Thoughts on the "My Martial Arts Journey" guy?

[Hanzou]

He's a former Aikidoka and he's now training in combat sports. He's made a slew of videos heavily criticizing Aikido and its practices. I won't link his videos here because he's monetized his channel, but he's pretty easy to find on Youtube. I'm curious what the Aikido community here on MT thinks of his "journey". Do you think that he's portraying an accurate image of Aikido, or is he damaging that image through his channel?

An old friend of mine who is a black belt in Yoshinkan Aikido doesn't like what he's doing at all, and just about every time we talk he brings this guy up.

 

[Martial D]

He's a former Aikidoka and he's now training in combat sports. He's made a slew of videos heavily criticizing Aikido and its practices. I won't link his videos here because he's monetized his channel, but he's pretty easy to find on Youtube. I'm curious what the Aikido community here on MT thinks of his "journey". Do you think that he's portraying an accurate image of Aikido, or is he damaging that image through his channel?

An old friend of mine who is a black belt in Yoshinkan Aikido doesn't like what he's doing at all, and just about every time we talk he brings this guy up.

I guess it depends on your goals. Some are more attracted to the ''art' and less to the 'martial'.

On its face, there's nothing wrong with this.

 

[Duncan McLeod]

Well, the thread is a bit old but since there's only one post in it, except that of the O.P I thought I would write something..
It's pretty obvious, to my eyes at least, that this Martial Arts Journey guy was never actually a good aikidoist...Whether one watches his demo videos or his attempts to try something against someone else, it's obvious that he is lacking technical skills and experience...
So, in my opinion, he is just a misguided person who may never actually experienced real Aikido and now he wants to attract some attention by becoming a Youtuber or something...
He always moans about how ineffective Aikido is and how insecure he always felt while practicing Aikido in terms of self defense but it's not Aikido that is ineffective...it's just his level of ability...When it comes to Aikido, the videos speak for themselves...He doesn't have a clue. And that guy was running a dojo???

 

[Martial D]

Well, the thread is a bit old but since there's only one post in it, except that of the O.P I thought I would write something..
It's pretty obvious, to my eyes at least, that this Martial Arts Journey guy was never actually a good aikidoist...Whether one watches his demo videos or his attempts to try something against someone else, it's obvious that he is lacking technical skills and experience...
So, in my opinion, he is just a misguided person who may never actually experienced real Aikido and now he wants to attract some attention by becoming a Youtuber or something...
He always moans about how ineffective Aikido is and how insecure he always felt while practicing Aikido in terms of self defense but it's not Aikido that is ineffective...it's just his level of ability...When it comes to Aikido, the videos speak for themselves...He doesn't have a clue. And that guy was running a dojo???

So where are the guys that CAN use aikido to fight?

This excuse gets tossed around a lot when systems are exposed. "It's not the system, it's the guy that sucks"

Yet somehow the guy that's good and can use these systems as advertised never materializes. Usually because the 'true masters have no desire or need to compete', or some such thing, as if every person that gets good is of the same mind(which just isn't how human beings are)

 

[drop bear]

Well, the thread is a bit old but since there's only one post in it, except that of the O.P I thought I would write something..
It's pretty obvious, to my eyes at least, that this Martial Arts Journey guy was never actually a good aikidoist...Whether one watches his demo videos or his attempts to try something against someone else, it's obvious that he is lacking technical skills and experience...
So, in my opinion, he is just a misguided person who may never actually experienced real Aikido and now he wants to attract some attention by becoming a Youtuber or something...
He always moans about how ineffective Aikido is and how insecure he always felt while practicing Aikido in terms of self defense but it's not Aikido that is ineffective...it's just his level of ability...When it comes to Aikido, the videos speak for themselves...He doesn't have a clue. And that guy was running a dojo???

And yet BJJ and MMA has mentality and physically transformed him in to a better martial artist.

 

[Headhunter]

Well, the thread is a bit old but since there's only one post in it, except that of the O.P I thought I would write something..
It's pretty obvious, to my eyes at least, that this Martial Arts Journey guy was never actually a good aikidoist...Whether one watches his demo videos or his attempts to try something against someone else, it's obvious that he is lacking technical skills and experience...
So, in my opinion, he is just a misguided person who may never actually experienced real Aikido and now he wants to attract some attention by becoming a Youtuber or something...
He always moans about how ineffective Aikido is and how insecure he always felt while practicing Aikido in terms of self defense but it's not Aikido that is ineffective...it's just his level of ability...When it comes to Aikido, the videos speak for themselves...He doesn't have a clue. And that guy was running a dojo???

Ah so because he lost and couldn't fight that means he wasn't doing real aikido? Lol okay.

