sensei's Tenshin Gakuen Bugei then you can't test "his" art nor attempt "his" art because aiki kai aikido is an art he's a shihan in, that he teaches, but his personal art is a mixed martial art he named Tenshin Gakuen Bugei derived from his training in kara te, kenjutsu, jojutsu, daito ryu, koryu jujutsu and judo which he combined w/aikido footwork & principle of blending.
the performing of that kokyu nage was a true use of aikido. Finally. Really admire and appreciate your journey, bro.
It is good to see someone being honest about their progress and being willing to reality check them
Here's the thing that EVERYONE seems to never understand: Aikido is a PHILOSOPHY!! The techniques are based off older styles!
Exactly. Aikido is do. Not jutsu.
Good to see you back, Rokas 🎉. Looking forward to the USDF Championship
I think there's a flaw in this experiment in that you're doing it in a sport BJJ context. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Aikido is a self-defense art that rely on a certain amount of surprise that is not present in consensual combat.
Also, I have never studied Aikido in any form, but my understanding was that Seagal's art is more properly called Aikijutsu and that includes more striking and more strength/speed elements...is that correct?
What are you talking about no pulling in Aikido? When being pulled enter in. When being pushed pivot away. Thats blending. Thats Aiki
I did aikido very briefly. Thanks for pointing out your partner or opponent will not go flying, usually, with a kote gaeshi technique. I did think Segal’s techniques and fight scenes were a little jazzed up, compared to what I remember of aikido practice.
One thing he wasn't clear about is the people who do Aikido flip to avoid serious injury. It's looked upon as choreographed. It's not; it's just they flip to avoid injury and can then go in for another attack for training. An untrained person is going to have an arm break and go down at the first time
YO Rokas! Welcome back🔥, awesome feeling to get your video in today's feed🥊💪🥋✌
Thanks! I've been busy filming the second season of the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship, but I'm back to release a couple of videos before starting to work on editing USDC 2 🙏
@@MartialArtsJourney Can't wait for USDC2! 🥳, ps. I never got the chance to say a proper thank you because I wanted to slowly build my channel first and not bother you too much, but without you and your inspiration Martial Geeks wouldn't exist! Thank you sincerely🙏
~ Tomo
Stephen’s movie fight scenes were awesome. Those stuntmen actors were thrown all over the place😀
Please Rokas continue to do such pressure tests about Steven Seagal Aikido. I loved this video
I liked most of Steven Seagal’s movies and I think he is a legit Aikido master. He is 70 years old, famous, has a beautiful wife, and more money than he will ever want in this lifetime. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose by fighting anyone for real.
Seagal is a Shihan in multiple martial arts but his claim to fame is Aikido. Several years ago, Seagal made arrogant, denigrating comments about Michael Jai White's martial arts experience and all these haters continue to create TH-cam programs in an attempt to discredit Seagal. I never thought of White as a true martial artist because his initial claim to fame was the movie "Spawn" and he was outstanding in that role. I always thought of Wesley Snipes, Jason Scott Lee, Billy Banks, Don Wilson, Jeff Wincott, Jeff Speakman, Cynthia Rothrock, Jackie Chan, Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Scott Adkins as true martial artists for films.
As Aikido derives much from the earlier Ju-Jitsu/Aiki-Jitsu, many techniques/movements are only performed in conjunction with an Atemi. This is especially true when Uke pulls as an attack.
Try striking in conjunction with your techniques.
I am happy to see that you are trying to evolve your Aikido through tests, reflection and adaptation.
Thanks again for your hard work
As with all martial arts there are moves/techniques which can be utilized. Aikido is no different. Blending one into another as something you try is blocked/failed/worst of all backfired on you is a skill of itself. I was taught by a very competent Aikido proponent decades ago that Aikido should be translated as something like unexpectedly opportunistic adaptation. What he meant was no matter how well choreographed you are be ready to deliver whatever telling blow your opponent offers you and does not expect from you. He further explained if that meant the opportunity for a head butt, a knee to the gonads, a kick and scrape down the shins, to drop your knee hard into the side of the face of the individual causing you grief after your wonderfully executed wrist lock has forced him to the ground or even a stamp to the head in order for you to run away - then that's called successful Aikido. I learned that particular philosophy stood me well in my career choice. I also learned the art of never doing it alone when you can do it as a team and putting distance between yourself and your protagonist to buy you the time to form that team and just getting the f--- out of the situation which is now miraculously beginning to de-escalate because mr Angry now no longer has a potential victim and you don't have paperwork to do or a maybe a court to answer to.
