Fake Martial Arts Master vs Pro Fighter
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- After doing Aikido for 13 years I decided to try it out against a pro MMA fighter.
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Welcome to the Martial Arts Journey RUclips channel!
My name is Rokas. I'm a Lithuanian guy who trained Aikido for 14 years, 7 of them running a professional Aikido Dojo until eventually I realized that Aikido does not live up to what it promises.
Lead by this realization I decided to make a daring step to close my Aikido Dojo and move to Portland, Oregon for six months to start training MMA at the famous Straight Blast Gym Headquarters under head coach Matt Thornton.
After six months intensive training I had my first amateur MMA fight after which I moved back to Lithuania. During all of this time I am documenting my experience through my RUclips channel called "Martial Arts Journey".
Now I am slowly setting up plans to continue training MMA under quality guidance and getting ready for my next MMA fight as I further document and share my journey and discoveries.
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If you want to support my journey, you can make a donation to my PayPal at info@rokasleo.com
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Check the video "Aikido vs MMA" which started this whole Martial Arts Journey:
► • Aikido vs MMA - REAL ...
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#mma #martialarts #aikido
It’s awesome to see your journey from being a full aikidoka to an well rounded martial artist, and making aikido useful in some parts. Good on you, Rokas
he studied MMA to make aikido work
@@andrewrex9041you can't make aikido work in a street fight, rokas has been able to become a competent guy in self defense because of his mma training and other combat sports with sparring like bjj and muay thai
@@leoxanxe3420 duh dummy who said it would work in a street fight? you wannabe tough dudes always wanna bring up the streets when in most situations u should just de-escalate it.
@@leoxanxe3420 im training in mma myself and i think anything can work in a fight. You just need a stong base and after that you can train whatever you want and make it useful.
And also i can see ways aikido can help in some situations in the street(not many of them)
Aikido as a supplementary art seems like a good choice. Not as a primary form, but a solid understanding of controlling the opponent seems useful when the situation arises. And thinking of street fights, Less trained opponents making haymakers at you, yea the hand is there go grab it and wrist throw. Zero pressure training is bad but that's why you take classes of something else too.
1:01 " I trained 14 days per week"- Rokas, 2023
What can I say... I'm a talented guy squeezing out 14 days out of 7 😎
Haha. I was about to say that🤭.
As someone who drank from the Aiki Kool Aide, your original video was something I already experienced first hand. Your videos hit the source, prove the point and in a professional manner.
Had the same thing with wing chun. Sparred a boxer and woke up pretty damn quickly. Truth is truth! Have to be honest withourselves and our arts.
@@academyofstreetdance1107It’s all about the perspective. I did both Wing Chun and Aikido and they are both very nice to train, but if you start thinking it’s going to make you a fighting beast you’re lost. And it’s not even because those MAs don’t work. It’s how they are taught. In MMA you learn how to fight and become a sportsman. In MA it’s completely different attitude.
Learning how to fight isn’t the only thing Rokas learned. He learned how to make a proper series and enough tension to hook us viewers to wait and even need to see the next video.
Love your honesty and transparency. After almost 40 years of training martial arts, I have learned that there are basically two groups of people. Those who are truly seeking the truth and those who do not want their world view to be challenged. Keep it up and continue to seek the truth.
I've been following almost the same journey with a little bit of delay, and off camera. Coming from taichi and tried many combat sports to test myself, and faced the same doubts and remarks from my taichi peers. But following your journey just kept me motivated to keep challenging myself and learn the real thing through different combat sports. I don't have access to as many gyms has you but my experience was eye opening as well.
Do you practice Tai Chi Chuan? That’s supposed to be the combative form of Tai Chi after you learn the forms yeah?
@@LairdErnst Taichi is just taichi Chuan for short.
Most people just practice forms for the health benefits and folklore.
But in some places like Chen Village, Taiwan and Malaysia, it's still practiced as a fighting art, with sparring and competition.
