Just want to say a big thank you to Sensei Seth for picking me to help him with this project. kzfaq.info

I think you hit on the key to making Aikido work: it's already being able to fight. If you can fight, good Aikido might give you the option of winning with a little less damage to your opponent. It's not a stand alone martial art, it's a module you can plug in to an already functioning skillset.

I came here to make a witty joke about Aikido but ended up learning instead. Great video Seth! I still believe Akito is one of the more unpractical martial arts especially since most of techniques would be very hard if not impossible to successfully perform against an experienced grappler. I commend your ability to keep an open mind and giving it an honest shot though.

I'm impressed at how often you demonstrated that a fighter can be respectful while still having doubts about whether the technique being taught would actually work.

It’s interesting, I did aikido for about 10 years-including as an uchideshi-and one of the things I almost never see discussed is what I learned as the difference between practice techniques (basically partnered forms, which is most of what you see in the videos) and applied techniques: how to use this stuff in a fight. Basically stated, you do all of the circular movements and such as a way of learning your body, building a repertoire of basic techniques, etc. in much the same way as kata are used. But you learn them with a partner to begin building the foundations of randori / sparring. Then you work on how to apply those techniques in more realistic situations; with a lot less dancing around (tenkan) and a lot more moving forward and taking someone’s center / centerline (irimi), and with a fair amount of close quarters strikes that we’re hidden in the moments of the basic forms-just like kata. You then begin practicing randori. This sounds like a long process, but I was practicing the basics of randori as soon as I graduated from the beginners class to the intermediate (about two months). All the while, working on the kinds of mobility and body-structure business that one finds in arts like Systema, Wing Chun, etc. I’m not arguing the aikido rules or anything, and I see a lot of non-combat applicable aikido out there. I just think that it’s worth mentioning that there is a logic to the aikido training system. I’ve trained in a number of martial arts over the last forty years, and carry rank in most of them, yet the few times I’ve had to deal with confrontations in the real world since my aikido training I’ve found that the basics of what I learned in aikido form the foundations of how I successfully responded to those confrontations. A final caveat: In the aikido system I trained in (which comes down the lineage from Fumio Toyoda), many of the senior Japanese instructors had a solid background in other arts before they started aikido and tended to explain aikido as “martial arts graduate school.” I think this is a fair signal of the pedagogical issues at play in a lot of how aikido is taught. And I have to recognize that a lot of my own success with aikido may in some part be due to having a solid background in striking and grappling before first stepping into an aikido dojo. Of late, I’ve bumped into a number of aikido instructors who have solid striking and grappling training and who are including more striking and grappling fundamentals in their aikido instruction to fill in those gaps, as JD in this video seems to be doing. I feel that including these fundamentals for students as they’re learning the basic partnered forms, and improving them as they move into applied technics-and really explicating these applications well-will improve aikido’s reputation in the coming years.

As someone who did aikido for quite a while (I quit just before the black belt exam) and then moved on to other, more functional martial arts, I came up with this metaphor: aikido is like a pilot school that teaches you how to fly a plane and how to land a plane, but not how to take off and only in perfect weather. The main reason is the noble, but incredibly foolish idea that is the base of aikido: teaching self-defense without giving someone the ability to attack. There is, deep down, the remnants of a functional martial art there (you can see a lot of similar things in jujitsu, judo and many types of use-of-force training), but years of this semi-pacifistic ideology and noncompetitiveness have caused it to become this outlandish and dance-like performance.

I am a stage combat practitioner and choreographer and Aikido is used heavily in a lot of choreography mainly due to its cooperativeness and flashiness rather than in spite of

I'm really glad you did this, Seth. This makes perfect sense to me, because my Aikido experience was not at all traditional. I came from a Shotokan Karate background, and trained in Aikido with a small, informal group made up of people who were all accomplished in various traditional martial arts. We were all seasoned fighters, didn't accept anything as valid in its stylized form, and therefore tested the practical application of EVERYTHING. We worked each technique over and over for weeks at a time, in various ways, and under different conditions. We'd start off really light and cooperative, to learn the basic movements, but would progressively increase the resistance until we got to multi-attacker randori. The result was that our Aikido did not look like the seamless, swirling motions of demonstrations and traditional dojos, but it worked in the real world. I now know that's exactly what happens when you train any traditional art with live resistance - it has to change to become more functional. As a general rule, then, I don't argue when people trash Aikido. I get it. I've seen the lack of actual fighting ability that most Aikidokas display. But I also know that I've used Aikido effectively in the real world, that irimi and tenkan are legit footwork, and that the wrist locks absolutely work in a range of situations. Add to that, there's a lot of shared DNA between Aikido, Jujitsu, and Judo, and lots of opportunities for adopting and blending elements of them.