Worked for me for 16 years military and for decades in a law enforcement associated field where the philosophy hard learned and the official techniques with an ability to bluff and adapt as required stood me in very good stead. Not once did I or a team I was a part of come off second best and only rarely did an encounter stretch into minutes rather than seconds. Retaliate first has a comforting ring to it.
I trained under Seagal and Matsuoka, and a few other of his older students from Japan. For a decade was a street cop and used sankyo and yubi Dori for handcuffing. I used nodotsukiage and a variety of entering techniques. Aikido is highly useful.
In jiu-jitsu, all of the hand joint manipulations are present.
I like your videos a lot. And I like how you’ve been pushing for so many years. But Aikido is contextual, but every martial art is contextual.
I enjoy seeing a Lithuanian making it in the world! I lived in Taurage from 2008 - 2009. Keep up the good work.
Woot woot love your videos Rokas! As someone who has trained on and off in different martial arts (but not aikido) I feel aikido techniques when applying them are very hard to force and end up being most effective when it just instinctually happens at trapping range. When you did the ultimate self defense championships u pulled off some of the most successful and consistent aikido blended techniques. As u keep getting better and better I feel u will end up "accidentally" (but really its you getting better as a fighter so u can use more techniques in a fight) making aikido better than when u are forcing it to try and make it work. Keep it going! Can't wait to watch USDC season 2 with my mom when it's out!~ 🎉
those unicorn outfits are awesome
Great to see you back Rokas also great catching up in Sydney can’t wait for USDC 2 to be released keep up the great work James 🇦🇺
YES IT WORKS JUST HAVE TO KNOW HOW AND WHEN TO USE IT !...
Thank you for putting in the work and sharing what you learned.
Ngl, I've always thought Steven Segsls more intense Aikido is an upgrade. He just doesn't ever seem willing to show it. He also puts his own foot in his mouth and tried to cash crap checks. He had a blue print but his ego just eclipsed what could have been...
I've always thought it Aikido pulled a Jon Jones and use the outstretched hand as an entry and use that footwork to get in from angles, add back the utemi they removed that Aikijujitsu kept, and just really rough and tumbled it, I think it could be a decent defense system. I do security and have done striking for years. Aikido can have its place if folks put in the work. But you got to rough up some to see what can be pulled and adapted. Lariats? Work. Hits to the face before shooting or initiating a submission? Works. High guard and foot movement to maneuver into position? Works. It's just working it out so it aint theory. You can't afford theory in the moment. I even tried some of it in sparring, and if you're willing to acknowledge that folks aren't going to sell it, I've found that I'll try to start a submission and then let it go when the other person commits, and then do another one while they were committed to the first. Just little things jujitsu folks have been doing. They have to be more realistic about training and make distinctions on expectations. I do kung fu. I have to be realistic. We also learn kickboxing. Just be honest about it.
With that being said, Rokas, I love this synthesis of action. I see you 🤌🏾 it didn't work as you learned it, you went and changed your training, and brought back the nuance to make it better. You walked it when folks only talked it
Jesse Enkamp said in his video when he met Steven and being taught lessons he said he was that strong.
Reality check: Seagal is an experienced martial artist and a physically big dude who would destroy the majority of normie attackers. Akido- jujitsu based techniques are used daily by correction officers and security.
Yeah, as just one example, there is an arm behind back technique from Hapkido, which was mandatory to law enforcement in West Germany in the 70s. Since the 90's they abandoned any mandatory training. PS: If you get the person in the position all you need to do is hold their wriste and elbow, press together, push in and lever upwards. Only someone without pain receptors and no muscles will not respond to it. Its for restraining and moving them abouts. Ofc that means you can only do that vs 1 person and then you need backup for other stuff. However police and army come mostly in plenty of numbers, always a numbers game.
