Love the connection between you and Lenny, its been well over due..this represents 'East and West starting to talk, this is the start of some great things...Fantastic Video.Jason.
first one question...what is the experience of lenny in Mma? or in other combat sports? second....lenny said to you in this video to enter.... to go inside the atack... i told you this so many times in my comments ... in your mma fight video you never entered.... butt you just respond to comments that do not criticize you
Alexandre Francisco Lenny was a bouncer for many years before opening his own dojo together with Dominic Izzo. They both seperated after that and he open his own which what you saw on this vid.
Alexandre, I do respond to comments that criticize me. Trust me, I receive about 30 comments each day and many times I hear the same things. If you say something that somebody said to me 10 times, do you feel I will feel an importance to respond? I know about irmi, yet sparring is so much more than just that. I am working on it, you can trust me
This is a really dope collab. Its always good to see two different aikido schools showing people that aikido can work on the streets. I've been watching Kenny's videos for a while and gave me a different perspective on Aikido. I was training aikido for 5 years under Haruo Matsuoka Sensei. So now I see both the traditional aspect and the street aspect of Aikido.
Great collaboration. Between Aikidoflow in the UK, Roguewarriors in the US, your channel, Roy Dean, and so many others, you all show Aikido can evolve without loosing its martial principles. So thank you, great project, glad you finally connected with Lenny. Cannot wait to see more. Bravo.
This is a great mesh of two different perspectives meeting in the middle. I've been following both you and Lenny for a long time, implementing both of your teachings to compliment my own movements, body type, etc. Kudos Sensei Rokas!
This is exactly what we needed in the Aikido world! Hopefully this is the beginning of the evolution of Aikido! Thank You gentlemen for the collaboration.👍🏼
Rokas, I lost faith in you at first. But you are proving me wrong. I am looking forward to seeing more of your work. Thank you for putting yourself out there. You have a lot of humility, in a good way.
This is such an excellent video on so many levels. I am subscribed to both channels featured here and seeing them together is just plain cool! I respect what you are doing guys!
I'm happy to see a young man such as you and Lenny so deeply involved in the art. I'm an old fart; I've been doing Aikido for over thirty years. In that time, I've seen a once proud martial art gradually devolve into a metaphysical thought exercise. This is wrong. I hope you guys can turn it around!
Been watching both your channels for a long time, I’m suck in the same predicament, Looking to expand my skill set to become more effective when required! Excited to share the journey. Got a lot of love for Lenny, pity he is state side! ( im in the uk). Many thanks to you both for sharing.
this is a good step in the right direction,ive been watching and talking with lenny for quite a while.i stumbled across your channel and even though i do lennys style i enjoyed your videos.nice job . russ kriehn south coast tenshin aikido
A lot of what I've seen was the discussion of "how to make aikido effective" and very little training All I know is that you can't argue against the fact that if the MMA guy wanted to he would have defeated you in real. You accept this. Now how does that MMA guy train? SPARRING. Simply get your buddies, start at a neutral position, maybe you both have hands down, both have hands up, hands touching I don't care. Then try to go for a joint lock, choke, or take down by any means possible that doesn't involve striking. It's real simple. Later on you can include scoring systems and keep track of who wins, maybe you can use this take on aikido in some MMA sparring sessions, so on. The main problem is there is no pressure fighting. So give pressure
You're awesome dude! It's all about being practical. I think every martial art has some flaws and some non practical stuff. If you really want to be practical and not care about belts and not care about a certain art but be open to everything that's how you get great and that's what I see from you. You have your. Aikido base but you make it real.. love it!
I absolutely love (as an mma/grappling guy) that you're actively searching for new ways to train and expand your knowledge on martial arts! But I still see a fundamental flaw in your method: starting from a standing position (no movement) and basically with a partner without much experience on striking, which admittedly is only a minor flaw. Standing instead of moving around removes most possible angles that the attack can come from, apart from that one you're standing in. Keep working your art, I believe the mma community has a lot to learn from you :)
Nice you found someone i recommend a long time ago in your comments about a year ago. . This is going to be great. In my option one of the best Aikido guys out there..
Rokas, I practice and teach aikido here in the United States and I've watched a number of your videos and I'm a follower of Lenny's channel. It's really great that you two have made a connection with the idea of pushing aikido forward. Lenny does some great, practical stuff and he stated it perfectly in that you don't have to abandon your original aikido ideals, it's a matter of making adjustments and evolving. There is plenty of opportunity to take control and subdue in a real situation with the proper training and what Lenny teaches allows that. Kudos to you for making such a step.
I feel like i'm witnessing something new and important happening here and i'm very excited to see how this develops! More of this and i'm moving to join you guys ;) Thanks!
This was strangely moving... 'Execute..': what a word...! The Robespierre of aikido..? The general public may not realize this yet, but this video marks a major change in the field of aikido online, at the very least, in the English-speaking world. I made an extensive critique of the field and I truly believe you / we have crossed a major line. This is a historic moment. I would use slightly different words from either of you, but, you know what, I'm still very proud of what you guys have accomplished. Please accept my greetings and gratitude from New Zealand..! Three cheers to the evolution of aikido..! Hip hip...
Awesome I've watched both of you for awhile! My son and I had our dojo close! There aren't any more within 150 miles I've continued trying to teach my son and have used both of your videos for training!!
It was really nice seeing Lenny in a less belligerent light. You could really tell this meant something to him, and how eager he was to demonstrate how to go beyond ironclad Aikido techniques and apply its principles to deal with "real" fighting. And at the same time, how respectful of his martial art's protocols he is in spite of denigrating "tea ceremonies and floral arrangement bullshit".
Just wanted to say that this video is fantastic , I'm a complete beginner in aikido ( I started like , 6 months ago ) and it's your channel that made me want to do aikido so thank you , and keep up the good work ! =D
Good job man. You picked it up quick cuz you already understand Aikido principles/techniques since you've been training for while. I am the same way if I go to a different dojo; I open my mind and assume someone is going to teach me something new.You can tell Lenny actually fights or does boxing cuz he has a broken nose. hehe
Awsome. I dont know if it was my fist of my previous comment on your summery video that let you to Lenny Sly or if you knew about him before that. Either way this is like a dream coming true where masters share their knowledge and improve together on it :D. Instead of competing or point fingers at how bad someone is in comparison to themselfes or other styles like BJJ or MMA ect. There is always more than 1 potential solution to 1 problem so why not explore that :D? I look forward to see more of you and Lenny Sly training if you share more of this. Many times thanks you.