Excellent, can't wait to see the next one. It won't be long before you are a Hollywood bigshot making martial art films. You have the talent and vision, keep going👍👍
We néed a New Bruce Lee! Go Rokas... Btw when Rokas mentionnéd His âge..i réalized i am older (by2year!). Yet i thought he was older but ageless
I'm also looking forward to 'the making of' series about this series, plus a 4D remastered version of the original first video on limited edition Blu-ray.
After the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship was over I thought long and hard what content I will release in between season 1 and season 2 of USDC, and that's when the concept of Aikido Quest came about. One of the biggest requests I received on my channel over the years was to deep dive into trying to make Aikido into a functional martial art, and while I was resistant for a long time, I decided that it's finally time to give a shot and to see where this journey will take me.
In order to begin the journey of exploring what functional Aikido would look like, first I decided to recap what happened until now in a series of episodes produced in the highest production quality that I can deliver, and once I will summarize my story to a new audience and refresh the memory of everyone who's been on this ride together with me for a while, I will start pressure testing and evolving my Aikido with other martial arts.
Would it be interesting to see in which instances it could be useful/effective? E.g. against different kinds of opponents? (Someone untrained in combat/ma vs trained in combat).
Training 14 days per week is insane 🤣
Christopher Hein's approach to Aikido seems similar in direction. Another collab in the making? I'm curious to see where the both of you are standing a year later☺️
Just training with real randori (sparring) will do the job.
@@kaanaslim Agreed! But as long as it's empty hands sparring, typical aiki grab and stab defences will rarely get a chance to be shown either.
The ending gave me chills man. Rejected by who you thought was family, and accepted by who was your true family all along.
I just wanted to say thanks Rokas. I've been wanting to do a martial art so I can build up a little confidence and improve my health. I watched your self-defence tier list video today, the one with Icy Mike, and it inspired me to sign up for a local Muay Thai gym, so this is the beginning of my marital arts journey now.
Awesome! Congratulations
You're gonna love it. Muay Thai is great :)
Good luck! Muay Thai is a hard slog but well worth the effort and bruised legs.
I remember watching your video when i was very new to mma, your willingness to go in there and get your ass handed to you in order to reveal the truth was awe inspiring to me. Thanks for being you Rokas, and for advocating for truth in an ironically blind community.
Do you realize you are a shonen main character ?
The physical transformation from old Rokas to new Rokas is inspiring in and of itself.
He was so pretty. 🥲
@@ProfessorShnacktime now he's a badass
Watch all the episodes: ruclips.net/p/PL4FJXg8RNp-nVt9624wqEc9XMR6cSo6je
I'm not a fighter, but I've been keeping an eye on your journey since that epic beginning because it is inspiring.
The real lesson I learnt here was that the same dynamics apply in any other field of expertise: it's very challenging to disprove common myths and demonstrate how things really work.
I've been building a channel and although I get a lot of encouragement I never expected in a 'niche' market, but no matter how hard I try and demonstrate the correct approach to solve problems, people still keep asking me the same old and wrong questions.
It is truly a journey.
🥰 honesty. You are a part of why I started doing aikido again. It's not about which style is the most functional, it is just about being real and having fun
Tadas' takedown was like he's putting a baby in a crib.
No slam at all. Pretty funny.
Very nice of him 😊 I think he was the Aikido expert at that moment 😁
Man I remember when that video came out.
What you did before and after it happened is absolutely inspiring.
I wish to be an MMA fighter while also in pursuit to learn Japanese Jujutsu, Judo, and Aikido ☺️.
the master of anticipation sheesh whole video was an intro for a future video lmao
Haha 😂
As someone who is currently learning aikido, I very much appreciate your honest approach. I'm under no illusions about its effectiveness in many situations but I don't have many options to train things where I live. Something is better than nothing and it's a great place to start martial arts as someone who isn't exactly a young man anymore. I'm hoping to round it out with some kick boxing at some point, too.