Bjj would be better for police officers they wouldnt have to pull a gun or taser on everyone who resists slightly
@@Jujitard69420yeah but it's a bit awkward to start the confrontation by laying flat on your back
@@adamgrimsley6455yeah that would be pretty weird for a bjj guy to do when they have every takedown from wrestling, and judo ,grip breaks, and standing subs, and transitions at their disposal
@@adamgrimsley6455plus ive pulled guard in one of my two “street fights” this one against a cop 😂
My dad who trained with Senta Yamada in 1959 who was 6th Dan in judo and aikido reckones if aikido is done right, it' like trying to grab a handle on a door to push open it, while someone on the other side is pulling the door their direction. ( If that makes sense ).
Steven Seagal also learned Wing Chun from Sifu Randy Williams (he was also his bodyguard) then continued learning Wing Chun from GM Samuel Kwok... there are the videos where Seagal and Kwok are doing together Aikido and Wing Chun seminars
the one diffrent thing is the fight itself. i see this often in training szenario. a fight as combat sport is diffent. our parter use tactics, strategy, waiting to counter and so on.
when you train self defence, mostly you deal with attacks goin all in and meant to harm you in an agressive way.
something what a trained fighter under full control would not do, i assume.
i imagine this szenario as example: one attacker goin all in for 10sec and you have to defend yourself ( or a person with you) and leave soon and fast as possible right after
"If the other person is super defensive, the techniques won't work" is a good point. Aikido is really hard to use against beginners...
He out shape and old. Even he was incredibly gifted he couldn't pull stuff of when he was younger
One thing in all these videos that doesn't get mentioned about Aikido is; when on and about in public and you encounter someone; when you don't know what the other guy knows. You can be in for more than you bargained.
I remember in the beginning of the UFC back in 1993. My Uncle who is now in his late 80's had wrestled extensively in High School and College. He talked about how it's one thing to fight in an Arena/Cage but on the street it can be a completely different ball game. Paraphrasing what my Uncle shared back then.
I'm lobbying for a collaboration between Martial arts Journey and Gabe Varga.
There's tons of great martial arts channels but these two dudes seem united in wanting to be real about martial arts and not just show off.
You'd be better served if perhaps you string your techniques together or use them in conjunction with others rather than in just isolation. Uke is leaning in on you, pull him off-balance forward and then charge into iriminage or go into kokyunage. Or perhaps arm drag into iriminage? Fighting for a lock when uke's arms are directly in front of him is going to be difficult because that is where he is strongest. That's why that guy could just yank his hand away. When you take too long it becomes too obvious and you're giving him time to figure out what you are doing. Just like arm-barring someone on the ground, you have to pull their limb away from their body where it is the weakest. Additionally, you have to draw their attention away from the arm or hand. This can be accomplished by strongly jarring his balance e.g. shoulder butt, head butt, striking etc. which helps drive their head and attention away from the arms and hands. Then continue pulling them off-balance when you have the lock so they can't regain a base. Also if one lock starts to fail, transition into another lock e.g. kotegaeshi into wakigatame. I think for the grabs, you may also be better served to use nikkyo instead to break the grips or help peel them off into yubi-tori.
Another idea would be that you keep coming up with counters for counters.
You know, for instance, that if you do A he'll pull back, so you have a secondary move that allows you to take advantage of him pulling back, and you can come up with these for multiple contingencies.
@@Selrisitai yes I already mentioned that you need to transition from one lock or move to the next. If you can crank the lock one way and it starts to fail, you can go the other way. Stubbornly fighting for one move takes too long and gives uke time to reset. It's as much a psychological game as it is physical. If you're trying for kotegaeshi and he's pulling his arm back or his body is bent from the wrist, go for the head and right into a throw like iriminage for example or against the throat like nodotsukinage
Your grappling skills are getting better. Keep up the good work.
I remember when Steven Seagal landed as an action movie star in the late 80s. Many aikido practictioners at the time criticized his aggressive form of Aikido.
Roka thank you once again for sharing another brilliant video lecture. I bless and lovely wife. Continue your martial arts journey, and own your dream.