Thanks! This was an idea for a while now, but of course every comment puts more weight into doing it. I really enjoyed the positive nature and potential of this video as well! We are looking and making more videos together :)
Good idea. Maybe you can create and demonstrate Aikido counter tactic against gap-closers and takedowns from BJJ fx. Those are the greatest threats against all striking or standing arts out there. The art of staying on your feet against a skilled BJJ opponent. Solve that and change the world of Aikido. Good luck :D.
The thing is you need to compete to find out what works and what doesn't. The easiest way to be ready for a real fight is to really fight. This is what professional MMA guys do. It isn't just about ego, or about my technique being better than yours. It's about testing to see what works and throwing everything else away. The most efficent path to sucess= the best path.
This is great. You two are the future of aikido My recommendation is get someone who can punch with better form to add to the validity of the technique. More videos please!
Very commendable approach. I think this should be done in all styles, all the time. It's like upgradeing the software. You do not want to remain with an obsolete version. A style is not set in stone, EACH style when they appeared were innovation. This has to be kept. You have a set of tehniques, you test them against opponents, refine them until they work, and teach them, let a wide audience test it (just like alpha and beta versions a software), then collect the feedback and probably the next generation(because this take many years and you get old) has to take over and start the innovation process once again
Nice concept. You should also work with Aikidoflow and Dan from Catchjitsu. Dan has some video of him competing in MMA and using Aikido techniques as well as similar drills to what Lenny was showing you. And Aikidoflow has some great stuff and they really put in the work to test against resistance.
@@thebigbadwolf904 jujitsu came first. Judo and aikido are derived from japanese jujitsu. Kano and Ueshiba both came from jujitsu backgrounds. Both removed the more brutal and dangerous techniques in order to modernize it and make it safer to practice.
In the book "The Art of Peace" translated by John Stevens. On page 49 (depending on your version) Morihei Ueshiba says: "Even though our path is completely different from the warrior arts of the past, it is not necessary to abandon totally the old ways. Absorb venerable traditions into this new Art by clothing them with fresh garments, and build on the classic styles to create better forms." I believe he was a true master of human mechanics and understood more than most, that a fighters ability isn't limited to just their knowledge of techniques but also their ability to adapt these techniques and blend them with new ones to meet an ever changing environment / world. In my opinion the true nature of Aikido can be found on page 95, speaking on never attacking... The meaning being that in Aikido we respond or defend / deflect and do not initiate attacking others. Not that we do not fight back, or that we shouldn't. I think what you and your fellow Aikido / MMA practitioners are doing is great and I look forward to seeing you recognized in the future as one of the founders of a modernized competitive form of Aikido in the fighting / martial world.
First thing to do if you wanna modernize something like aikido is to start training in full contact situations, because during that first punch, most attackers will either A have their second punch already comming at you even before the first one is landing, or B having their other arm up as a defence. and this is if you are fighting a untrained person
I agree. My Sensei Stephen believes Aikido should evolve and O Sensei believe that as long as we continue the circular movement, it remains Aikido...I'm down with the modernization of Aikido. sign me up...
I am loving all your videos and commend your journey. I can tell you without any hesitation that all these techniques will fail horrendously. They fall apart as soon as your opponent punches kicks or grapples in any unanticipated speed, angle or feints. Continue your learning my friend!
Seeing this vs. seeing your recent development by 2018, one thing you may have forgotten from this experience is really the difference between ringsport and self-defense. Surely, Aikido can benefit to be modified to work in a realistic self-defense situation. But when you tried and failed to adapt it to a ringsport setting, maybe you took it too far as a sign that Aikido failed you when in fact it just wasn't the right context to make Aikido workable. Like Lenny said, you're not in a situation where your facing someone in a sporting contest where you're protecting yourself at all times. The difference between MMA and self-defense can't be stressed enough, even when many enthusiasts tend to simplify that being good at one means being good at the other. Unfortunately, self-defense isn't something you can isolate into a competitive environment like an sparring session. The very moment you turn it into a contest where the objective is to win under a set of rules, it is no longer self-defense. I think it's important that you make this distinction as you move away from Aikido to learn the basics in other more sporting forms of martial arts.
Wow, Lenny almost made it through this video without cursing! I do like his videos for they are very insightful, but can’t show them to our younger students and my instructor doesn’t like his over-the-top vulgar attitude...but he definitely cleaned up his act for this one...for the most part, any way! Keep up the great work Rokas, this is great stuff you are doing!
Totally agree about accessibility for younger students but swearing and aggressive posturing are part and parcel of street confrontations. It's used to instil fear. If you can't cope with that, you will neither be able to explore de-escalation options or manage an actual physical confrontation.
Our Soke, who is Japanese and has trained in Koryu JJ for about 60 years, has always said that the lower hand position 'in defence' rather than raising them like boxing etc. is because traditionally they were then close to your weapons, being the katana/wakazashi etc. - it does stand true though, that as RW say, nobody walks around the 'street' with their hands up all the time either :) Never come across the RAM concept directly but from the perspective of how your arms and hands move from around waist height up to the incoming punch etc., you can intercept timing better.
Great stuff and a bold quest. Very well done. Aikido is brilliant, but it would be wrong to think it can compete with other arts in competition when it is so specialised i.e. perfect for pre-fight situations where you're in a grabbing scenario. Rogue guy seems to be adapting it to more scenarios with good results and I'd look to the BJJ template for establishing a new way of training it i.e. building resistance and use 'position before submission' principle, working from an aikido 'clinch', perhaps borrowing from Judo to establish types of clinch/grabs. Of course, work a hypothesis developed as you're doing now, test against a variety of fighting types, then back to the drawing board...theory>test>modify theory loop.
As always, really excited for these. Do you think you could collab with fighttips? Also, PhilUp has a wing chun channel, a collab with him would be awesome.