I would say that I think you're often much too harsh on your past. It's important to know that you are where you are precisely because of the past you chose. You might not be anywhere near as open-minded now had you not dedicated so much time to something and tested its flaws. That is incredibly humbling but also some of the absolute best wisdom someone can obtain. Nothing is wasted if you learned something from it.
That said, I love your aikido videos. I've used a few to help me practice some things! Especially mae ukemi! I look forward to your future videos. Thank you so much!
You know, that is the truth of things for so many of us. I was learning Judo in Japan and wanted to continue, but when my father was stationed in the States, my particular location was limited mainly to Taekwondo. Sometimes you just use what you have and the choices aren't there. And yes, thinking you can learn via a video isn't the same. You need an instructor with the knowledge and partners who share your goals.
As an MMA guy I like this vid no joke...... btw all the mma fighters are not bloodthirsty xD
Just realized you are the same guy who was from the first Aikido vs MMA, big character growth!
This was very important for people to see. Especially those in the Aikido community who don't realize they're training an art that's been heavily abstracted. Can't expect to take on a trained fighter with kata. Traditional Aikido doesn't show any realistic attacks or any realistic entry points into its moves, but the moves themselves are actually grounded in a true understanding of anatomy. Steven Seagal's hand deflections were a game changer for Aikido. Have you ever considered seeking him out? Or continuing talks with Lenny Sly? I don't think Aikido is hopeless, but it needs to be translated and updated. Going back to its Daito-ryu roots might also prove worthwhile.
This is my understanding too. Aikido/Aikijutsu does have its roots in actual Samurai combat but as time has passed and art has stopped seeing real life "stress testing" it has become more like a dance than a proper martial arts. But the basics are there and could be incorporated back into something actually functional, something before it got watered down and what was actually used by soldiers back in the day to preserve their lives if their main melee weapon was lost in the heat of battle.
@MaaZeus Yep. You've got it right. Post war Japan frowned heavily on killing arts. They changed a lot of it into safer variants like Judo, or abstracted kata like Aikidio. Even Aikijutsu went the same route. Luckily, enough was preserved for people to translate it and bring it back. With pressure testing and sparring based modifications, I can easily see this being excellent self defense. Not so much sport fighting due to the rule set, but definitely self-defense
I was one of those MMA people that found that video a few days after you published it. I cant believe it's been six years already! Cant wait for USDC2 btw!!
You worked out 14 days per week?!? LOL Great video as usual Sir!
think he means twice a day, those intensive aikido programs have you doing a morning and afternoon/evening session.
I'll write a book one day how to train 14 days per week 😂
@@MartialArtsJourney LOL well man, I don't think those years doing Akido were a waste. We love the person you have become, and you would not be this person if you did not do what you did!
It takes serious courage to step outside of your comfort zone and put your skills to the test. Your journey is quite inspirational.
You have a lot of main character energy, your journey is very interesting and inspiring. I cannot wait to see where it will go from here. Your journey can be adapted into a light novel or a show. Cant wait to see where it will go 🙏
I´ve been following your channel since it was named aikido jurney, I bet that was a defining moment in your life, but what came out afther that it´s so much better looking forward to what you bring next.
Man, I already love this new series. I'm so glad you made that video. The world needed (and still needs that). My admiration and respect.
Love your videos so much Rokas. As someone who's been doing Judo/Jiujitsu/Kickboxing for about 10 years, I've had a lot of friends that were in martial arts "cults" that thought things like aikido or tai chi were effective in real life situations. You may be the only one I've seen that was willing to test it for real, and for that, i have nothing but incredible respect. You went out, got your butt kicked, and became better. Much love and support❤
I practiced Aikido for more than 10 years, became 2nd dan black belt then left when I simply could not stand it anymore. I was in my late twenties, everyone considered me a fighter because I had a black belt in Aikido, still deep inside I knew I would not have stood a chance in a five minutes sparring session in any combat sport. This feeling brought me to some sort of imposter syndrome until I could not go on anymore. The politics of our organization (affiliating to some distant dojos affiliated with more distant dojos in Japan and paying incredible amounts of money to get graduated by some old master who came to us once in a blue moon to show you super slow techniques and collect his cash) were the final nail on the coffin.