For the record I'm wearing wrestling shoes due to a cut on my foot

Wrist locks really are great for ground fighting. They're not used much in bjj competition because most rule sets only allow them at high grade so they aren't practiced as early

the one who invented Aikido is a martial art genius who have the speed of light thinking in how manipulate his opponents in a less agressive way. not many can master it

After watching this I really think you would enjoy a HEMA class covering Fiore. His whole system covers everything from grappling and striking to dagger, longsword, and pollaxe. Plus, each part of his system leads into the next. So his unarmed = his dagger =his longsword = his pollaxe. Plus, he loves armbars and groin kicks, so he's basically the Medieval Master Ken.

JD's practice of pulling in BJJ guys to spar with his Aikido guys during the belt testing is pretty interesting. Presumably they can't be compliant if they don't know how. I'd love to see how it worked out in practice.

Like anything else, pressure test the techniques against active resistance. Keep what works in your repertoire, disregard the rest, and move onto the next martial arts discipline to absorb. Stay super jacked, Sensei Seth!

A lot of Aikido is about momentum and body mechanics. Your opponent is often moving towards you and you are utilizing that momentum to naturally and purposefully step out of their way and keep them moving forward. As an old practitioner, Toyoda-sensei, used to say, "Avoid a falling rock. Water will always flow to lower places."

So I started with Aikido when I was 8 years old, all the way up till I was 13. It might not be the best for combat, but it has ignited my love for fighting sports leading to boxing, kickboxing and lessons in some other disciplines aswell. Aikido also set me up with a good base for body balance, patience and discipline. My teacher was amazing, which really helped. It will always have a special place in my heart.

I'm not as anti-aikido as some people. When I was a young 20-something guy with (at the time) a mostly Muay Thai background, I had an older colleague (late 40s, early 50s) who was very good at a military combatives adaptation of Aikido/Aikijitsu/Jiujitsu and he worked me over real good. (It felt like I was like fighting a guy with three arms.) It can definitely work when the guy knows how to use it. I find the wrist locks in Aikido to be very valid for certain self-defense scenario (crowded bar, bus, subway, etc.) where you can anticipate the confrontation enough to use the technique as a surprise and squealch the fight before blows start flying. The mechanics and concepts are also a really good segue into things like weapon retention and disarms. I've also seen guys have success adding Aikido when they're working from a foundation of another Japanese art. (Like JD in the video has a foundation in karate, though I don't know what he studied first.) All that said...Aikido is not really something I would spend my training time on and I would not recommend it is a foundation for anyone. For most Aikido applications, even though they're valid, there always seems to me to be five or six other more reliable options from the other arts.

I’m glad he made the distinction with it being against swords. It’s what I’ve always said. The part about when dude said “Wing Chun?” Aikido “close enough” hurt my heart 😭💔

JD seems like a humble guy and it’s good to see aikido looked at with an open mind

I studied Aikido under Amir Ardebeli, who taught it as part of his MMA class. I have trained at a few schools, but Amir teaches a very grounded and practical martial art. Although we did not do a lot of Aikido, the techniques I learned with hm have remained at the top of my kit for the last 20 years.

I personally like aikido, every martial art has something good to learn. Thank you for sharing ☺️.

I really love your breakdown of randori (zombie martial arts fighting)

As an Aikido practitioner, this video was super fun to watch! Thanks for the effort!

Great video Seth thank you. You seemed genuinely honest in your approach and did well to leave any preconceptions behind. Well done.

Great video, very interesting I’d love to see you pursue this a little further Maybe do an intense 5 day course of Aikido and try again? Or give us an update on your sparring in a few weeks to see if you kept the new techniques?