One thing I use when playing around with techniques is counting. You know when people do demos where they hit hit hit hit and hit and the other person stay frozen for the entire demo? In my experience a good rule of thumb is counting, when you do drills you should be counting "1 move" against their "1 move", so, you are trying to outwit your opponent. What I want to achieve with that is to understand if my technique rely on my opponent idling or if he has a good reason to "let" me do my thing. If I can perform more than 1 move expecting the opponent to not have his "turn", there are two conclusions 1 - they have a reason not to react, meaning I performed some kind of check mate where there is no movement available for my opponent, or at least, the move that would rid him of my move 2 - I might be over expecting my move For instance, 6:29, the hand deflection is ok, but you really need to meditate on why would you be able to reach the choking position, as he said, people used to fights often make decisions on the fly, and it is improbable that he will let you get this close to his neck/face. I am not saying that it doesn´t work, but since the counting does not favor you, it means that you need to set it up very very well or your advance might be resisted (sometimes with a fist to the face, been there, done that). I know this rule of thumb is a little defective, there are reasons why I should be able to do more than 1 move against my opponent, for instance, I might be faster, the other person might have never seem it and takes a while to respond, but counting on that is not counting on the effectiveness of the technique, it relies on physical prowess or catching a beginner, not what I want to do. Specifically with this move, checkmates available to you can be but are not limited to: realizing he loses his balance when throwing his right hand, him taking too much time retrieving his right hand after the punch, you throwing him off balance while you get in, he got stuck in a corner of the ring/place you are fighting, you analyzing his style on the fly and being able to "predict" when he throws the right hand, giving him the impression that you ate a count and moved with super speed
How to make aikido effective - go and take wrestling, judo, sambo or jiu jitsu classes and then go back to your aikido class and forget everything you have learned from aikido lessons and just use all the stuff you learned, drilled and sparred in the useful grappling disciplines. Now aikido is actually useful!!
I always thought these were “normal” Aikido techniques. My Sensei has always been for practical Aikido and so I always assumed that these types of techniques were taught in most dojos and I didn’t really understand why so many people say that Aikido is useless or ineffective. Just curious about how everybody else sees these and what they think about them. Let’s not forget too that O Sensei had some very effective and powerful techniques, so Aikido can still be about peace, unification and love even with powerful and strong techniques. Also, in my opinion removing meditation from Aikido and minimizing the importance of ceremonies like the tea ceremonies eliminates the entire spiritual side of what O Sensei intended the Art to be. Granted, O Sensei was not a god and even he could be wrong, but if one was to study his works and his life they would surely see the importance of the spiritual dimension in Aikido alongside the very powerful and even painful techniques.
Seems to me this is still pretty much just compliant training or at most just repetitive drills. To show that this works it would need to be done in a live sparring session.
Good. I think you should do some Judo too because in many ways it is more similar to Aikido than BJJ is, since Judo is mostly about throws and pins and short groundwork, while BJJ is more about longer fights on the ground.
I'm a judo teacher, once I had a student from aikido he is black belt quite good, when free sparring I always saw him using some kind of hand locks( it's illegal in judo but we let students be more free in our gym out of the comp rules), those hand locks always come on the beginning of the kumi kata, so I think one thing aikido might can merge with bjj or judo is how to block and intercept grips with some hand locks，I really think the aikido community should merge with bjj and judo making this whole thing rich.
Great video. My comments may not be relevant any more as this is an older video, however the only (but necessarily bad) thing I have to say is that Rokas - who is an exceptionally kind person - is not aggressive enough. I know he gave up Aikido for a while to go get some experience with live training in other martial arts, e.g. BJJ, to pressure test his aikido skills, so I hope when he returns to Aikdio (if he hasn't already) he will be more assertive and forceful in his approach to training. One thing I love about the "hard styles" of Aikido such as Tenshin is the dynamic and vigorous, almost brutal, way the techniques are executed. The soft approach to self-defence and fighting just doesn't work. Being too nice and passive, which seems to be encouraged in the softer styles of aikido, can get you killed.
My fellow aikidokas, just keep practice. Don't get too be influenced by any other martial arts practitioners or any bad comments. They do their bussiness, we do ours. Don't worry about it. Every martial arts is good purpose, it just the person that can make it not good. Keep it up ! (sorry for my english)
didier bembozz Aikido need to evolve into a more realistic, combative and Innovative approach to fit into this era. I myself is a 1st dan black belt in Aikido, Judo and Daijo Juku Karate. Im also a purple belt in BJJ.
Aikido's approach to "keep it to ourselves" is actually what limits it. Do not leave Aikido for other martial arts, yet my approach is: allow other martial arts and comments to influence you. If we do not receive influence from outside or critique, how will we ever know what we could improve?
But that´s not what Rokas wants to do. He is exploring how to evolve Aikido into being more effective. Trying other martial arts and seeing how they blend together. I applaud him for it. In the bigger picture, the cultures that were ready to learn from other cultures, instead of just "doing their thing" were generally the ones that would evolve and improve the most. Many martial arts have benefited from learning from other arts. BJJ for example took a lot of takedowns from wrestling and leglocks from Sambo etc. Why shouldn´t Aikido do it too?
LOL... 14:30 "I'm not saying that what I do is better than everbody else's but I'm gonna say this, I have things that are WAY better than what everybody else is doing." - Rogue Warrior
Lenny Sly the best in the business we're working on getting him into a Roadhouse movie he'd be great in it Roadhouse 2 starring Lenny Sly and company hey Lenny since I'm pushing for this Roadhouse 2 don't forget to give me a part of the movie Lenny I'm smart talented animated quick-witted tough good sense of humor and I like the camera something very important in show business and boy what a show this would be a box office hit
I see a lot of yoseikan budo Aikido which is different than what is known as traditional Aikido. I want to see more and keep an open mind. I'll be watching out!
I agree ,It looks like he punching to one side of your head, and beginning to move more to one side the more practice went on. Once your used to it, put the attacker in boxing gloves, and you wear a head guard, that way both od you will benefit. At the end of the day none of us want to hurt our partners.
It is still a dog and pony show since when confronted on the streets you have multiple angles of attack to worry about. I think you are going backwards instead of forwards with your videos in the this episode.
adobePC Actually I think you have no idea what is being taught here. So how about you shut the fuck up and make your own video and put it on RUclips for the whole world to criticize. I bet you don't have the balls to do it do you. There's this saying.... Don't let anyone tell you what to do especially when their doing nothing. So make a video or keep your bullshit inexperienced comments off of this post.