I left martial arts for 10 years, I dedicated myself to other things and other passions. At 40 years of age, to give a change to my daily routine, I started BJJ. I'm 43 now and a blue belt in BJJ and man, that's hard, but that's the best decision I could have taken. I salute your journey and I think you are an inspiration for many out there. Keep learning, keep growing, keep enjoying and making friends along the road.
All the best to you.
hallo. I think Aikido is not concepted for Sparring. But i think in a real Selfdefense Situation it can be work. But the most important thing is that you must learn hard Atemi Techniques. After that you can use your Aikido Skills when the opponement damaged. Sorry for my English Skills. :)
I feel that what you did and continue to do is absolutely necessary. Many people benefit from your thought experiments and honesty. So many people turn to martial arts to better protect themselves and you’ve shown vulnerability that all those people share, doubts they have, and created a path for them to seek the skill and confidence to walk taller in life. You and Sensei Seth dabbling in the conventional and unconventional show us where the truth and the deception lies in various arts as well as clearing up misconceptions. You took it to a new level with the Self Defense Championship! Great work and thank you!
I'm Aikido practitioner but I know Aikido using Aikikai techniques wouldn't work in a fight. But I tried to pressure test it often to make some adjustments and modification. Unfortunately pressure testing really frowned in most of Aikido community. Fortunately I have an open minded Sensei who never scold me of Dojo or Gym hopping I did. When he knows that I start doing BJJ and MMA training he's quite supportive on it.
I started aikido some years ago after 30 years kickboxing and several injuries aikido is not an easy martial art i'v got some new skills I did not had like falling. Ok it's not the most effective martial art.. but i dont have headaches anymore. Last year I've got my first degree black belt I am thing about starting wado ryu karate on my 60 birthday and the end of the year 😁. Keep moving guys
Truth is of paramount importance for every foundation. I'm glad you found this more important than self-indulgence. Keep up the good work.
Not going to lie, I only came to your channel originally for the Self Defense Championship. But I like what you are doing, keep it up!
just a simple question. What about street fights? Like use aikido skills to sent someone dangerous to a ground full of glass or throw him from off stairs? I mean its useless once two people deploy their fighting potential( fists up and their guard raised) but what about caught of guard tactics?
It's good to see that you're working towards making your Aikido functional.
Good job Rokas.
Nice idea to look back on your journey and explaining it fully. Seeing how you used aikido during the USDC in an effective way, i'm pretty sure that now that you have aquired some reals skills in figthing sports, your aikido and how to use it in real figth will shine. To my limited knowledge, none of the pro figther i'm aware of have an extensive background in aikido, so maybe you could be the first.
Rokas, you need to get together and spar with this MMA fighter again. Hopefully that’s in the works and this is just a teaser for that rematch ;)
You have put some beef on since that mma vs video lad.
It’s an inspiration to see have much you have grown since that video. You still remain humble and unassuming but you do seem to have a greater confidence.
It takes a lot to step out of your comfort zone and truly test your skill. I'm sure your martial arts has improved greatly as you have made it your own. Much respect.
Oh look, it's another documentary!!! This time about Rocas! You really fell for this Style and I like it a lot^^
Dang i totally misunderstood that video. Props to you for being an honest bad ass.
Are you still planning to spar Tadas again sometime? I remember seeing in a vid a while back if you got over a certain amount of subs that you’d do a rematch (which you did). Amazing journey, love seeing your progress 😊
Definitely!
Yeas! 😃❤️ More in depth personal martial journey stuff! I love it!
Man, your editing is getting really legit Rokas! Love this new series.
Huge balls Rokas.
Total respect to you for facing sheer danger in the name of truth. 💪👍
The complete origin story! Super excited!