Thank you for that bit at the end explaining why Aikido practitioners are always flying around. Flip over or broken wrist, I always chose flipping over. I think a lot of people miss the point. First, try to avoid a fight. Second, if someone is trying to hit you because you couldn't avoid the fight, try not to get hit (that's what all the big circular motions are for). Third, you're probably going to get hit, so fall down a lot at the dojo and condition your body to take a little abuse so that you can exploit your opponents momentum when they do hit you. All that being said, it's not meant to take into the octagon, and don't go picking fights with pros (or anybody, really. It's the way of harmony, be cool, bro). I've used the wrist locks and arm control stuff to escort a few rowdy drunks out of bars. They get REAL compliant when they think their hand is about to be removed, but it does no permanent harm.

Absolutely best video I've ever watched about Aikido! It shows that some MOVES in Aikido do make sense but as a Martial Art it is pretty ineffective! Great work! Thanks

I started with Karate when I was 16 or so, just doing it for a few years until I had no more time for it in my army time. Later, I started studying Biology and looked for some sports at university. Found Aikido. Now the real kick was not only the combination of Karate and Aikido - any one of these alone is not the real burner. But in combination it works quite well. Karate did fill the gaps that Aikido leaves, but also vice versa. But, as I said, the real fun was that, as a Biologist, you know quite well how the human body, its bones, its nerves, its muscles and its joints work. And you know, as well, how it does not work. And this is what Aikido does: forcing the body into something it simply can't do. By the way - you can't do many Aikido techniques with clumsy boxing gloves. That explains your lack of success ;)

I am glad you explained the "dramatic flying through the air" bit. I believe that is why most people thing this is a garbage martial art because of that. They teach the students to do that, because, as your instructor was say, "you can decide to do the break fall or get your shoulder dislocated". Its the same as spinning with an arm bar to relieve the pressure and hopefully get back to a better position or at least not get your arm broke. Its probably not the most practical martial art, but it does have some merits and you can pick and choose what works and what doesn't, just like any other martial art.

That Sankyo/“you’re welcome” joke had me rolling. I really like their approach to applying aikido on the ground. Obviously grappling becomes much easier when your opponent is restricted by the ground, so it makes sense that you can apply aikido on the ground. That being said, I really don’t think aikido as a whole will ever hold up in full contact, consensual fighting. I think it depends too much on the opponent not reacting once you begin your technique. However, I don’t think aikido was meat to be done in that context anyway. I feel like it really shines in the “pre fight.” When you and a given opponent aren’t trading hands yet, but the fight is definitely about to happen. When they haven’t initiated yet and you get the drop on them, you can really make aikido shine. Then again, if you get the drop on somebody, pretty much anything will shine

As an avid fan of aikido principles, I was glad to see where it ended up. The specific techniques we teach in Aikido are meant to teach principles of body mechanics and motion, not be the exact combative movement. I would say that after one class, he implemented what he learned pretty well. On the other hand, the principles in Aikido exist in most martial arts, including the one he already ranked in. So, it's really just a different way to prepare the same meal, if trained properly. Nice work Sensei Seth, and Olson Sensei.

😃 This is great, i really like your inform and exploration of Marshall Arts. Both you and the other guy with the extensive kung fu CV! You are both un-scary ppl to learn from. Thanks, i have subscribed

As a life long karateka, with experience in a bunch of other martial arts (including a couple of years of aikido training), I can confirm that aikido has taught me many useful things in terms of avoiding attacks and using some of its techniques as a surprise factor. In summary, by itself it’s not the best of arts, but useless it most certainly is not. Great video, Seth. Keep it up.

Thank you for making this video, as a former Aikido student [ among others ], you've provided the right information about the martial art. I also believe that most practioners today are in it cause its fun [ not for it's practicality ] , to be able to throw someone across the room knowing that they'd be alright, cause you trust that they know how to roll, to be able to do the techniques in a flowing "drilled in" way with a higher belt is very satisfying. The rolls and various joint locks has increased my durabilty to spar with other martial art styles like bjj and helped me with my evasiveness within other sports.

I didn't think of it as a fighting art back when I lived in Japan for ten years. Ukemi is a great exercise for your core. I thought of Aikido more as dance. I loved it. Mainly I enjoy that the movement comes from kenjutsu. You did a very good job here and your choice of instructors was the right one. Best

I think it's great that you did this. Super awesome that you were working that joint manipulation with boxing gloves on and making it supplement the striking.