This..this is the aikido that is needed, in order to actually call aikido self defense. Been training aikido for almost 9 years now, and the style os just flooded with to much basic and fluff, that really has no place in a dojo, that claims it is teaching self defense. My dojo is all about the teachings of Saito sensei, and I am sure he was very skilled, but has a way to big focus on doing basic techniques and techniques that obviously would never work, mostly because the attack is either completely ridiculous or the techniques itself is just flawed. The problem is that this is almost a taboo, and not just in my dojo, but in the aikido world in general. Aikido can be so much more, but it needs to start moving forward. The work you guys are doing, is just what is needed, so keep it up :-).
(I was actually kind-of waiting for Rogue Warriors to enter the fray/discussion - I wasn't sure if I should suggest it and/or wasn't sure my voice would be heard if I did)
Saludos desde Argentina. Tuve dos sensei distintos, uno enseñaba aikido tradicional y el otro muy similar a lo que dicen ustedes y la verdad es bueno mezclar un poco lo tradicional con lo q pasa en el mundo real
Hi, nice video. Before all, best regards. Now, my humble opinion is, that there is no silver bullet to solve all the challenges the life presents to all of us. I think that martial arts are like tools, you need to implement the right one, at the right time, on the right problem. You do not use a scalpel to cut the grass at your front yard. Aikido es great for solving minor issues in a kind of pacific way. It is a preemptive tool. Every big fire starts with a spark, a match, a cigarette, you only need to step on it to finish the matter. On the same way you do not finish a fly with a bazooka. That been said, nor MMA, UFC techniques, etc., is 100% effective at real life street situations, where there is no cage, rules, referee, 1 on 1, or clock. Confronting Aikido vs MMA is pointless, normal people walking out there on the streets, are not MMA fighters, boxers, krav maga experts. Instead Real bad people use weapons, not their hands or feet, it is a matter of a few seconds and everything goes south at 200 mph. So I would suggest studying lots of real life confrontation incidents recorded by security cameras, looking to understand how our preferred Martial Art fits in to prevent or prevail on those situations, and then adapt, evolve and practice a lot. Peace and respect.
Why not just train Krav Maga, defendo, kajukenbo, hapkido etc. when looking for a harder style? It confuses me why there is this need to keep the “street stuff” under the aikido umbrella when aikido is very much established as a soft art. If you make it harder don’t you end back up with aikijujutsu?
Great experience. keep going. However i think that the power of the "modern" martial arts reside more in their training methods than in their techniques by themself. In this (again very positive exchange) you experiment new techniques, but i'm afraid that the training method used is too similar to the classical training method in Aïkido to really make a difference. You must add a kind of pressure test in the mix, a kind of drills training to automate certain kinds of movements in your body. I regret i didn't see this kind of things in your video. But again a big up for your work and your spirit.
I would add that the very fact that you seem to learn very quickly what Lenny teaches you proves that you use the same neuronal connections that you use in your régular aikido training though you experiment new techniques. You are not getting out of your confort zone, you are not creating new connections in your brain. Maybe you should try to see the techniques you usually use with modified training methods. Techniques learning represents maybe 1/3 of a BJJ course. The other parts are drilling and applying on a live resisting partner.
Love the connection between you and Lenny, its been well over due..this represents 'East and West starting to talk, this is the start of some great things...Fantastic Video.Jason.
first one question...what is the experience of lenny in Mma? or in other combat sports?
second....lenny said to you in this video to enter.... to go inside the atack... i told you this so many times in my comments ... in your mma fight video you never entered.... butt you just respond to comments that do not criticize you
Alexandre Francisco
Lenny was a bouncer for many years before opening his own dojo together with Dominic Izzo. They both seperated after that and he open his own which what you saw on this vid.
Alexandre, I do respond to comments that criticize me. Trust me, I receive about 30 comments each day and many times I hear the same things. If you say something that somebody said to me 10 times, do you feel I will feel an importance to respond? I know about irmi, yet sparring is so much more than just that. I am working on it, you can trust me
Thanks Jason! Yes I think so too. Well over due and boundaries getting taken away :)
AikidoSiauliai thanks for your answer.
This is amazing, I'm so happy this happened. This is really good for Aikido
Thanks! I believe so too
So happy to see other people working with Lenny! I love seeing how effective he can apply Aikido to real scenarios!
This is a really dope collab. Its always good to see two different aikido schools showing people that aikido can work on the streets. I've been watching Kenny's videos for a while and gave me a different perspective on Aikido. I was training aikido for 5 years under Haruo Matsuoka Sensei. So now I see both the traditional aspect and the street aspect of Aikido.
This video is all i was hoping for. Thank you both for doing this for all of us.
Thanks. I'm very happy this happened too
Great collaboration. Between Aikidoflow in the UK, Roguewarriors in the US, your channel, Roy Dean, and so many others, you all show Aikido can evolve without loosing its martial principles. So thank you, great project, glad you finally connected with Lenny. Cannot wait to see more. Bravo.
Thanks!
This is a great mesh of two different perspectives meeting in the middle. I've been following both you and Lenny for a long time, implementing both of your teachings to compliment my own movements, body type, etc.
Kudos Sensei Rokas!
Thank you!
Awesome video Rokus. I’ve been following Lenny for a while now and he is definitely the truth. Keep putting out these quality videos buddy.
Thanks. I'm happy you enjoy Lenny's videos. He is very great!
This is a great Vid. I will share this to others. No worries. Let us all help bringing Aikido to the next level.
Thank you! Yes, let us do it everyone together
Dude, this channel and what you're doing here is history in the making.
Very impressive. You picked up Lenny's techniques so quickly. I struggled so much when I started working on his hand deflections. Love this evolution!
Love your journey Rokas! Been watching Lenny Sly for a while. Hope you have more collaborations with Lenny.
Thanks. We are planning to have more!
Thanks so much for this video. This really means a lot
Fantastic video. Good job guys. Very educational and informative.
This is exactly what we needed in the Aikido world! Hopefully this is the beginning of the evolution of Aikido! Thank You gentlemen for the collaboration.👍🏼
Thank you
I love this collaboration! I've always been impressed by the Rogue Warriors people.
