I watched that video a dozen times and I still don’t understand where the angular momentum came from. That guy must have been trying to throw himself, right??
Aikido demonstration is cooperative. Uke and nage. Somebody throws and somebody receives the throw. I'm not one of those "Aikido is fake" people, but Aikido has no tournaments and isn't represented in MMA for a reason.
If you're in a real fight and properly distributing your weight, things you see in Aikido just don't happen. That's not shade on Aikido. It's a worthy effort for anyone who wants to devote themselves to it. It's just not a real representation of what happens in combat and this is much more true about Aikido than just about any other martial art you could practice.
The philosophy behind what the submission author wrote is strong. I was pretty moved by it and it effectively communicates what most people call beginner mindset. That mindset has brought me a ton of success in life.
> Aikido demonstration is cooperative. Uke and nage. Somebody throws and somebody receives the throw. I'm not one of those "Aikido is fake" people, but Aikido has no tournaments and isn't represented in MMA for a reason.
Judo and Jiu Jitsu have Uke and Tori for demonstrations. Same concept. Except when Uke gets thrown, they really get thrown. They will cooperate with the move but they aren’t providing the momentum.
I don’t know if Aikido is “fake”, but I do think it’s more of a performance than a martial art.
Aikido, B-Jiu-Jitsu, Ballet, and running laps all have their place in training for "real combat" - the stamina, the reflexes, the flexibility, the locks, being able to roll all help to come through with minimal damage.
Still, the annals of Stand Up, Don't Fall Down comedy eight minutes of Jesse Enkamp entering a Jiu-Jitsu tournament to Prove It Doesn't Work still entertains - the training montage is priceless.
Getting back to Aikido, one master is of the opinion it's not in MMA as its either ineffectual non damaging ritual OR it's high damage, crippling, lethal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtibobLK56I
> Getting back to Aikido, one master is of the opinion it's not in MMA as its either ineffectual non damaging ritual OR it's high damage, crippling, lethal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtibobLK56I
Both are true. Pulling off some of these moves in real world situations is absurdly hard -- much harder than other techniques you could be learning. But also the reason people throw themselves is because for some of these moves the alternative is the damage described. It's more complicated than that -- every traditional martial art has its issues.
I stress again that I'm not throwing any shade at it. It's one of those things that's poorly understood by outsiders and even most modern practitioners. There are Aikidokas out there who can absolutely whoop ass in a standup fight -- it's just that the level of nuance and understanding within the art form to get there is immense (comparatively). But then that's defeating the point. The whole point is about _not_ fighting. Spare everyone the damage. If that's your guiding philosophy and you're still intent on training, Aikido is for you.
It should also be noted Aikido’s original purpose was not for battle. It descended from Morihei Ueshiba studying Daito-ryu and wanting something less violent to practice after returning from war.
Also there's nothing fake about standing joint locks. Aikido just isn't the only martial art where you can learn them. Wing Chun, Hapkido, (Japanese) Jujutsu, etc...
But standing joint locks will only help you in dealing with belligerent drunks, not defending yourself against someone with real intent on your harm.
Aikido is beautiful and historically/culturally relevant.
Yes, he’s throwing himself. Aikido is often practiced solely as a non-competitive art.
If you want to see what competitive throws/takedowns with a kimono/gi look like against live resistance, watch Judo. Example https://youtu.be/fLD87nqwp3Y
Having done multiple martial arts (Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Filipino martial arts and, if you count it, fencing) I've come to the conclusion that Aikido is the Lisp of the martial arts world:
- it's considered very beautiful
- it takes a long time to become fluent in it
- it "expands your mind"
- in theory it can "work on the street" but in practice people reach for other tools
"Martial Arts" can be looked at from one of three different perspectives; viz. 1) For Health Maintenance 2) For Competitive Sport 3) For Self-Defence.
With age, the emphasis on (2)&(3) diminishes and the focus becomes (1). This is why many martial arts masters toned down their fighting styles over time. With age one needs to focus more on cultivating mind, breathing, balance, awareness, sensitivity, and less on strength and power.
Aikido and Taijiquan/Taichichuan (except the original "hard" Chen style) were uniquely developed for this. So if you think of these as martial arts for self-defence you will be completely disappointed. However training in them allows you to develop certain aspects, specifically sensitivity and awareness, which are vital in real combat.