In real fight out of pub i use for selfprotection some aikido techniques (closer to judo) in combination with boxing , and they work for me
The starting point is absolutely different. When someone is on the rage, drunk, aggressive and attacking "on the street" (in bar etc) he is putting all his power to his blows, he doesn't hold back or sneaking cautiously around you like in BJJ Dojo. Then is possible to use his momentum, rush towards you. In dueling sports the awareness of the contestants is very different.
I'd love to see you collaborate with Aikido Flow.
3:50 how about doing kote gaeshi while being pulled but instead of moving backwards like when being pushed just moving forward as you're pulled?
I just found your channel and its awesome
Haven’t you already done 20 million videos on this?
I do not see any atemi.
You already learned striking. Would love to see some test with more aggressive and fast atemi striking and then trying a waza.
I remember one of the things I learned in my dojo was combo techniques where you have two techniques, A and B, where you hope to do A, but if A doesn't work because you're in the wrong position or your opponent ends up not where you expect, you can perform B which is any of a myriad of techniques from your arsenal that might apply to the situation. We developed our ability to determine which was the best B technique through lots of practice. That's how we were able to overcome the thoughts from critics of, "Well, that technique A doesn't work."
The word you‘re looking for is Henka Waza, lit. change technique. A must after learning the basics. Guess this was intentionally kept out in this video. 🤔
I would like to see you investigate setting up Aikido techniques, and or investigating the opponents circumstances or 'energy' (as towards the end) that best lend themselves to techniques and varients.
So, when you were planning a specific technique, you could not pull it off but the moment you did not think of what technique to use and just go with the flow on what technique in the current situation, you managed to do aikido? I think you got the answer for aikido.
8:10 "If you being only defensive, that will prevent other people perform many of other techniques" amazing! I have come to realization why it is taught that martial arts for 'self defense' and not for bokoboko beating people on the streets. When people into martial arts say that, they say it like if it's immoral and unethical to perform your techniques on people to beat them and not using your techniques on people was becauses of our nobility and righteous self. I never thought because it was useless if the opponent only defends.
Especially if they see it coming or know it is, they will defend.
They will play a completely game while you’re trying to set yourself up.
really cool video and great analysis. keep up the science of making aikido effective
Congrats on first stripe!
Thank you!😊
Frankly no martial art is all that great against a highly defensive opponent who refuses to engage. Boxing and kickboxing have issues with someone who just gets on their bike and runs the whole time. For people inside BJJ, it's hard to understand what a weird construct pulling guard really is. It's a purely defensive response to aggression, and only applies in a fight if someone is defending themselves or in a duel format where people are agreed that a fight is going to happen. To use Aikido on a guard puller is kind of like trying to use Aikido to mug people.
Loving the content. I think the big thing is situational, his movies were mainly showing him go against either former aikido students as his attackers or guys who had zero clue. once you have someone trained even a little in one style they're going to stick to that and you're going to be limited on what you can use to penetrate their style. For Steven Seagal specifically his martial arts worked well being a tall lanky guy, if someone short and stocky tried to imitate it wouldn't work the same. You can also see that he isn't tied down to aikido with some karate/judo influences on his fight scenes. Much less but with a keen eye it can be spotted. I've noticed in my personal journey learning other arts improves how i am with others. My wrestling has never been better since i have done karate, and my striking got better while taking some judo/aikido classes.
I need this to become a series! Four moves each episode!
Thanks for this, Rokas.
We were taught in non competitive Tomiki Aikido to move with what ever uke did, push or pull! So we learned to feel the subtleties of movement.
I totally agree that size matters, im.not saying it doesnt... as someone who competes in openweight, i do notice the difference... however...
Not all combat sports have weight classes... pro sumo has only open weight... and many that do have weight classes have an open weight class too
Great video tho, amazing work 💜💜💜💜💜
Size really matter.
You can perform aikido from the ground. You can even enter with irimi naga or whatever from underneath to gain top mount/side etc.
Another Awesome Video. Keep it up!
Great skills Mr Segal
In my experience with contact fights, Aikido can only work if the first blows are punches and kicks like karate, then when the opponent is dizzy or being knocked out, he starts to protect himself, desperately, then yes, it is a great time to Apply immobilization techniques such as Aikido, if your desire is to immobilize him without causing further damage. Even JiuJItsu and Judo need some time to perform an immobilization, a sequence of punches and kicks ends up being more effective and safe in any fight.