OMG Rokas! What is wrong with you? Banget after banger? Damn, man. Keep this up and that 1M plaque is coming soon
🙏
Good journey Rokas. You've gone so far and achieved a lot. By the way this guy by the name 'iastd' still stucked in his delusional realm, talking smack about you on other thread. Lol!
Haters gonna hate 😎 There are plenty of irrational crazy people
Ok that's amazing! Thabks for the work!
honesty is one of the most important things in my life.
especialy honesty to myself.
Very nice and insiteful video.
Damn, this makes me feel old. I've been an on and off viewer since the first mma video.
I've earnestly been interested in your progression. I'm just a basic bjj guy who ran a uni bjj group, we did a friendly mma sparring session on Saturdays and seen a few traditional guys get humbled.
I'm happy you took the experience well, better then some of the guys i sparred.
I remember giving you a grappling tip in the comments about gift wrap position but you said you didn't feel confident.
If you read this, I'm telling you, start to play with Gift Wraps, Dagestani Handcuffs and Hammerlocks. They legit worked against me when I rolled with an akido guy/bjj blue belt, his grip strength and wrist control from Akido really helped him get those position's.
Your transformation to a full pledged fighter was amazing. You questioned the dogma, explored around and learn real fighting, but also manage to at least make an attempt to preserve the art that you've loved for so long. The way you went so deep outside of the comfort zone and came out on top? Willing to risk deep connections and entire communities for the search of the truth? That's about as manly and as much of a warrior as you can get, and I hope I can get there myself.
It really is inspiring. All the achievements and opportunities within the Aikido community at hand, but in the end... what really matters is the art itself.
What you can do with it, and what you can do *for* it.
Rokas is the kind of martial artist that makes martial arts good.
Waow, Inspiring TRUE story!
But with objectivity did you win more that you lost doing this? As all your conferences and business were canceled?
In the long run I won more. I rediscovered myself, found a new skillset and developed a new profession as a result :)
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Hey Rokas, been here since that first sparring video. To follow your Martial Arts Journey always has been entertaining and inspirational. With your fighting skills also your editing and story telling skills increased. Can't wait to see what you pull up next. Are you planning on doing another MMA fight? I'm pretty sure you'd win this time.
Having another fight is on my list :)
I think the term self defense is incredibly broad and goes well beyond the brawl. It begins with avoidance and escape. I think the pressure testing helped remove your flinch response and you definitely were able to use Aikido techniques in conjunction with your Mixed Martial Arts background by the time of Season 1 of your SMASH RUclips HIT. I think Aikido fundamentals are great, but too many get stuck on formalities, perfect techniques, complaint partners and never testing themselves under duress. Years ago, I knew only 1 Aikido technique, which was a modified Kotegaeshi. I did it one time in a live sparring against an acquaintance that was a green belt in Taekwon-Do. I thought for years that getting the person to actually have their feet leave the ground during the wrist turn was impossible and only something done by compliant uke. But his feet actually left the ground when I twisted. He got up and said something to the effect of "The hell was that???" I said something like "Ever see On Deadly Ground?"
I think he was more surprised that I threw him during a Taekwon-Do match...
Element of surprise!!😂
sometimes the fall aren't compliant, been there myself 😂
Sir can u try shorinji kempo
I personally love that you did this rokas. Very honest and very accountable. ❤❤ keep on grinding
I was saying that already, but if you upload 600 more videos, I will keep saying it at least 600 times: this ist the most honest channel for Martial Arts, I ever found. OK, until I found out about all the other channels from your USDC-bunch. But as a former Aikido-student (not as intensivly committed as you were) I feel you so much. And your transformation is tronsforming myself (as much as so many others). I went back to the roots (of my journey) and startet again with my first MA: Judo. It es so much more fun right now, then in those days.
Great video bro!
It's amazing how many people are disillusioned about MMA.
As a third dan Aikidoka, I am seriously insulted by this..... nah, only kidding. Love the original video, and this is great. I went from being a true believer to studying judo and finding Aikido didn't help me at all!
I think Aikido needs to lean into its strengths, stop pretending to be a great martial art, and be a great movement art.
