I spoke to one of Seagal's student a few months ago. He said that Seagal always encourages his students to cross train in other martial arts.

I first practiced Judo. My first Aikido instructor and students told me I gripped incorrectly. Which meant I grabbed their Gi and grounded. They were pissed I broke their Kuzushi first and told me no one grabs like that realistically. I was like WTF? So they said grab with intent. Ok, I finally figured out their “intent” meant lunge at them and grab like a drunk brawler in a bar! My next Daito Ryu Sensei showed me, no grab me hard. That is the pre-war you are explaining and that shows the reality! Combine all arts and keep them true! 🙌🏻🤛🏻

It’s impossible to think about Aikido without mentioning Steven Seagal. His movies inspired so many of us to start practicing it.

Remy is spot on IMO. Although Seagal's character may be in question, there's no doubt in his mind that he's a solid martial artist. I don't doubt that Tenshin is indeed effective but I've always believed that it's up to the student to figure out the application of his/her art of choice

I have never done Aikido, however at Judo class there was a policeman who also practiced Aikido and during randori he would sometimes catch one of use with one of those spectacular big circular throws. So, I know from personal experience that the Aikido throws can work. (On me at least). I am sure that if I wasn't breakfalling onto a soft Judo mat in a controlled enviroment the dmage would of been considerable. That's the extent of my experience with Aikido, so I do not really possess the knowledge to argue for it's effectiveness or not, beyond that what I have personally felt and seen.

This Aikido series you've got going is really special! Please keep them coming! Remy is really on point here, hive mentality is what makes many Aikido critics and Aikidoka equally wrong. Also his opinion on Seagal's skill level was really interesting! I was similar to Remy myself in the respect that I went into Aikido very critical of it before deciding it was worth devoting real time to. I think that Aikido is one those styles that you benefit more from it if you challenge the instructors (respectfully) to keep up with you and not the other way around. I have found that many in the Aikido community hide their heads in the sand and just don't understand that it isn't the 1970s anymore and that their art is in real danger. I hope that a lot of Aikidoka see these videos, they need this truth.

I'm a Seagal Aikido believer. There, I said it publicly.

I come from a Shotokan background. I did have the pleasure of training in Aikido under Larry Reynosa in Ventura Ca. Reynosa Sensei was one of Seagal's students for many years. You touched on something in this video that I heard many times at Reynosa's Dojo. "Honesty in training". I think that is what sets Tenshin Aikido apart from the other dojos. This applies to all martial arts.

Remy well said, to many people claiming they are teaching Tenshin Aikido. Making a statement that you are heavily influenced by Tenshin Aikido!. cultivating and making it your own, that great, that real. Keep it up stay safe.

Great channel! Great interview! I have a lot of respect for Steven Seagal & Aikido!

Seagal has always been the face of Aikido, he was the first and only person who displayed it so well in flim that nobody never did that made him stand out above the others.

Thank you very much. Your channel is considered one of the best channels, in addition to your distinctive style of showing martial arts stars, especially during the eighties and nineties. I wish you all success and prosperity.

Remy is spot on with his assessment. Long time practitioner of Tension Aikido myself. I made the switch because I too was frustrated with the Aikido teachings I was seeing around the world. Alot of people just want to either do the arts to get out of the house and exercise, or just doing what they call a sport. This holds true till this day. I have never been that way. In the military I had to use all of my different arts to survive. But Aikido was the one thing that separated me from the norm.

This is really great, man. Another great guest who's worth getting in touch with on this subject is Lenny Sly from the Rogue Warriors channel. That guy is massively knowledgeable about Tenshin Aikido and understands its technical applications inside and out. Honestly, he can go on for hours about it because he's worked so hard on perfecting and expanding the technique. His Tenshin Aikido came straight from one of Steven Seagal's top students, so he's directly connected to that lineage. I'm sure he'd be happy to talk about it with you.