Clare Din
Thank you Clair.
Rokas, I lost faith in you at first. But you are proving me wrong. I am looking forward to seeing more of your work. Thank you for putting yourself out there. You have a lot of humility, in a good way.
Thank you David. I am happy to read your words.
Spectacular video! Thank you!
I really appreciate that he acknowledges that strikers will learn your deflection and attempt to set you up with it.
This is such an excellent video on so many levels. I am subscribed to both channels featured here and seeing them together is just plain cool! I respect what you are doing guys!
I'm happy to see a young man such as you and Lenny so deeply involved in the art. I'm an old fart; I've been doing Aikido for over thirty years. In that time, I've seen a once proud martial art gradually devolve into a metaphysical thought exercise. This is wrong. I hope you guys can turn it around!
Been watching both your channels for a long time, I’m suck in the same predicament, Looking to expand my skill set to become more effective when required! Excited to share the journey. Got a lot of love for Lenny, pity he is state side! ( im in the uk). Many thanks to you both for sharing.
Well, I am in Europe as well, yet our circle here is expanding. I am sure we will have something good going in our part of the world soon enough
Great stuff, guys! That was amazing to watch.
I am so glad Lucas took on your teachings, I always liked this guys spirit but he really needed this RAM and entry teaching!
this is a good step in the right direction,ive been watching and talking with lenny for quite a while.i stumbled across your channel and even though i do lennys style i enjoyed your videos.nice job . russ kriehn south coast tenshin aikido
Love both channel, never thought they would collaborate. That was awesome.
This was a good surprise :)
A lot of what I've seen was the discussion of "how to make aikido effective" and very little training
All I know is that you can't argue against the fact that if the MMA guy wanted to he would have defeated you in real. You accept this. Now how does that MMA guy train? SPARRING.
Simply get your buddies, start at a neutral position, maybe you both have hands down, both have hands up, hands touching I don't care. Then try to go for a joint lock, choke, or take down by any means possible that doesn't involve striking. It's real simple. Later on you can include scoring systems and keep track of who wins, maybe you can use this take on aikido in some MMA sparring sessions, so on.
The main problem is there is no pressure fighting. So give pressure
00RIPTOR thank you!
This is great! no flowery techniques just honest practical stuff absolutely love Lenny Sly The Rogue Warrior
I like that. Modernizing aikido by making it viable in real life situations. I hope you get more publicity because you deserve it.
Thanks
Please become the pioneer of Modernized Aikido. It’s a good level up that will benefit the community.
I love where this is going. Nice job!
You got to love this guys teachings. People in his school are so fortunate.
You're awesome dude! It's all about being practical. I think every martial art has some flaws and some non practical stuff. If you really want to be practical and not care about belts and not care about a certain art but be open to everything that's how you get great and that's what I see from you. You have your. Aikido base but you make it real.. love it!
I absolutely love (as an mma/grappling guy) that you're actively searching for new ways to train and expand your knowledge on martial arts! But I still see a fundamental flaw in your method: starting from a standing position (no movement) and basically with a partner without much experience on striking, which admittedly is only a minor flaw. Standing instead of moving around removes most possible angles that the attack can come from, apart from that one you're standing in.
Keep working your art, I believe the mma community has a lot to learn from you :)
Nice you found someone i recommend a long time ago in your comments about a year ago. . This is going to be great. In my option one of the best Aikido guys out there..
Rokas, I practice and teach aikido here in the United States and I've watched a number of your videos and I'm a follower of Lenny's channel. It's really great that you two have made a connection with the idea of pushing aikido forward. Lenny does some great, practical stuff and he stated it perfectly in that you don't have to abandon your original aikido ideals, it's a matter of making adjustments and evolving. There is plenty of opportunity to take control and subdue in a real situation with the proper training and what Lenny teaches allows that. Kudos to you for making such a step.
Thank you Keith! It's always great to see and agreed upon the same picture
I feel like i'm witnessing something new and important happening here and i'm very excited to see how this develops!
More of this and i'm moving to join you guys ;) Thanks!
Yes, I feel it is something important growing too :) Thanks
I also welcome the coop with Lenny. Internet is such a great connector ... (so yes, I want to see more like this please)
Awesome!! Keep seeking knowledge!! Those who seek shall find.
we're all one in aikido... my respect to all of you!
ohh man! This is pure gold! I appreciate that you guys did this Live - considering that you are in opposite sides of the globe. Congrats Rokas!
This was strangely moving... 'Execute..': what a word...! The Robespierre of aikido..? The general public may not realize this yet, but this video marks a major change in the field of aikido online, at the very least, in the English-speaking world. I made an extensive critique of the field and I truly believe you / we have crossed a major line. This is a historic moment. I would use slightly different words from either of you, but, you know what, I'm still very proud of what you guys have accomplished. Please accept my greetings and gratitude from New Zealand..! Three cheers to the evolution of aikido..! Hip hip...
+Keni Lynch Thanks. Inspiring comment
Awesome I've watched both of you for awhile! My son and I had our dojo close! There aren't any more within 150 miles I've continued trying to teach my son and have used both of your videos for training!!
THANK YOU-- finally some TRUTH in Aikido.. and how to make it WORK-- this man KNOWS>. and can TEACH it-- Not many can do both well.
I like what you are doing, martial arts as a science that learns from sharing and experimentation--thanx...
It was really nice seeing Lenny in a less belligerent light. You could really tell this meant something to him, and how eager he was to demonstrate how to go beyond ironclad Aikido techniques and apply its principles to deal with "real" fighting. And at the same time, how respectful of his martial art's protocols he is in spite of denigrating "tea ceremonies and floral arrangement bullshit".
But I wanted to note. Lennys philosophy on real combat is spot on and I commend his efforts to create as effective a system as possible.
Well done! I love this collaboration.
Just wanted to say that this video is fantastic , I'm a complete beginner in aikido ( I started like , 6 months ago ) and it's your channel that made me want to do aikido so thank you , and keep up the good work ! =D
Thank you! I am very happy to here this :)
Good work, Rokas!