Look at the end of the day I respect all styles of martial art but a pure aikido guy is never going to beat a boxer or a Thai boxer or a karate fighter. I'm not saying aikido is useles far from it as when I've done it I've learnt a few good concepts that I supplement into my own mixed bag and hey it's also a system that doesn't destroy your body and gives you good balance and inner peace so that's great, but if a couple of drunks come uo to you and try and smash you up at the same time Its very unlikely you'll be able to fight them off with pure aikido. The self defence that imo aikido is good for Is for non violent situations, maybe a drunk who's being a bit mouthy and touchy and you can defuse it by doing a light takedown in there drunken state without causing damage.

I'm not hating on aikido, I have trained it briefly and as I've said I have a lot of respect for it and the people who do it. But it's not my thing and in my personal opinion it's not a great system for violent self defence situations it does have some use but I wouldn't want it as the only thing I know (I say the same thing about bjj )

 

[drop bear]

At the end of the day you can show something working or you can't.

The adage that there is no lies on the mat rings true more often than that.

 

[Martial D]

At the end of the day you can show something working or you can't.

The adage that there is no lies on the mat rings true more often than that.

The fact that that video looks like a direct response to this thread is awesome.

* Rokas mic drop*

 

[JowGaWolf]

At the end of the day you can show something working or you can't.

The adage that there is no lies on the mat rings true more often than that.

I think I'm going to take him up on his challenge lol.

 

[Martial D]

I think I'm going to take him up on his challenge lol.

How will you find time to be the guy(the, singular, as none exist yet afaik) that can use Aikido to kick *** while so busy trying to be that guy for jowga.

There's only so many hours in a day.

 

[JowGaWolf]

How will you find time to be the guy(the, singular, as none exist yet afaik) that can use Aikido to kick *** while so busy trying to be that guy for jowga.

There's only so many hours in a day.

Simple. Find one technique that I've already done that is similar to a technique in Jow Ga and call it a day lol. But seriously I wish I had time to be the non-Aikido guy who picks one technique out of Aikido and shows that it's possible. Just to see the reaction on that guy's face would be priceless.

There's a lot that Aikido does that goes against my training like turning one's back on the opponent like in 4:02 in the video.All it takes is to miss the grip or have the opponent escape. I'm not sure what the recovery would be for that one.

There was a take down defense that I think I can do. Because it's similar to one that I know, The biggest different is the placement of one of the hands, where one of the hands is placed on the back of the neck. Again it's one of those risks where if you I couldn't place my hand behind the neck then I'm screwed. I don't take Aikido so I don't know the recovery for that. In Jow Ga we twist the opponents torso because it's a bigger and easier target. The position of the neck is irrelevant.

My entire perspective of Aikido is that it's supposed to be done with striking. This is based off joint locks I know how to do. If I punch my opponent a couple of times, he won't be thinking about the joint lock I'm trying to set up. This is the closest I've ever gotten to doing anything that looks like Aikido.

The rules of this training was simple. The goal was to knock your sparring partner out of the ring (here made with carpet). You can kick, punch, throw, pull, push, trip or do anything you need to do in order to get your sparring partner out of the ring. The ring is small so that your forced to use angles. There were a couple of times where I could have pulled off some Wing Chun or Aikido techniques If I actually knew some to the same extent that I know Jow Ga.

Is it possible to use Aikido" I'm going to say yes just based on this video. Where I found myself in some of the positions that Aikido seems to try to get people in. Can you pull Aikido off without punching. I'm going to say No. Unless someone gives you a "text book" opportunity then it's not going to be possible. Aikido is like Japanese Chin Na. With Chin Na you get punched, kicked, dazed and then the lock is applied. The more punches that are thrown by the opponent the more likely you'll catch the punch.

This is actually the 2nd of 2 take downs using the same technique. The person filming didn't catch the first one. I took him down twice in within 10 -13 seconds. This technique controls the head. If my sparring partner can fall this easily then I don't see why a Aikido couldn't get some of their techniques to work.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Here's another reason why I think striking needs to be done in order to get Aikido techniques to work.

Aikido trains techniques to use against punching, yet they don't spar with people who punch. It falls into that dangerous perspective of only understanding Aikido vs Aikido (Style vs Style). I think the perspective and approach to doing Aikido will change once practitioners get out of the mindset of using Aikido against other Aikido practitioners. And I don't think people can learn to apply it with out striking.