See if you could get a hold of ninjutsu practitioner and winner of ufc 3 Steve Jennum and get him for an interview

I remember in my original Brooklyn Dojo we had an Aikijitsu class. To me it seemed like they were a hybrid of Stand up Jujitsu/judo and some Aikido. I never trained with them but they looked solid and did some pressure testing(most looked like 80%). I also saw Aikijitsu at a demo I was in up in the Bronx. As with the Brooklyn school they looked solid. After this(90s-2000s) I have not run into any Aikijitsu people.😣😣😣😣😣😣

This is a great interview.....any martial art is good for you....I’m now 45 and have recently started training in Kempo Jujitsu xx

I've trained quite a bit in both Aikido and BJJ/Gracie Jiu-Jitsu... and one name comes to mind that no one seems to throw out there when speaking about pressure testing aikido... especially in a bjj setting... ... Roy Dean... someone please interview this man. Because he's married so many Aikido concepts and techniques in BJJ as a whole. His particular expression of martial arts is so founded in traditional Japanese arts themselves. He started out as an Aikidoka and still hold on to the lineage and tactics even whilst running a bjj gym/dojo.

Awesome work Viking Samurai and Remy! Representing aikido fairly as always

I first heard about Aikido in 1979-80, pre- Steven Seagal. I knew someone that discovered someone teaching at the ymca. I was 15 at the time and eventually began to learn.

Very nice and informative.

The reason why most people think Aikido doesn't work in street fights or MMA, it's because only a few people are trying to make it work. They think that it's useless to learn it because they see a lot of videos Aikido practitioners getting beat up in the streets or losing to an MMA fighter and less videos that shows Aikido works. We need more people like Remi and Dan the wolfman in order to show how functional Aikido is. And we need more people who is as open minded as you are Viking Samurai.

Good stuff. Gooooood stuff. Love ya, Brah!

I never understood how people criticise a guy with multiple black belts. I mean how can you say he has no fighting ability. Just because he hasnt fought in mma everything he does must be rubbish. I know a lot of traditional kung fu guys who have never entered an mma gym or even sparred full contact, but the art worked well for them on the street.

You videos are so cool! Keep up the great work!

Aikido were made for guys who already know how to fight, for them to learn how to beat people up without harming them too much. I see Tenshin Aikido is the closest thing among other modern Aikido styles to stick with that ideology

I am curious about the realistic Akido. I was on the fence of Akido until I came across your video. Hmm. Keep up the great work.

Pre WW2 Aikido and Judo were complete martial arts. The removal of Atemi made both weaker.

Thanks Remy for educating me on Aikijutsu Pre war and Tenshin Aikido. In close combat I wouldn't challenge the Master of Aikido Steven Seagal, no way I have too much respect for him now, loved this breakdown. Steven Seagal in my opinion is the GOAT of Aikido, Greatest of all time! 🐐 ☯️ Keep up the great work Viking Samurai.

If one understand aikido irimi ( entering ) it can put you in a very good position very quick. I blend it with entering from many other systems.

Remy is spot on with his analysis of why aikido has a bad rep. I don't understand why this is a mystery to people. The art is not inseparable from its culture and it's training practices. If you trained boxing the way 99% of aikido dojos train, its practitioners would lose function in the same way.

First of all its a great video,Remy its interesting hear.About Seagal and his aikido,i spoke with some martial artists and they told,that Steven is really good master.Beside he also studied karate,judo,aiki jutsu,kendo,win chun and other.For example,Chuck Norris also study 3 or 4 martial arts style.And how i write before,Seagal had many seminars with special forces.

Man that scene in the bar in Nico 1988 made seagal look bad ass😎 great content samurai.👌

Great video. I have to say your channel rocks precisely because you show that you can't separate the success of any martial art and the perception thereof from its popular culture aspects. That is what "informs" the fanboys as well in their silly quest for the absolute of "what works and whatnot." That is historically true for most MA hypes, for instance, from Kung Fu in the 70s, Karate in the 80s, Aikido (Seagal's) in the 90s, and MMA/BJJ in the 00s. Let's not forget the "challenges" and UFC were, first and foremost, a big promo for the Gracies. Nowadays, the narrative has shifted to this naive idea of "evolution," which is historically ridiculous because inter-style bouts have always happened (e.g., wrestling vs. savate matches in Victorian England). They were and are marketing geniuses as well as superb martial artists. Please keep informing the populous.

