Any sherdogger ever tried out Aikido?

spacetime

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- how were the throws in comparison to Judo?
- did you learn any submissions - chokes, leg locks etc?
- did you have to wear a skirt in order to train?
- was it any fun?
 
I haven't tried an actual class but I have a friend who's a black belt in Aikido and we get together when he's in town to share tech's (I'm purple in bjj).
 
I haven't tried an actual class but I have a friend who's a black belt in Aikido and we get together when he's in town to share tech's (I'm purple in bjj).

Do you want any of his techniques?
 
I did it for a summer. They were nice. They also had free yoga on Saturdays. That is all I have to report.
 
I did it for a few months, probably around 4 in total. There was nothing that I really was able to get from it besides the break falls. Those were good. Most of the techniques didn't work unless you partner really cooperated. My instructor wasn't that great and was a bit checked out. That might have been part of the issue. I stopped going to aikido when I started bjj.
 
I did it for a few months, probably around 4 in total. There was nothing that I really was able to get from it besides the break falls. Those were good. Most of the techniques didn't work unless you partner really cooperated. My instructor wasn't that great and was a bit checked out. That might have been part of the issue. I stopped going to aikido when I started bjj.

Did you learn any submissions?
 
I was ranked in Aikido way back right when I first started BJJ about 10 years ago. I actually think it is martial arts on the highest level - which means you have to be flawless at it to make it work. I do use some aikido concepts and wrist locks now as a 2 stripe brown. For me Aikido was my entrance into grappling and finding Roy Dean helped me transitoin to BJJ and Judo instead of continuing on.

One day before Aikido class a big tattooed guy, with much more Aikido experience, who is a good friend now asked me if I was feeling "scrappy" and asked me if I wanted to spar. That kind of thing doesn't happen much in Aikido. I replied that I am always feeling scrappy, so we squared up. I had previously trained in a bunch of standup arts and it was the first time I sparred without strikes. At this point in my martial arts education I had been pouring over Roy Dean's blue belt DVD. Like obsessing over it as we didn't have a BJJ school that was easily accessible. In about 30 seconds after feeling eachother out a bit i ducked under his arm , crawled his back to RNC and he fell back and tapped. He was as surprised as I was and wanted an immediate redo. We square of again and this time we tangle up and i get a body lock to a trip. I end up in mount and he text book pushes up and me and is armbarred instantly. Again, we are both a little shocked. That was pretty much the last time I went to Aikido. I persued BJJ full on after that. Trained under Roy and even had an affiliate school under him for a while.

My advice would be that Aikido is not worth the time to explore if you are young enough and want effectiveness. My Aikido does help me but not in a way that I have some huge advantage over other brown belts. I consider it more as part of the path that led me to my true passion. I may return to AIkido and then Tai Chi when I am ancient though.
 
I was ranked in Aikido way back right when I first started BJJ about 10 years ago. I actually think it is martial arts on the highest level - which means you have to be flawless at it to make it work. I do use some aikido concepts and wrist locks now as a 2 stripe brown. For me Aikido was my entrance into grappling and finding Roy Dean helped me transitoin to BJJ and Judo instead of continuing on.

One day before Aikido class a big tattooed guy, with much more Aikido experience, who is a good friend now asked me if I was feeling "scrappy" and asked me if I wanted to spar. That kind of thing doesn't happen much in Aikido. I replied that I am always feeling scrappy, so we squared up. I had previously trained in a bunch of standup arts and it was the first time I sparred without strikes. At this point in my martial arts education I had been pouring over Roy Dean's blue belt DVD. Like obsessing over it as we didn't have a BJJ school that was easily accessible. In about 30 seconds after feeling eachother out a bit i ducked under his arm , crawled his back to RNC and he fell back and tapped. He was as surprised as I was and wanted an immediate redo. We square of again and this time we tangle up and i get a body lock to a trip. I end up in mount and he text book pushes up and me and is armbarred instantly. Again, we are both a little shocked. That was pretty much the last time I went to Aikido. I persued BJJ full on after that. Trained under Roy and even had an affiliate school under him for a while.

My advice would be that Aikido is not worth the time to explore if you are young enough and want effectiveness. My Aikido does help me but not in a way that I have some huge advantage over other brown belts. I consider it more as part of the path that led me to my true passion. I may return to AIkido and then Tai Chi when I am ancient though.

Do you learn any submissions, if so which ones?
 
I believe most TMA's have some redeemable qualities. I think Aikido has good concepts for wristlocks. I actually believe in using a wristlock takedown to counter a collar grip.
 
Do you learn any submissions, if so which ones?
You learn the 5 basic Aikido restraints. Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Yonkyo, Sankyo, Gokyo. I've hit variants of these in live rolling except for Yonkyo - it's kind of a pressure nerve thing and my wrist is messed up from having it done to me over and over a gain. You learn standing arm bar variants (Ude gatame) and some kimura/americana type things.