From the video "Not a single skill can be used alone"

 

[hoshin1600]

I have said this before but I do not think the founder ment for Aikido to be a functional martial art. Rather a method of self discovery. But I digress.
Everyone thinks Aikido does not work. Does that mean that wrist controls don't work, it seems law enforcement is able to use them no problem when appropriate. Are people under the impression hip throws and such don't work, I've seen lots of youtube vids in real life situations where they do work. These are techniques and most Aikido techniques are found in other arts where they work fine, for what they are. Maybe the crux of the problem is Aikido has a poor method of teaching it's students to be effective. Maybe the bulk of students who sign up for Aikido don't REALLY want to be effective. They just want somthing to do two nights a week. That was what I saw in my experience training in Aikido. Within the entire organization I only met 2 or 3 guys who could walk the walk. They were bouncers or law enforcement. The rest couldn't care less about fighting or were more than happy to be comfortable and delusional within their little bubble.
I think it's not the art, it's the people who have been attracted to the art. If they really wanted Aikido to be effective than they would have made it so.

 

[drop bear]

I have said this before but I do not think the founder ment for Aikido to be a functional martial art. Rather a method of self discovery. But I digress.
Everyone thinks Aikido does not work. Does that mean that wrist controls don't work, it seems law enforcement is able to use them no problem when appropriate. Are people under the impression hip throws and such don't work, I've seen lots of youtube vids in real life situations where they do work. These are techniques and most Aikido techniques are found in other arts where they work fine, for what they are. Maybe the crux of the problem is Aikido has a poor method of teaching it's students to be effective. Maybe the bulk of students who sign up for Aikido don't REALLY want to be effective. They just want somthing to do two nights a week. That was what I saw in my experience training in Aikido. Within the entire organization I only met 2 or 3 guys who could walk the walk. They were bouncers or law enforcement. The rest couldn't care less about fighting or were more than happy to be comfortable and delusional within their little bubble.
I think it's not the art, it's the people who have been attracted to the art. If they really wanted Aikido to be effective than they would have made it so.

There are ways to get wrist locks on people who don't want them done. Unfortunately I think Aikido approaches that concept wrong.

 

[Martial D]

There are ways to get wrist locks on people who don't want them done. Unfortunately I think Aikido approaches that concept wrong.

Totally. Once you get control.

They can totally work from the ground.

Trying to gain control WITH a wristlock(aikido) is going to take some luck.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Totally. Once you get control.

They can totally work from the ground.

Trying to gain control WITH a wristlock(aikido) is going to take some luck.

As I understand it (and I don't train the Aikido in question), the lock isn't meant to be the method of taking control. The same principles of kuzushi (balance breaking) and structure control are supposed to be in evidence as in Judo, but are done through conjunctive movements (across multiple joints, so indirect control).

As I've always seen it, the body movement and structure breaking is really what's being trained. The "techniques" are just the finishes.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Here's another reason why I think striking needs to be done in order to get Aikido techniques to work.

Aikido trains techniques to use against punching, yet they don't spar with people who punch. It falls into that dangerous perspective of only understanding Aikido vs Aikido (Style vs Style). I think the perspective and approach to doing Aikido will change once practitioners get out of the mindset of using Aikido against other Aikido practitioners. And I don't think people can learn to apply it with out striking.

From the video "Not a single skill can be used alone"

I've seen a fair amount of Aikido that works really well against the kinds of attacks used in the dojo, but wouldn't translate (as learned) to a reasonable punch. Yet many folks think it will...because they've never received a reasonable punch to experiment against. Train those attacks you want to defend against, and you'll get a better idea of what you can really do.

 

[Martial D]

As I understand it (and I don't train the Aikido in question), the lock isn't meant to be the method of taking control. The same principles of kuzushi (balance breaking) and structure control are supposed to be in evidence as in Judo, but are done through conjunctive movements (across multiple joints, so indirect control).

As I've always seen it, the body movement and structure breaking is really what's being trained. The "techniques" are just the finishes.

Theory is wonderful, when it translates into reality.

Unfortunately the results just aren't there on this one.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Theory is wonderful, when it translates into reality.

Unfortunately the results just aren't there on this one.

The theory actually works in application, but not as predictably often as something like Judo, when a trained person is involved (unless they make serious mistakes). Add in strikes and Judo push-pull methods (and closer range of grappling), and a lot more opportunities open up.

I'm saying all of this a bit out of school, as I'm not well trained in the Aikido in question. These are my thoughts based on related training, and what I find does work (and why).

 

[Martial D]

The theory actually works in application, but not as predictably often as something like Judo, when a trained person is involved (unless they make serious mistakes). Add in strikes and Judo push-pull methods (and closer range of grappling), and a lot more opportunities open up.

I'm saying all of this a bit out of school, as I'm not well trained in the Aikido in question. These are my thoughts based on related training, and what I find does work (and why).

Sure. I don't know what aikido is in question, I was just using it as a general example of trying to use wristlocks before you have control.

All aikido does that doesn't it?