Aikido does this via defender learning to turn attacker's momentum and Taiji/Taichi does the same via push-hands practice. Depending upon how well you have practiced and internalized this you may/may-not be able to use this in a very limited number of real-world scenarios. Not all conflicts need hard kicking/punching.
All students will do well to study the concepts/theories/ideas behind these arts and interpret/adapt them for use in their own lives.
But I do know some of the moves are:
"If you don't throw yourself, your wrist/elbow/shoulder/whatever will be dislocated or broken."
And so the student, knowing this, saves themselves. IE the idea of rolling with the punches.
Which is to say, some moves are to be judged on the possible result, not the one you saw.
Whether that applies in this case, I don't know.
Aikido demonstration is cooperative. Uke and nage. Somebody throws and somebody receives the throw. I'm not one of those "Aikido is fake" people, but Aikido has no tournaments and isn't represented in MMA for a reason.
If you're in a real fight and properly distributing your weight, things you see in Aikido just don't happen. That's not shade on Aikido. It's a worthy effort for anyone who wants to devote themselves to it. It's just not a real representation of what happens in combat and this is much more true about Aikido than just about any other martial art you could practice.
The philosophy behind what the submission author wrote is strong. I was pretty moved by it and it effectively communicates what most people call beginner mindset. That mindset has brought me a ton of success in life.
Judo and Jiu Jitsu have Uke and Tori for demonstrations. Same concept. Except when Uke gets thrown, they really get thrown. They will cooperate with the move but they aren’t providing the momentum.
I don’t know if Aikido is “fake”, but I do think it’s more of a performance than a martial art.
Still, the annals of Stand Up, Don't Fall Down comedy eight minutes of Jesse Enkamp entering a Jiu-Jitsu tournament to Prove It Doesn't Work still entertains - the training montage is priceless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJ2vt8wUbY
Getting back to Aikido, one master is of the opinion it's not in MMA as its either ineffectual non damaging ritual OR it's high damage, crippling, lethal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtibobLK56I
Both are true. Pulling off some of these moves in real world situations is absurdly hard -- much harder than other techniques you could be learning. But also the reason people throw themselves is because for some of these moves the alternative is the damage described. It's more complicated than that -- every traditional martial art has its issues.
I stress again that I'm not throwing any shade at it. It's one of those things that's poorly understood by outsiders and even most modern practitioners. There are Aikidokas out there who can absolutely whoop ass in a standup fight -- it's just that the level of nuance and understanding within the art form to get there is immense (comparatively). But then that's defeating the point. The whole point is about _not_ fighting. Spare everyone the damage. If that's your guiding philosophy and you're still intent on training, Aikido is for you.
Also there's nothing fake about standing joint locks. Aikido just isn't the only martial art where you can learn them. Wing Chun, Hapkido, (Japanese) Jujutsu, etc...
But standing joint locks will only help you in dealing with belligerent drunks, not defending yourself against someone with real intent on your harm.
Aikido is beautiful and historically/culturally relevant.
If you want to see what competitive throws/takedowns with a kimono/gi look like against live resistance, watch Judo. Example https://youtu.be/fLD87nqwp3Y
For the same but without kimono, watch Greco-Roman. Example https://youtu.be/4Xc-wxNSsTk).
- it's considered very beautiful
- it takes a long time to become fluent in it
- it "expands your mind"
- in theory it can "work on the street" but in practice people reach for other tools
Hopefully not offensive, just my layman observation.
With age, the emphasis on (2)&(3) diminishes and the focus becomes (1). This is why many martial arts masters toned down their fighting styles over time. With age one needs to focus more on cultivating mind, breathing, balance, awareness, sensitivity, and less on strength and power.
Aikido and Taijiquan/Taichichuan (except the original "hard" Chen style) were uniquely developed for this. So if you think of these as martial arts for self-defence you will be completely disappointed. However training in them allows you to develop certain aspects, specifically sensitivity and awareness, which are vital in real combat.
Aikido does this via defender learning to turn attacker's momentum and Taiji/Taichi does the same via push-hands practice. Depending upon how well you have practiced and internalized this you may/may-not be able to use this in a very limited number of real-world scenarios. Not all conflicts need hard kicking/punching.
All students will do well to study the concepts/theories/ideas behind these arts and interpret/adapt them for use in their own lives.