Love these videos of you trying other arts. 🔥

Sensei Seth, great video and I want to tell you a short story. I am 51 years old and have practiced Karate (Shotokan) Wu Shu (Nan chuan) And then the 3 main bushido styles, Aikido, Iaido and Kendo. I have met 2 Aikido Sensei over the years, one mexican, one german. Both very big guys and have seen both being attacked by several styles of martial arts and every single time the opponent ended on the ground (including myself) Both have another martial art grade, one in Karate and the second in Judo, I am sure this made them better in their practice of Aikido but; Aikido is the martial art they both still love, practice and teach, they are both great fighters. I strongly believe that Aikido performed correctly is still a great MA, Cheers!

Awesome video, i like seeing this adaptation of Aikido and your use of its core princibles. Personally i enjoy Aikido more as a fitness / skill type gig than applying it practically but it is so interesting to see it used this way. Loving your vids now a subscriber.

Seth, big props as always for your good-faith approach and curious mind! And while you may be a beginner with Aikido, 5:39 was some international grandmaster dad joke energy and absolutely sent me

Whenever people talk about Aikido I am reminded of my first martial arts instructor. He was a correctional‘s officer who worked part time as a bar bouncer and taught martial arts as his passion sign project. He told me that he absolutely loved aikido. He had a very similar body type as sensei Seth. The kind of person that could literally pick you up and throw you or drag you out of your car by your head through the windshield if he felt like it. Just somebody who has to literally defend their life as a part of their job it gave me a respect for aikido. I don’t know why he said he loved it so much but he did so there has to be some thing there. Of course there’s a big difference between the type of fighting that a correctional‘s officer has to do and the type of fighting that a MMA fighter has to do so I suppose it all is in the context

I come from a Karate, kickboxing and TaeKwondo background and did Aikido for a few months in my late teens - I have to say that in real life situations (I haven't had many) where you're up close in confined spaces, its base techniques have always been the ones I've used to greatest effect. You don't always want or need to KO someone, just stop or control them. It's getting the basics of joint manipulation and movement which seems to be the fundamental element, I had no time to learn it in depth but the essence of the techniques was enough to freestyle with. As others have said - it's a handy addition to the armoury rather than an all-round style.

Hey Sensei Seth. You just got a new subscriber. Your content is awesome and just keep going!

Really apreciate how you go in with an open mind on these things

Definitely gotta get Rokas on the case. I think he's coming full circle now of finally figuring out a version of Aikido that works under pressure (personally opinion: it's pretty much judo)

Hey Seth, concerning your being super jacked, it's not bragging if it's true!😂 Love the "Learning with Seth" series! More please and thank you Sensei!

loved all the wrist locks i learned alot of those aswell and in the same context too. its useful and quick to do. i think aikido is a good.

I took Aikido in college and it was awesome, so much of it is psychological and how you think about the situations. So much of what makes it work is your mindset behind the moves/situation. I wish more places taught it. One of the students who had the hardest time was an MMA fighter who was taking the class.

I always love the videos

I think what you can get out of Aikido is some extra ways of control. Our grappling instructor always implements them in our routines. Not as a single tool but mostly something that complements the control you have of somebody. Like for example instead of grabbing only the wrist of someone, you can grab their hands, not to submit but to better control them. Instead of only grabbing the ankles for a guard pass grab the foot near the middle, it severely restricts the leg's range of motion.

Super interesting, love this channel

Intresting stuff. Thank you.

I had kind of a similar experience. One of my BJJ coaches has an Aikido background. I was a bit skeptical until he started throwing me around. I think, like a lot of classical martial arts, it has merits that can be incorporated into a bigger martial arts worldview but aren’t very complete on their own. Also, their training methods are maybe a bit too reliant on a compliant partner. But starting with a good grappling base like BJJ and wrestling, Aikido has a few moves that could enhance those arts particularly when trained under real grappling pressure.