Thanks
Oh yeh ! finally a colaborstion with rogue, love it keep up the good work i hop if i see a video sparing with rogue & an MMA fighter oss
Like your spirit to modernize aikido. Something that me myself am trying to modernize my karate. Oss!
Thanks! All the best in your journey
Good job man. You picked it up quick cuz you already understand Aikido principles/techniques since you've been training for while. I am the same way if I go to a different dojo; I open my mind and assume someone is going to teach me something new.You can tell Lenny actually fights or does boxing cuz he has a broken nose. hehe
Awsome. I dont know if it was my fist of my previous comment on your summery video that let you to Lenny Sly or if you knew about him before that. Either way this is like a dream coming true where masters share their knowledge and improve together on it :D. Instead of competing or point fingers at how bad someone is in comparison to themselfes or other styles like BJJ or MMA ect. There is always more than 1 potential solution to 1 problem so why not explore that :D?
I look forward to see more of you and Lenny Sly training if you share more of this. Many times thanks you.
Thanks! This was an idea for a while now, but of course every comment puts more weight into doing it.
I really enjoyed the positive nature and potential of this video as well! We are looking and making more videos together :)
And yes, if all is OK I will release a full version of this video too
Awesome cant wait :P.
Good idea. Maybe you can create and demonstrate Aikido counter tactic against gap-closers and takedowns from BJJ fx. Those are the greatest threats against all striking or standing arts out there. The art of staying on your feet against a skilled BJJ opponent. Solve that and change the world of Aikido. Good luck :D.
The thing is you need to compete to find out what works and what doesn't. The easiest way to be ready for a real fight is to really fight. This is what professional MMA guys do. It isn't just about ego, or about my technique being better than yours. It's about testing to see what works and throwing everything else away. The most efficent path to sucess= the best path.
This is fucking AWESOME
This is great guys. I would love to see you come together again for more videos.
+Junebug Presents Thanks. We are looking into it
Yes that is new aikido. Thanks for the video. I'm happy to see this. :-)
This is great. You two are the future of aikido My recommendation is get someone who can punch with better form to add to the validity of the technique. More videos please!
Very commendable approach. I think this should be done in all styles, all the time. It's like upgradeing the software. You do not want to remain with an obsolete version. A style is not set in stone, EACH style when they appeared were innovation. This has to be kept. You have a set of tehniques, you test them against opponents, refine them until they work, and teach them, let a wide audience test it (just like alpha and beta versions a software), then collect the feedback and probably the next generation(because this take many years and you get old) has to take over and start the innovation process once again
Agreed
Nice concept. You should also work with Aikidoflow and Dan from Catchjitsu. Dan has some video of him competing in MMA and using Aikido techniques as well as similar drills to what Lenny was showing you. And Aikidoflow has some great stuff and they really put in the work to test against resistance.
Awesome Rokas. Next try those in mma gym. I look forward it... we all do
Thanks. Exactly, that is what I am planning to do :) Hopefully this weekend
Reverting aikido back to jujitsu
Wrong aikido and jujitsu derive techniques from judo it would be aikido deriving back to judo
@@thebigbadwolf904 jujitsu came first. Judo and aikido are derived from japanese jujitsu. Kano and Ueshiba both came from jujitsu backgrounds. Both removed the more brutal and dangerous techniques in order to modernize it and make it safer to practice.
In the book "The Art of Peace" translated by John Stevens. On page 49 (depending on your version) Morihei Ueshiba says: "Even though our path is completely different from the warrior arts of the past, it is not necessary to abandon totally the old ways. Absorb venerable traditions into this new Art by clothing them with fresh garments, and build on the classic styles to create better forms." I believe he was a true master of human mechanics and understood more than most, that a fighters ability isn't limited to just their knowledge of techniques but also their ability to adapt these techniques and blend them with new ones to meet an ever changing environment / world. In my opinion the true nature of Aikido can be found on page 95, speaking on never attacking... The meaning being that in Aikido we respond or defend / deflect and do not initiate attacking others. Not that we do not fight back, or that we shouldn't. I think what you and your fellow Aikido / MMA practitioners are doing is great and I look forward to seeing you recognized in the future as one of the founders of a modernized competitive form of Aikido in the fighting / martial world.
Love peace and harmony sh*t.
Love it.
First thing to do if you wanna modernize something like aikido is to start training in full contact situations, because during that first punch, most attackers will either A have their second punch already comming at you even before the first one is landing, or B having their other arm up as a defence. and this is if you are fighting a untrained person
I agree. My Sensei Stephen believes Aikido should evolve and O Sensei believe that as long as we continue the circular movement, it remains Aikido...I'm down with the modernization of Aikido. sign me up...
I am loving all your videos and commend your journey. I can tell you without any hesitation that all these techniques will fail horrendously. They fall apart as soon as your opponent punches kicks or grapples in any unanticipated speed, angle or feints.
Continue your learning my friend!
Lenny teaches real effective Aikido. Nothing weak or passive like many Dojos.
Fantastic.
Seeing this vs. seeing your recent development by 2018, one thing you may have forgotten from this experience is really the difference between ringsport and self-defense. Surely, Aikido can benefit to be modified to work in a realistic self-defense situation. But when you tried and failed to adapt it to a ringsport setting, maybe you took it too far as a sign that Aikido failed you when in fact it just wasn't the right context to make Aikido workable. Like Lenny said, you're not in a situation where your facing someone in a sporting contest where you're protecting yourself at all times. The difference between MMA and self-defense can't be stressed enough, even when many enthusiasts tend to simplify that being good at one means being good at the other. Unfortunately, self-defense isn't something you can isolate into a competitive environment like an sparring session. The very moment you turn it into a contest where the objective is to win under a set of rules, it is no longer self-defense. I think it's important that you make this distinction as you move away from Aikido to learn the basics in other more sporting forms of martial arts.
Wow, Lenny almost made it through this video without cursing! I do like his videos for they are very insightful, but can’t show them to our younger students and my instructor doesn’t like his over-the-top vulgar attitude...but he definitely cleaned up his act for this one...for the most part, any way! Keep up the great work Rokas, this is great stuff you are doing!
Totally agree about accessibility for younger students but swearing and aggressive posturing are part and parcel of street confrontations.
It's used to instil fear.