I’m not an expert. I’ve done Aikido for about 20 years and reached my Sandan. My two cents. Seagal Shihan, despite his controversy, is/was a very strong Aikidoka (I have not followed him lately). I agree that his style is much more pre-war influenced and very powerful/practical. All that said, most people who do martial arts are NOT professional fighters, but there is so much value in sincerely training in any martial art (and having no ego about it). You can’t compare dojo training to a street fight situation; however, it can very much teach you sensitivity and how to react in a stressful situation. I also feel that once you have reached dan level in any martial art, there should be some pressure testing in a controlled environment, to hone your skills. I also started training in FMA the past 2 years (it’s hard!) and it’s made me a better Aikidoka. Blade attacks are much more realistic (and scary), but the sensitivity and ukemi I’ve learned through Aikido has also been invaluable. Take it all and add it to your toolbox. Martial arts aren’t one size fits all.

Currently reading the newly released book Aikido Pioneers Post war . The interviews are great. One core thing is basics. Breath, off balancing and atemi. Somehow much of this has been lost in the printing of words such as harmony. Regardless of whatever art you train in it must be practical for you. Seikesi Sensei’s interview spoke volumes. He has a quote is quotes in the book acknowledging Seagal Sensei. Still working on the book but there Definitely is Pre and Post war Aiki Views.

I practiced Akido for a few years. It worked for me although. I had to adapt the techniques in some cases but all in all I managed to make it home whilst putting my attackers in hospital

Use what works best.I plan to get into Aikido/Aikijutsu.My past training in TKD and Tai Chi.Has helped me.Aikido has always interested me.I look forward in walking on my new journey in the martial arts.

From what I've heard, I know that he has supposedly changed his comments or point of view but I recall in the early days that Take' Sensei made it a point to tell us several times that what he was doing on screen and in the dojo was just Aikido. He said that for the films, they seemed violent but it was just what he would do in that type of scenario if it was reality. And for a long time, he stated that Aikido was about the "intention" so that if you had pure intentions of peace, love and harmony, it wouldn't matter what you did....an example, someone once asked him if he Was sitting in a restaurant and a gunman came in what technique would he use, and he said," I'm license to carry a firearm and I would probly draw it and shoot him!" But if he was doing it with the intention of loving protection of the people around him AND the shooter, then he was doing Aikido. But then I've heard that he is now saying he does Aikijujitsu.....so who knows.

We had a Seagal school open up in Ft. Lauderdale back in Seagal's heyday. I had been training in aikido for a while at that point and wanted to see the difference so I took a few classes w/them. It was a world of difference! I couldn't believe how hard a style it was in comparison to how I was trained and the instructor was truly hard core. I'm pretty sure it was far more aikijiujitsu than the aikido I was use to. In truth, it was what I was looking for when I first started training however, as I got older, I knew I couldn't last in it. It was just too brutal and I knew I was going to get injured.

This is the Aikido I've been searching for. Nowhere to be found .

Awesome! I've seen all the movies behind you as well lol.

Lift some weights for a year, get 3 months of boxing and 6 months of BJJ/wrestling, and you'll get plenty of more than 20 years of any kind of aikido. Yep, it's a bit harsh and I know it, but it is also true.

Very well said

I remember Joe Rogan explaining on a podcast some years ago that Steven Seagal is a legit martial artist despite what the haters say.