The method of entering into sankyō that he teaches starting at about 5:40 is the most risky version of getting there, you usually need an atemi (strike) while entering underneath to limit the viability of your opponent using their free hand to stop you from doing the technique. You can also get to that same sankyō joint lock by first doing the elbow control technique, ikkyō (2:10), then transitioning to the joint lock (which is much safer).

Thanks, this brought back memories.

Good for you for being open-minded. Aikido is not for everyone. I studied/trained in it for a decade and loved it. By far , it was the toughest, most challenging martial art I ever tried to learn and also the one I found most fulfilling. As a LEO, my goal was to learn skills that did not require striking/kicking, more so control in close quarter situations. Aikido was perfect for that and I never injured any arrestee or myself- no broken knuckles or feet! I'd tie people into pretzels and eventually submission, generally w/out getting sweaty. As for the dramatic flying movements in aikido, that comes from the blending between partners so that we don't injure each other. If I slapped one of those techniques on an unknowing individual, chances are injury would occur.

I mean, the last 10ish minutes of the vid should be you fighting JD, and he using aikido to neutralize you, to see how effective it could be. I've never trained aikido, but I did like what I saw for BJJ. The block break/elbow lift looked quite usable as well

Cool stuff Seth! It’s good to see people treating aikido with respect and trying it out instead of just hearing what people say about it and probably never had a single aikido class. Just took my black belt in aikido and love practicing it.

That instructor was so swell 👍 great video all around.

My vote on yesterday's community post worked. I have the power!

Wow this actually makes me want to learn some Aikido now! I train in Krav Maga (and BJJ + kickboxing) and I find alot of the Judo + Jiu Jitsu base that helped form Krav Maga also has alot of Aikido knowledge in it too. Not so much in the flashy moves, but the close grappling and wrist locks are a huge factor in some of the more self-defence stuff we learn in my classes. Loved this vid! It really goes to show that every martial art is an extension of another in the grand family of martial arts!

Good video. I definitely agree with the concept that aikido is more for swords than open hand. i like that you learned from someone that had backgrounds in other styles to make it more semi-practical. I only did a few aikido free classes before I got into martial arts, but I also had a wrestling background by the time I ever tried it.

This was great! A respectful investigation

Be curious to see Sensei Seth do japanese jujitsu

So glad you did this Seth. Aikido was my first art I ever trained.

I dig this a lot. The big sweeping movements make a lot more sense in an armed context and a bunch of it mirrors what I know about Rondel dagger.

Thank you for this thoughtful review of Aikido! The historical context is so important, and something else that isn't mentioned is that before a training session, one of the things you shout in unison is something like, 'I commit to do no harm against any living creature.' It's way more than 'just a set of moves.'

As a blackbelt in aikido myself, its very interesting to see a style of aikido that is so fundamentally different from all that ive learned in my 12 years. Very cool video!

When I did Aikido as a kid, the first thing they taught us about the falling and flipping was that the point is that you avoid getting hurt. The techniques don't require anyone to do a flip, the technique is trying to apply pain or damage on the wrist, elbow or shoulder until whatever is in that hand is no longer a threat. The flips are there only to make training safe and comfortable. Also every wrist lock from the standing position has a variant on the ground, so technically any technique could be done with or without the flip even in a training setting. The slower takedowns that lead to grounded wrist locks are more for show, to really emphasise where the lock is and how the wrist or elbow need to be in the actual standing lock. We also very often used wooden tanto knives, wooden boken swords or even staffs in training... usually in a way that the attacker has the weapon and the defender is unarmed. So under those circumstances it becomes very clear what the whole point is in each technique. When people were ceremoniously getting their new belts, the weapons wouldn't really be used. I don't really know why and in general I think the biggest problem with Aikido isn't the martial art itself but rather the presentation. Aikido isn't about hitting or getting hit, it's about disarming and punishing an attacker. So Aikido pretty much can't really have contests or tournaments because there is no winner or loser. There's just a threat (usually a melee weapon) and a potential solution to the threat (usually a wrist-lock concealed as a "throw")

Very informative!