If you can't cope with that, you will neither be able to explore de-escalation options or manage an actual physical confrontation.
Our Soke, who is Japanese and has trained in Koryu JJ for about 60 years, has always said that the lower hand position 'in defence' rather than raising them like boxing etc. is because traditionally they were then close to your weapons, being the katana/wakazashi etc. - it does stand true though, that as RW say, nobody walks around the 'street' with their hands up all the time either :) Never come across the RAM concept directly but from the perspective of how your arms and hands move from around waist height up to the incoming punch etc., you can intercept timing better.
Great stuff and a bold quest. Very well done. Aikido is brilliant, but it would be wrong to think it can compete with other arts in competition when it is so specialised i.e. perfect for pre-fight situations where you're in a grabbing scenario. Rogue guy seems to be adapting it to more scenarios with good results and I'd look to the BJJ template for establishing a new way of training it i.e. building resistance and use 'position before submission' principle, working from an aikido 'clinch', perhaps borrowing from Judo to establish types of clinch/grabs. Of course, work a hypothesis developed as you're doing now, test against a variety of fighting types, then back to the drawing board...theory>test>modify theory loop.
You in full Aikikai mode. Welcome to Tenshin Aikido. I dare to think it might be what you are looking for.
As always, really excited for these. Do you think you could collab with fighttips? Also, PhilUp has a wing chun channel, a collab with him would be awesome.
Hi Makoto! I will look into collaborating with them :)
One thing I use when playing around with techniques is counting. You know when people do demos where they hit hit hit hit and hit and the other person stay frozen for the entire demo?
In my experience a good rule of thumb is counting, when you do drills you should be counting "1 move" against their "1 move", so, you are trying to outwit your opponent. What I want to achieve with that is to understand if my technique rely on my opponent idling or if he has a good reason to "let" me do my thing. If I can perform more than 1 move expecting the opponent to not have his "turn", there are two conclusions
1 - they have a reason not to react, meaning I performed some kind of check mate where there is no movement available for my opponent, or at least, the move that would rid him of my move
2 - I might be over expecting my move
For instance, 6:29, the hand deflection is ok, but you really need to meditate on why would you be able to reach the choking position, as he said, people used to fights often make decisions on the fly, and it is improbable that he will let you get this close to his neck/face. I am not saying that it doesn´t work, but since the counting does not favor you, it means that you need to set it up very very well or your advance might be resisted (sometimes with a fist to the face, been there, done that).
I know this rule of thumb is a little defective, there are reasons why I should be able to do more than 1 move against my opponent, for instance, I might be faster, the other person might have never seem it and takes a while to respond, but counting on that is not counting on the effectiveness of the technique, it relies on physical prowess or catching a beginner, not what I want to do.
Specifically with this move, checkmates available to you can be but are not limited to: realizing he loses his balance when throwing his right hand, him taking too much time retrieving his right hand after the punch, you throwing him off balance while you get in, he got stuck in a corner of the ring/place you are fighting, you analyzing his style on the fly and being able to "predict" when he throws the right hand, giving him the impression that you ate a count and moved with super speed
As always, I am sorry for the size of the comment
How to make aikido effective - go and take wrestling, judo, sambo or jiu jitsu classes and then go back to your aikido class and forget everything you have learned from aikido lessons and just use all the stuff you learned, drilled and sparred in the useful grappling disciplines. Now aikido is actually useful!!
I always thought these were “normal” Aikido techniques. My Sensei has always been for practical Aikido and so I always assumed that these types of techniques were taught in most dojos and I didn’t really understand why so many people say that Aikido is useless or ineffective. Just curious about how everybody else sees these and what they think about them.
Let’s not forget too that O Sensei had some very effective and powerful techniques, so Aikido can still be about peace, unification and love even with powerful and strong techniques. Also, in my opinion removing meditation from Aikido and minimizing the importance of ceremonies like the tea ceremonies eliminates the entire spiritual side of what O Sensei intended the Art to be. Granted, O Sensei was not a god and even he could be wrong, but if one was to study his works and his life they would surely see the importance of the spiritual dimension in Aikido alongside the very powerful and even painful techniques.
Seems to me this is still pretty much just compliant training or at most just repetitive drills. To show that this works it would need to be done in a live sparring session.
Im pretty sure he will do it later.
Valentin is right. This is just one step, looking at Aikido from a developed, yet different angle. There will be much more than just this video
I hope so. Otherwise it doesn´t really mean anything.
Trust me :) I'm already doing much more than the videos show. I'll share it in videos as well in future
Good. I think you should do some Judo too because in many ways it is more similar to Aikido than BJJ is, since Judo is mostly about throws and pins and short groundwork, while BJJ is more about longer fights on the ground.
I'm a judo teacher, once I had a student from aikido he is black belt quite good, when free sparring I always saw him using some kind of hand locks( it's illegal in judo but we let students be more free in our gym out of the comp rules), those hand locks always come on the beginning of the kumi kata, so I think one thing aikido might can merge with bjj or judo is how to block and intercept grips with some hand locks，I really think the aikido community should merge with bjj and judo making this whole thing rich.
Awesome stuff
Glad to hear you like it
I LOVE THIS-- FINALLY- Aikido is FREED from the BULLSHIT of " peace and harmony" meaning you don't HURT the guy.. it DOESN"T.
Great video. My comments may not be relevant any more as this is an older video, however the only (but necessarily bad) thing I have to say is that Rokas - who is an exceptionally kind person - is not aggressive enough. I know he gave up Aikido for a while to go get some experience with live training in other martial arts, e.g. BJJ, to pressure test his aikido skills, so I hope when he returns to Aikdio (if he hasn't already) he will be more assertive and forceful in his approach to training. One thing I love about the "hard styles" of Aikido such as Tenshin is the dynamic and vigorous, almost brutal, way the techniques are executed. The soft approach to self-defence and fighting just doesn't work. Being too nice and passive, which seems to be encouraged in the softer styles of aikido, can get you killed.
My fellow aikidokas, just keep practice. Don't get too be influenced by any other martial arts practitioners or any bad comments. They do their bussiness, we do ours. Don't worry about it. Every martial arts is good purpose, it just the person that can make it not good. Keep it up ! (sorry for my english)
didier bembozz
Aikido need to evolve into a more realistic, combative and Innovative approach to fit into this era. I myself is a 1st dan black belt in Aikido, Judo and Daijo Juku Karate. Im also a purple belt in BJJ.