Has an aikido practitioner myself, I keto being a secondary art to my primary, which is American Kenpo, I can say that it is truly effective, and works really well. Unfortunately, even though the techniques are very usable, they’re not always taught in a usable fashion. Dalton Ryu Aikijujutsu what is the art? Aikido’s founder had mastered and served as the foundation for his Aikido. However, much of the techniques took on a more dynamic expression, dealing with flow and momentum, while reducing emphasis on the more pain compliance and aggressive wrist locks, that are part of the art. The emphasis started to focus more on the flow of momentum, as well as the flow of internal energy to be an external expression of one’s internal spiritual energies to focus on the overall ideals of peace and harmony for this reason many modern Aikido dojo’s continue to teach techniques that are essentially incredibly effective, but without giving the student the knowledge of how to make them work in the most effective and efficient manner with self defense as a focus. Matsuoka Sensei is one of sensei Steven Seagal’s most senior students, and returned to the states with him when he left Japan to open up the. TenShin Dojo in California. Matsuoka sensei still teaches, and I’ve had the privilege of attending some of his seminars and trainings. What I can honestly say is that it keeps the innovative approach of dealing with flow and momentum that aikido brought about while maintaining the combat effective focus of its parent art. The way I view aikido is that everybody who studies learns techniques that work, but many schools don’t teach how to make it work in the most effective way. Aikido, and American Kenpo both get accused of being ineffective, but the time I spent with10th SFGA and deploying regularly, I can say that they do in fact work and have been pressure tested extensively.

A lot of people don't know about it but Chuck Norris studied Aikido also. He mentioned in an interview with Dick Cavett that he'd trained in Aikido for several years.

Love Aikido. Love Martial Arts. Love This Channel.

It works. Done security for 20 years. Have trained many arts since i was 5 and have one ko and it was with Aikido take down. Head hit the floor and they was out. It works in right situation and right practioner

Remy seems like a cool legit dude. Hey you should have Leny Sly and talk about aikido. He trained with seagals top students.

It would be cool if you could interview Steven Seagal the man himself!

People that don't know Morihei Ueshiba's early history really won't understand how harsh and brutal his teaching style used to be. His later elder years are like night and day compared to how he used to be in the Dojo. The legendary Masahiko Kimura (Judo) trained with Ueshiba in the early days and he had a large fear and respect for the man.

I have subscribed long time ago:)

I think there is a big difference between pre-war and post-war aïkido. And most of what we see now is post-war aïkido. From what I read, post-war aïkido was affected by the evolution of the master but also by his experience with the war. I think he wanted to change some things in his art because of that. Then you have his descendants that might also have changed a couple of thing to bring the art to another place.

I was already doing Muay thai and ang boxing before I did Aikido. My Aikido instructors are already practitioners of other arts and some of them are MMA fighters. We do pressure testing after class for advanced students.

I am a fan of Tenshin Aikido practitioner Lenny Sly and his Rogue Warriors training.

Yeah Remy representing aikido good, hope to see more of his aikido skills in action. It would be awesome if he entered a kumite like the old school ufc

If you read O'sensei original students they wrote a lot about importance of atemi. For example Gozo Shioda wrote Aikido is 70% atemi. And he even mentions a story of Usheiba breaking hip bone of a challenger with a strike during a demonstration.

In all fairness it is not just that there is a lot of bad Aikido out there. There is a lot of bad everything out there...Tae Kwon Do, Kenpo, Judo, Tai Ji Quan, Karate, et. al. .....people getting black belts within one year, without ever doing open kumite or sparring against a resisting opponent. One of my teachers used to tell students, "if you can't make your ____ work , it is not because ____ sucks. It is because YOU suck. It is your responsibility to make it work!" Fill in the blank with your favorite art.

Many good points Remy. I too wasn't the favorite at dojo because I trained for realism in techniques. Black in Aikido is worth less to me than my black in Aikijujitsu. People think the big full fancy moves can be imployed in fights... only basic entry to atemi then throw or lock will be wise if attacked. Mostly not the art for combat but great for self defense. Not in UFC for a reason.

