Randori in Master Ali Abdul Karim's class

deflect->atemi

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Although he started in shinobi-no-jutsu, he did study my art (kempo jutsu) in addition to other arts. He's one of the few martial artists I watch on YT, and I find his insights into urban combat thought provoking.

 

Steve

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I was going to say the same thing. My understanding is that randori is synonymous with free sparring. this looked like a more scripted exercise.

They look like serious dudes, though.
 

Tony Dismukes

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I use "randori" for something more like actual sparring. However I have seen some Aikido and Bujinkan dojos use the term in this sense, where a designated attacker feeds some simple, non-deceptive attacks to the designated defender who then gets to execute whatever techniques feel appropriate. It can be a step towards actual free-form work in that the actual techniques can be improvised, but the attacker, defender, and winner roles are all pre-determined. It's not a terrible drill, I just wish they'd use a different name for it.

I do agree with the instructor that the students doing the drill were wasting way, way too much energy. It's a combination of poor technique, too much tension, and poor breathing habits. When doing that sort of exercise with a compliant uke, you should be able to do the drill for a long time without getting out of breath.
 

Chris Parker

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any suggestions?

I'd start with someone with a legitimate background, to start with...

I was going to say the same thing. My understanding is that randori is synonymous with free sparring. this looked like a more scripted exercise.

Randori 乱取り pretty literally means "capture (from within) chaos", and is applied differently in different systems. Most go straight to Kodokan Judo's usage of the term, where it is a training method wherein both practitioners are attempting to apply their techniques against each other, while preventing their partner from applying theirs. This is not too dissimilar to BJJ's "rolling", or karate's kumite (close-quarters hands) methods. However, it's not the only, nor the original usage.

Many classical jujutsu ryu-ha used a form of randori training whereby one person took on the role of the attacking partner (teki, uke, ukemi, aite, or any of a few other terms used), and the other practitioner responding freely. The attacks can be simple, and restricted to only certain types, or they can be pretty well open to anything. This is the basis for the form used in Aikido, Bujinkan, and other systems, as well as seemingly the video in the first post.

They look like serious dudes, though.

Eh, not to me. Well... it looks like they feel they're serious, and take themselves way too seriously, but that's about it... and, from my perspective, if they were genuinely serious, they wouldn't be there...
 

T160R415

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Does anybody know if I can learn from Master Ali Kareem? In other words does he have classes open to the public and if so where are they? I’d like to know. Thanks.
 

Xue Sheng

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Steve

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I watched some more videos of these guys, and still think they look like serious dudes. I mean, if you put them in an arena with 50 random ninja and 50 random self defense experts, I think these guys would fare just fine.
 

Gerry Seymour

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I use "randori" for something more like actual sparring. However I have seen some Aikido and Bujinkan dojos use the term in this sense, where a designated attacker feeds some simple, non-deceptive attacks to the designated defender who then gets to execute whatever techniques feel appropriate. It can be a step towards actual free-form work in that the actual techniques can be improvised, but the attacker, defender, and winner roles are all pre-determined. It's not a terrible drill, I just wish they'd use a different name for it.

I do agree with the instructor that the students doing the drill were wasting way, way too much energy. It's a combination of poor technique, too much tension, and poor breathing habits. When doing that sort of exercise with a compliant uke, you should be able to do the drill for a long time without getting out of breath.
Yes. In much of Aikido (meaning even beyond Ueshiba’s art), randori refers to constant feeding of attacks (usually stylized and/or simplified and obvious) to one person. This may or may not involve multiple “attackers” at once.

Of course, in Judo, it refers to grapple-sparring, for lack of a better term. I prefer to use it for this (which I find more productive).
 

Yamabushii

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Martial arts? Recently Taekwondo. Is what Master Ali Karim teaches not considered to be martial arts? Thanks.

It's still martial arts. Granted Master Karim essentially invented his own style, but it looks like it's working and in the end, that's all that counts. Ignore the purists.
 

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