Keep up the good work!
Aikido is the ultimate. Just like Stephen Seagal style. Its always practitioner fault not style. You failed vs judo practitioner not vs judo. Dans, belts,ranks means nothing. Personal qualities matter.
@@LORDVADER357 I agree that it was me who failed, not the art. Obviously the tools are only as good as the person wielding them. However, surely the fact that I could confidently do Aikido in my Aikido classes, but failed miserably against Judoka in my Judo classes says something about the training, doesn't it?
Or are you saying that a proper Aikido dojo would have trained me better, even though I trained with people who trained with O'Sensei, and even though what we were doing looked a lot like what O'Sensei did?
"MMA fighters are nasty, brutal, blood-thirsty animals..."
MMA fighters: .... Thanks!
I'm still not convinced. I mean, look at Steven Seagal.
You mean his choreographed movies? Or is this humor?
I hope this series will turn into "now that i know how to throw a punch and a kick and block one, can i have another take on aikido technics ?".
As an aikido + boxing practicionner, i've always thought that aikido was a very very advanced martial arts for people that *already* know how to fight, but want to reach to higher concepts ( and you can see that when you look at the resume of all the first students of Ueshiba, who were all of trained already trained in judo, kendo, or ju-jitsu). When you look at what rickson gracie is now teaching in his seminars ("invisible jiu-jitsu"), it looks a lot like aikido teachings.
I remember someone else on the internet discussing just that. The aikido founder took the best of the best, tried and true fighters to teach his concepts. The applications might just be limited precisely because they are advanced techniques.
I wonder if you thought of going to Street beefs at that time... 😅
Unfortunately there's no street beefs in my country
I wanna see you beat Tadas
I have used Aikido successfully in multiple situations but of course I mixed it in with basic boxing/wrestling....
2:30 I think a big part of that is that online, there's a vocal majority of MMA fighters that ARE meatheads. On a BJJ youtube video, I commented on my recent experiences with a Hapkido gym that I hated, with my BJJ gym that I love. One guy replied "Hapkido is irrelevant do BJJ". He didn't even read to the third sentence of the comment, where I said, "I started BJJ."
I recently saw the video on Jeff Chan's channel where he goaded you into using some aikido in some MMA sparring: huge improvement there, by the way! Good use of katagatame and sankyō, in particular; and you managed to pull off a kotegaeshi, too!
That said, the one thing I haven't seen in you testing this out in these sessions is ikkyō: not the whole thing down to the "traditional" pin (which I admit is a weak pin), but just the initial arm sweep and elbow control, thereby opening up the opponent's back to any number of follow-ups. I have found myself hitting it pretty frequently in my own experimentation. See if you can work it in your BJJ sessions, in particular (if you haven't off-camera already); it's aikido, but not obviously so for those not "in the know".
I hope this isn't a spoiler, but, IMHO, Your best video on what Aikido needs was where Oliver Enkamp talked to you about wrestling and explained basically the same idea Rickson Gracie (and his students Henry Akins, and Matt Thronton) call Connection. I figured adding that (and training with pressure testing) was pretty much the whole answer for Aikido. But looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Comparing Aikido to other more combat-oriented martial arts, like MMA, is like comparing a knife to a sword. The sword is a WEAPON and is more effective in combat than a knife. The knife is a TOOL and, while you can also fight or even kill with it, it serves better, and is normally chosen for, other tasks.
I'm glad that you decided to test your skills in humbleness and practicality. If you have been cocky, your video would have ended up on Fight Commentary Breakdown and become a part of "cocky traditional artist lost against MMA fighter" content. Perhaps Aikido was useful in terms of teaching humility?
Colt 1911 45 caliber vs pro fighter. I think the outcome is pretty obvious. Guns, the best form of self defense since the 1700s.