Alex Corsair I agree to you too
Aikido's approach to "keep it to ourselves" is actually what limits it. Do not leave Aikido for other martial arts, yet my approach is: allow other martial arts and comments to influence you. If we do not receive influence from outside or critique, how will we ever know what we could improve?
AikidoSiauliai
True brother.
But that´s not what Rokas wants to do. He is exploring how to evolve Aikido into being more effective. Trying other martial arts and seeing how they blend together. I applaud him for it. In the bigger picture, the cultures that were ready to learn from other cultures, instead of just "doing their thing" were generally the ones that would evolve and improve the most. Many martial arts have benefited from learning from other arts. BJJ for example took a lot of takedowns from wrestling and leglocks from Sambo etc. Why shouldn´t Aikido do it too?
Great video!!! I think you should collaborate once a month with Lenny.
Kinda reminds me of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu in the BJJ world. This guy is like the Eddie Bravo of the Aikido world lol
LOL... 14:30 "I'm not saying that what I do is better than everbody else's but I'm gonna say this, I have things that are WAY better than what everybody else is doing." - Rogue Warrior
Lenny Sly the best in the business we're working on getting him into a Roadhouse movie he'd be great in it Roadhouse 2 starring Lenny Sly and company hey Lenny since I'm pushing for this Roadhouse 2 don't forget to give me a part of the movie Lenny I'm smart talented animated quick-witted tough good sense of humor and I like the camera something very important in show business and boy what a show this would be a box office hit
I see a lot of yoseikan budo Aikido which is different than what is known as traditional Aikido. I want to see more and keep an open mind. I'll be watching out!
the problem imo is your partber isnt really trying to punch you he is pumching mext to your face thst way you will never learn
Actually my partner was going for it. Specially one of them. It's just the same strike, which makes it easier to work with
I agree ,It looks like he punching to one side of your head, and beginning to move more to one side the more practice went on. Once your used to it, put the attacker in boxing gloves, and you wear a head guard, that way both od you will benefit. At the end of the day none of us want to hurt our partners.
It is still a dog and pony show since when confronted on the streets you have multiple angles of attack to worry about. I think you are going backwards instead of forwards with your videos in the this episode.
adobePC
Actually I think you have no idea what is being taught here. So how about you shut the fuck up and make your own video and put it on RUclips for the whole world to criticize. I bet you don't have the balls to do it do you. There's this saying.... Don't let anyone tell you what to do especially when their doing nothing. So make a video or keep your bullshit inexperienced comments off of this post.
I could start by making video of myself kicking the crap out of you. How does that sound?
This..this is the aikido that is needed, in order to actually call aikido self defense. Been training aikido for almost 9 years now, and the style os just flooded with to much basic and fluff, that really has no place in a dojo, that claims it is teaching self defense.
My dojo is all about the teachings of Saito sensei, and I am sure he was very skilled, but has a way to big focus on doing basic techniques and techniques that obviously would never work, mostly because the attack is either completely ridiculous or the techniques itself is just flawed.
The problem is that this is almost a taboo, and not just in my dojo, but in the aikido world in general.
Aikido can be so much more, but it needs to start moving forward. The work you guys are doing, is just what is needed, so keep it up :-).
Man, sorry for my others comments. Keep going!
(I was actually kind-of waiting for Rogue Warriors to enter the fray/discussion - I wasn't sure if I should suggest it and/or wasn't sure my voice would be heard if I did)
That's because Batman always puts on his Clark Kent disguise before he enters a room you're currently occupying #Bazinga
Saludos desde Argentina. Tuve dos sensei distintos, uno enseñaba aikido tradicional y el otro muy similar a lo que dicen ustedes y la verdad es bueno mezclar un poco lo tradicional con lo q pasa en el mundo real
Hi, nice video. Before all, best regards. Now, my humble opinion is, that there is no silver bullet to solve all the challenges the life presents to all of us. I think that martial arts are like tools, you need to implement the right one, at the right time, on the right problem. You do not use a scalpel to cut the grass at your front yard. Aikido es great for solving minor issues in a kind of pacific way. It is a preemptive tool. Every big fire starts with a spark, a match, a cigarette, you only need to step on it to finish the matter. On the same way you do not finish a fly with a bazooka. That been said, nor MMA, UFC techniques, etc., is 100% effective at real life street situations, where there is no cage, rules, referee, 1 on 1, or clock. Confronting Aikido vs MMA is pointless, normal people walking out there on the streets, are not MMA fighters, boxers, krav maga experts. Instead Real bad people use weapons, not their hands or feet, it is a matter of a few seconds and everything goes south at 200 mph. So I would suggest studying lots of real life confrontation incidents recorded by security cameras, looking to understand how our preferred Martial Art fits in to prevent or prevail on those situations, and then adapt, evolve and practice a lot. Peace and respect.
Why not just train Krav Maga, defendo, kajukenbo, hapkido etc. when looking for a harder style? It confuses me why there is this need to keep the “street stuff” under the aikido umbrella when aikido is very much established as a soft art. If you make it harder don’t you end back up with aikijujutsu?
Johnny Varila Breaking a joint is more devastating than getting punched.
Oh yea, here we go. :D:D:D
Great experience. keep going. However i think that the power of the "modern" martial arts reside more in their training methods than in their techniques by themself. In this (again very positive exchange) you experiment new techniques, but i'm afraid that the training method used is too similar to the classical training method in Aïkido to really make a difference. You must add a kind of pressure test in the mix, a kind of drills training to automate certain kinds of movements in your body. I regret i didn't see this kind of things in your video. But again a big up for your work and your spirit.
I agree with what you say, that is also where I look at the more I am studying this subject
I would add that the very fact that you seem to learn very quickly what Lenny teaches you proves that you use the same neuronal connections that you use in your régular aikido training though you experiment new techniques. You are not getting out of your confort zone, you are not creating new connections in your brain. Maybe you should try to see the techniques you usually use with modified training methods. Techniques learning represents maybe 1/3 of a BJJ course. The other parts are drilling and applying on a live resisting partner.
I see potential