Pulling these off in rolling is tricky and has to be done by using your whole body instead of just grabbing or contering a grab like the way it's drilled. Here is an example. From a mounted triangle (which is already pretty much a guaranteed finish), you can get a gokyu (goose neck wrist lock). I take the arm that is sticking up through my legs and fold over the goose neck, putting the back of their hand on the mat and finishing the lock with body pressure downwards. So it's my weight, both arms and gravity against their one joint. That makes the wrist lock work even if they are resisting.

Another is a triangle from guard. They forget the arm in sometimes and try to stay loose. That lets me put one hand on the top of their forearm and the other to turn their paln up and I can then stretch the ligaments of the forearm with NIkkyo. Again, 2 arms vs one and they are stuck in the triangle.

From side control you fake hunting for a head and arm setup by putting your forehead on the mat into their armpit - they sense this and drop their am to the mat to stop the begginning of the head and arm. At this pount you can use your head as a fullcrum and pull their wrist down over your head and neck so their arm is down on the mat like the are in the kimura position. From here I can get a goose neck wrist lock sometimes, or at least distract them enough to take mount.

When someone has my back, you can grab a sankyo grip and then use that to duck under their arm and then either tap them or use that to escape.
 
I believe most TMA's have some redeemable qualities. I think Aikido has good concepts for wristlocks. I actually believe in using a wristlock takedown to counter a collar grip.
Those are tough to pull off from a collar grip just because the other person has already tensed their grip very tight. Distraction helps of course to loosen that. I've pulled off kote-gaeshi in a nogi roll from a tie up but it has to be pretty quick and your partner had better know how to break fall properly or their shoulder can get messed up.
 
This doesn't look very intimidating.

iriminage is about leading your uke - It's about flow and off balancing and less about using that in a fight. Pretty conceptual but the concept of kuzushi(off balancing) is super important to throw anyone that doesn't want to be thrown.
 
- how were the throws in comparison to Judo?
- did you learn any submissions - chokes, leg locks etc?
- did you have to wear a skirt in order to train?
- was it any fun?

Sorry I didn't answer all of these.
You don't wear the hakama until you are a black belt in some school and some of them you wear it right away. I have never worn a skirt (for martial arts :) )
Fun? At first maybe. The people are usually pretty nice if they aren't to LARPy or deluded into thinking they are a martial arts master even though they have never fought. ;)
 
I took a class in college once.

The move was a wrist lock throw off of a wrist grab. We were shown the move a few times and then asked to partner up and try it. Beforehand we were reminded how difficult Aikido was and how terrible we were at it as beginners so don't be surprised if it doesn't work right away. Just call over the instructor.

I partner up with another kid, and we try the move. It doesn't work. We wait for the instructor to come over and help us. She does.

The instructor tells me to grab her wrist. I do so. Once I grab it, she immediately tells me I am grabbing it wrong. Apparently I am supposed to grab it normally. I am not sure what normally means here since I just grabbed it normally without thinking. I just let go and grab it again.

Once again, I have grabbed wrong. Now she tells me that normally means "grab my wrist and push it against my stomach as hard as you can." Crazy me thinking that grabs are for pulling stuff. Oh well. I do what she wants.

She then attempts to do the move. It does not work for her either. Now she is very annoyed. She goes off on me telling me that she almost snapped my arm like a twig and I was just lucky that she held back.

I'm looking down at this like 5'1" little troll of a lady at this point just like WTF. She tried again, and I like limply fell over on purpose just to get it over with. Good she tells me; I am now starting to learn what Aikido is really about.

I did not go back.
 
I'm pretty sure, as a Judo black belt, that I can use Aikido techniques. The problem with Aikido is like any other TMA in that you don't develop skill to apply the technique. Doing the basic form is 10% of the work, at best. So ironically you need to do Judo to learn Aikido <45>

If you can't spar for real without hurting each other, you either don't develop the skill or you have to be a psychopath.

The iriminage video posted above is just a clothesline. The real part of the technique is how to make someone walk into it, not the finish. If you can make someone walk into it, well you could do any grappling move not just Aikido.

But if you are just training to defend against some generic untrained attacked, sure Aikido can work. I'll still prefer Judo though since you get jacked strong from it as well.
 
I'd get so fucking bored doing a martial art with no live resistance. I personally don't see the point.
 
Aikidio is fine, if you know what you are getting into.

You are learning an art form- essentially a dance. You are not learning anything with signficiant combat applications. The throws will not work in BJJ or Judo situations. the wrist locks will not work in self defense or street fight applications.

If you think it looks cool, and like being thrown / moving gracefully - there is nothing wrong with it. But to try to say it has any relation to real combat is simply wrong.

I study a form of stick fighting - a lot of what we do is not realistic for actual combat application. But it is a cool as shit, I enjoy the combination possiblities and flow of it. So I train it because I enjoy it. But I know what and why I'm doing it.
 
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