You should def go to try training boxing, try training and sparring with someone who is only an average boxer, 65-75 kg, you don't need more, you should feel a little bit what it is when some boxer punch you seriously, the lightning strikes your to head and body, you will forget all the other nonsense, one are throwing sports and bjj, the second is striking, boxing is the strongest sport, let anyone say what they want, everyone who talks shit about boxing, actually had never experienced it, a sport in which you have to be like lightning, speed, strength, coordination, technique and skill, movement, sense of rhythm, endurance.
Not sure if this every came up, but have you every looked into the history of aikido? It's parent art, Daito Ryu Aikijutsu, was actually quite ruthless and brutal. From my surface understanding, Aikido was meant to be more of a meditative/religious practice more than a true self-defense system, similar to how Tai Chi is with the Chinese martial arts. It took a lot of the nasty techniques from Daito Ryu and essentially nerfed them in order to make it more passive in nature. So I think if you were to really make "aikido techniques" work, you need to look at it's roots for the answers.
I would suggest possibly making a video checking out a legit Daito Ryu Aikijutusu school and comparing it to Aikido. I personally did Hapkido (a korean derivative of Daito Ryu) for many years and we did full contact sparring, drilling and other forms of pressure. Our sparring sessions essentially boiled down to MMA in a dobak; you saw armbars, triangles, and double leg takedowns on the reg, and black eyes and broken noses were not uncommon.
Or you could check out a legit Hapkido school 😁; just make sure it's close to it's Korean lineage as possible, some of the stuff that strays too far from that can definitely be considered bullshito lol
As someone who trained in judo, yoisekan nudo, muai thai and later started with wing chun (don’t ask me why, lol) i think your intention were good but your assumptions deadly wrong: who start a martial art, nowadays, do it mostly for the cultural aspect not to put Gloves on and test themselves, that being said that it mostly depends on the coach, or sifu.
Many i met during my coaching (wing chun) were people who never had a Fight in their Life, never got punched....and wanted to train once a week. MMA means Mixed MARTIAL ARTS, so even Aikido (which i practiced for 2 months....) has some Applications, but you need to be realistic and adapt when you Fight.
You keep repeating something which is not 100% correct Rokas. Aikido can work in a fight , against untrained people or for say subduing a drunk or bully. I am 100% sure you could defeat me with just aikido moves as I have no training except some grade school wrestling. The moves are effective , but if your squared up and ready , near impossible to pull off, I would say that is more accurate.
Sincere question: is getting into it with an MMA fighter, in an MMA context, the same thing as a style "working" or "not working"? I ask this not knowing what exactly aikido promises to deliver, but if we're talking about self defence I would think situational awareness, staying calm, techniques that open up the first opportunity to run, would all be top of the list of priorities. I thought the Ultimate Self-Defence Championship was really good on this (while acknowledging it was won by a top MMA guy!).
Wow. What a nice video. Thank your honesty and work. After watching that first video 6 years ago, I left Aikido for MMA. Never looked back. Looking forward for the whole series!
This is so freaking right xD
I LOVE how humble you were in going through all this.
In fact the same honest motivation to get trial by (gentle) fire and get better drives me, nowadays.
Because once you know your own truth, is so much easier to progress forward!
I'm not an aikidoist but involved in martial arts for over 25 years. I think there's merit in most major martial arts including aikido. It depends on training, the individual, the school/instructor, and recognition that most martial arts were intended for basic self-defense and not combat sports against each other.
“The techniques of kata have their limits and were never intended to be used against an opponent in an arena or on a battlefield” - Choki Motobu
So, approach your martial arts journey whatever way you want. But respect the different arts and why people train.
There are plenty of aikido practitioners who have used aikido effectively in self-defense. There's a gentleman in the UK who does security work especially in bars and has used it effectively countless times. Again, the individual, how they're taught, how they train, etc.
I know I wouldn't want to attempt to lay a hand on people like a Christian Tissier, a Ryuji Shirawaka or a Bruno Gonzalez to name a few.
Hear yea, hear yea! Henceforth, all MMA gyms will be forevermore known as “MMA Dojos.” So let it be written, so let it be done!