I love your content, Seth, it’s really fun and encouraging to see you openly explore so many avenues of martial arts. With the utmost respect I’d like to ask why is it that so many people analyze and criticize aikido while disregarding the underlying philosophy and wider social context of its formulation? Specifically, the notion of trying to make aikido “work” in the context of combat directly contradicts the principles on which aikido was formulated. I think that the words of the founder, Morihei Ueshiba, sums those principles up best: “The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter - it is the Art of Peace, the power of love.” To me, these strike me as the words of a former military man reconciling his experiences witnessing the atrocity of World War 2 and developing a martial art not meant to conquer others, but to conquer one’s the desire to conquer.

You are so kind to all martial arts. Even the ones you know have little application in real life. You are an example of the personality we should all strive to achieve.

I’d love to see a follow up video where someone is attacking with weapon you might actually run into like a baseball bat, crowbar, even Icy Mike’s favorite flashlight… and how effective it is when they can’t try to gain wrist control.

I like your genuine approach. It’s hard to seperate out your biases with this sort of thing but I can see you really trying to question yourself as much as the technique.

That was interesting. Thanks!

I've used Aikido more times than I can count. It saved my life when I was hit by a car and I've slipped, slid and fell out of countless grips in what few bar fights I've found myself in. If I were to try to describe aikido to someone who has no concept of martial arts, I'd say it teaches you a form of fundamental body control that can best be described as the difference between when a kid who does want to be picked up vs when a kid doesn't want to be picked up and effectively becoming a puddle and possessing the ability to freely switch between both states.

If anyone is interested in the tougher aikido forms closer to aikijujitsu I recommend Yoshinkan or takemusu. What makes Aikido work is the connection and the tension you can add to the body starting with joint manipulation but this is all steered by hip movement. To train this form weapon excercise really help. Also earlier styles involve a lot of atemi's and shouting (kiai). But I really appreciate the effort that he is exploring other martial arts.I recommend anyone to try at least a few before committing to one.

I'm loving watching you through your journey Rokas! Oh whoops, wrong channel...

This Sensei is a brilliant and insightful instructor

As a former student of aikido and only having a vague basis in boxing, I learned a lot from aikido in terms of unpredictability and genuinely any form of redirection, but I think the major thing you learn from aikido is how to take pain and make it work. It’s not just about the grabs and the locks and the throws. Those are the techniques, sure, but when it comes down to it, the fundamental principle revolves around moving the source of the pain. I can take some intense locks and bars like a champ and sometimes find a way out of really sticky situations simply by going limp or intentionally falling with the hits to lead into something else. The more you learn to just let the hit do its thing, the less the hits do their thing, ironically, and it gives you a strong basis to counter with pretty much any other style

Waiting for him try something obscure like Bartitsu, which I only found because of his other video. That would be great hahaha

I'm very glad you're finally taking an HONEST look FOR YOURSELF into Aiki. AND it looks like you found the right person for it...he's teaching you like my sensei, C.J. Bader, taught me back in the 90s...it's more Aiki-Jitsu than Aiki-do. I noticed once when you were discussing Aikido with Jesse, that he DID NOT chuckle when you mentioned Aikido because he, and many others, knows its value. And now YOU...after just a short time are also beginning to see the value as well. I hope you keep digging because I know you're a smart guy and you will see it as well. /deep bow

nice part of your "learning from other martial arts" series, the context of stuff is oh so important. started with aikido and karate-sized hema, now training kickboxing and bjj ... and your experience mirrors a thing i heard over and over again from the people i trained with: subset of armed grappling, deliberate non-violence because the founder was a war vet, og aikidoka were already proficient in other arts and viewed it as more of an enhancer or "principles, not techniques" kinda deal, working things in sparring is important otherwise you get basically throwing partner dancing (which is also ok as long as this is communicated properly, we also have kata in the olympics after all). i do love that guard wristlock, will try that next rolling :D

A series where you take more time in each system to really get some basics in would be nice. You'd become the Sensei Seth the Ultimate Disciple ;)

Hey man, do you think this style of Aikido you've learned is more or less practical than To-Shin Do (the "Ninjutsu" you've recently learned as well.) I'm curious as to what you think would be more effective since you seemed to have learned them both pretty recently, and Bujinkan/To-Shin Do is pretty looked down upon in the martial arts community for essentially being an newer art that's being toted as an ancient Japanese martial art, which it is not. Aikido and Ninjutsu(Bujinkan/To-Shin Do) both share a heavy stigma in the martial arts community and I'm curious what your take is on the subject as well. Thanks man! Love the videos!