To be fair, you don´t only compared aikido vs MMA, you also compared an experiend ring fighter vs an aikido teacher. If you fight the first time in the ring you will fail most of the time against an experiend fighter, no matter what martial art you do. That doesn´t mean aikido is so good, but it explains why you failed so bad. When I was young I trained aikido for a few years (4th kyu), and I never had the feeling that it works really good. So I stopped for about 15 years and did other sports. Now I started with Karate and have a way better feeling about it. Aikido technics are sometimes unnessesary complicated.
You can't expect to perform well against an experienced mma-fighter, with mma rules and gear. You should match an beginner(s) of your own size to see if your aikido practice had any value.
Dude, did you use to do aikido and eventually became disillusioned with it, then eventually crossed over to MMA because of a RUclips video you made where you tried to apply aikido against an MMA fighter and it didn't work? That'll be a great idea to make like a 100 videos talking about that all the time, exposing aikido and stuff, because the general population all think aikido is legit as f*ck.
I'm happy to see your evolution, from simple Rokas and now a more strong Rokas..I can't blame you if they hated you, I think what you can do with your aikido is to modify all the techniques you've learned, for example focusing on more deflection of punches and apply a quick and hard irimi nage..well I'm not an aikidoa either but that technique actually saved me from near death, if you focusing more on grab the arm of your opponent, that is imposible to do, but deflecting redirecting I guess the chance to grab the arm, neck, face or jaw would be possible..
make a shortcut of your techniques in your aikido, and make it quick and harder..try your hardest, like killing a killer in front of you, coz in aikido dojo you never trained that way..
I believe that aikido works, if you shortcut the techniques and make it quick and harder..
you are the one and only aikidoka that can prove the effectiveness of aikido in real death situation..
please don't give up, change the over all look of aikido to become a deadly art..
one of my favorite effective techques I've learned from aikido are the irimi's and those sweep...those techniques are not a joke, they can kill a person in blink of an eye.
because I know nothing in aikido, you have more arsenals "your techniques" to modified.
remove all the fancy movements and go straight for the kill like defending your self from a machete for example..
I'll be more excited to see you progress Rokas..
Great idea. But we see the MMA going so ridiculously easy on you that the test becomes meaningless. Neither MMA was happening nor Aikido. You might as well have fought a 10 year old. But keep up the honesty.
I think Aikido techniques like Wing Chun and Tae Kwon Do will elevate your MMA to a much higher level. Your honesty is refreshing.
Too bad the politics of wing Chun got in the way of you enjoying kung-Fu. You might have done a tad better in your first few MMA matches if you took up Wing Chun/any other striking art and Aikido at the same time. Aikido training seems to be about doing particular moves but not on how to finish a fight OR to submit an opponent. O-Sensei said he only took in students that already knew other martial arts such as Karate, boxing, Judo, etc.
Does your Aikido background help you in MMA for the arm lock? Or did you have to unlearn and learn ju-jitsu techniques instead?
It's always the debate about TMA doesn't work... it not that it doesn't work its because they're not training under pressure or pressure test, and the lack of sparing.
Any TMA can be effective. it just needs to be done in the environment above.
If you've never sparred, of coz you're going to get destroyed.
I will say back then, your aikido was watered down. You didn't know how to fight/ fight IQ zero. But now.... thats why you can make aikido work because of knowing how to fight. The when and the where and the what. Yes, your videos have helped the masses
I always love your honesty and respect that you show all Martial arts. Thanks for you content.
So I have actually followed you do this in real time . I had a very similar path . Got up to 3rd dan in a well known system , then in walked a man and BOOM. My illusion was shattered and I had a decision to make. To I delude myself going forward , or do I start all over from scratch. So I started over and never looked back. What is cool though, is once I did that I was able to see some of my past techniques and principles in a new light and re-incorporated them into my practice . But what is even cooler is I went to my students and said "Ok guys, here s the deal. I have something better to offer you but it means you will be leaving this school and going to my garage and have no recognized ranking system." And they came with me .