This was really interesting! Cool you pulled off a decent number of techniques with just one day of learning.

In many kokyo nage you want to go because you don't want a sword in to your inner thig etc. Bokken, Jo and tanto is still used in Aikido in many places/countries. That really opens technicques better! I used to train aikido as a kid, then moved to BJJ and MMA (and did pretty good job also), but eventually I decided to go practice Aikido again and now I understand the practice better and I love it! Aikido is also a martial art made for selfdefence so it is not made for struggling/grappling situations. In that moment when your opponent is having a good grab of you... You are late! 😉But there is always a counter move (you can also follow your opponents momevent to get away... That is one side of ukemi/following the throw to get in better position ). Great video Seth BTW!

He started listing his black belts and just didn’t stop 💀

Uh oh Sensei JD is gonna be the next Rokas?

Aikido saved my life. A crazy roomaate I had tried to choke me, but thanks to my training in aikido and some other styles I was able to get out of it. Kote gaieshi was the technique I used. I have had to use it more than once. When people say aikido doesn't work it doesn't really get me upset, it just makes me wonder where, or if they've even trained in it let alone use it in a real life situation. Thank you Sensei Seth for trying these styles with an open andunbiased mind.

Seth's delivery on the "You're welcome" is perfect haha!

JD should have taught you techniques to be used in the types of sparrings that you did later. For example, once you put on gloves, the execution of ikkyo and other techniques changes. If you adapt the aiki principles to the situations then Aikido works, otherwise of course it doesn't. Also, learning minute techniques such as locks in one day is impossible but footwork and fight tactics is possible.

First off, I want to thank you for being real! Like a lot of questionable Martial Arts out there( no sparring Japanese Jiu Jitsu, Aikido, flowery Kung Fu styles etc) you openly spoke about how gimmicky they seemed. As the old saying goes if those arts were useless, they would not still be here. Aikido from my observation ( I am no expert nor do I have experience with Aikido) Aikido is not a stand alone art. Nor is it a dueling 🤺 art. It is for all out fighting. The art was made by a Master. Meaning he already had experience in fighting and had the knowledge to be practical with his art. The pre WW2 version anyway. Aikido( also Hapkido and other Aiki arts) can be used very effectively with a base in a combat sport/ fighting martial art. Thank you again for making videos about finding out for yourself. Instead of putting down an Art without experiencing it.

"Sankyo... You're welcome" 🤣 Man that was so quick! Seth is also a sensei of comedy!

Awsome Seth. I've been a Black Belt in Akido for some time. Originally I took it at church. While it can seem to be bullshit, with practice and by forming it around what works for you it is extremely useful. The final part at the end of your video is the best and corect.. The flips are to help form and to avoid injuries. No true Akido practitioner is expecting their combatant to do that, although it can. Great stuff

Interesting take on Aikido. You should really explore the weapons side of things more though. I've made it work in sparring. Doors are open if you ever want to come to train?

Interesting that you found Ikkyo (”First Principle” in English, essentially an elbow control from which you can throw, takedown, punch or escape) the most useful, because it’s not a huge flashy move or a complex wrist lock, but to me it’s the essence of the whole art. Tenkan btw, is basically same as pivoting in boxing. I really liked you trying aikido in a wrestling class, because that’s what aikidokas should do. Back in the day it was basically just catch wrestling with weapons, then it was turned into kinda meditative spiritual thing by the founder and today it’s pretty much just a load of shite.

The first minute of the video with the practice falling reminded me of my Judo lessons back in the sixties. I always felt like it kept me from major injuries while racing motocross from '77' till 2001.

I trained Aikido in high school and while I will never use it in a fight (mostly cause I dont really want to get to a point where I have to fight because if I do I am fucked), training it really helped me physically. Learning the breakfalls and doing the techniques helped me with mobility and generally helped me loose a lot of weight and gain a lot of confidence back then, as I was a bullied by everyone fat immobile kid. Now since the pandemic Ive gained a lot of it back, but I am still fairly mobile because of my former training. Granted that could have been any martial art with throwing but I did it with Aikido so I am thankful.

It's worth mentioning that Steven Segal made Aikido known all over.