I read a rumor (that may not be true) when Warren Beatty bought the rights to Dick Tracy in the late 80's, Steven Seagal was one of the actors rumored to play Dick Tracy (after playing no non-sense cop in Above the Law). I wonder a movie that is portrayed in the 1930's where a Detective doing joint locks and throws using a style invented in the mid 1930's (probably only exclusive to a small circle of people in Japan). He beat the crap out of William Forsythe (who played Flat Top in Dick Tracy) in Out for Juctice

I’m sure Seagal appreciate you, as do I. Thanks for regarding him in a good light.

Love to see a Jeet Kune Do series next.

People do criticism because they don't understand like when i went to a kendo teacher told him i wanted to train kendo for exercise help strengthen my empty hand he asked what i trained told him i did goju ryu when i was younger for 3 years formally still practice my katas then told him i did wing chun for 11 years but my teacher is closing his school soon so i joined yoshinkan aikido under takashi kimeda whos an amazing sensei but he told me not to waste my Time on wing chun and goju ryu iust focus on aikido which i understand but i love my wing chun my mook jong long pole butterfly swords siu lum taq etc i also think aikido is amazing can work well with other Martial arts takashi kimeda won't be around forever so i would appreciate to learn some stuff from him i did not enjoy the kendo sensei putting down wing chun and goju ryu but hes free to his opinion i already had training in basic kendo and Japanese kobudo from my sensei long ago i love all Martial arts except no touch knock out guess ill just practice my boken in the back yard

Got introduced to Aikido when transitioning from Kyokushin to Enshin….karate lol! Okay, limited actual aikido experience but I know my Sabaki and Kozushi especially the two handed pull. When I switched from Enshin to Muay Thai, I figured out how to adopt my “grabs” to arm bars with gloves on - to perform Sabaki movements. @vikingsamurai sounds like you are from Washington state? The Sabaki challenge tournament was popular in there in the late 1990’s. Open to any styles but the mainly between Enshin, Kyokushin and other bare knuckle styles.

Really rare to hear about daito ryu aikijutsu. Which is the mother art to aikido. I think only sensei Gozo (I might be messing that name up) kept the pre-war aikido training intact.

I must admit this form of Akido is deadly, it's a system that evolves to what's out there...

I think many people love Aikido, they just want to make it work in real life which it absolutely can if you pair the techniques with other arts. Aikido,Judo and Jiu Jitsu are like estranged family members that need to be reunited to be made whole.

Great video. So many BJJ and Muay Thai nut-huggers and because of the UFC. Look at traditional standup arts like Jujitsu, especially what Wally Jay did. That's more applicable to real life than rolling in your back waiting to get your head kicked in or not knowing how to control a standing situation without striking. Real life isn't nearly a simple as in the cage.

Just curious. Who wins, Muy Thai vs Aikido.? I do Muy Thai lol. Pretty confident w my kicks but if a aikido master catches my kick, I'm sure he'll blast my s%$t haha Awesome Vid Viking! Love the content. Also shared it on my fb so people can see your channel.

Yes Tenshin is effective against resisting attackers in real fights

The real aikido was like this very straight forward direct realistic

Would love you to look into arakan one day.

Another great interview. I learned my Aikido in Okinawa. I continue teaching on the East Coast but I am not affiliated with any of the USA organizations because of this watered down effort I witness in America. I keep my ties directly to Japan.

I did 22 yrs in prison ....killed a drug dealer in a shootout . I was 19. NY I trained in prison with alot of Karate and Tae Kwon Do....guys .on the sneak..your not allowed to practice martial arts inside. But ...I learned alot of training techniques ..conditioning....most Karate guys didn't like Seagal. Egos in the way. My older brother was heavily into American Combat Karate..and Ed Parkers American Kenpo Karate. His instructor in American Combat was world record holder breaker ..Richie Barathy. Richie met Seagal in early 90s in California and he told my brother and his fellow students Seagal is Lightening fast....deadly..... As ll his moves were death oriented. Not your average Aikido instructor. I have a wrestling and boxing background ...but the Karate I picked up over the years has indeed complimented my street fighting ability. I learned wrist locks.....kotogieshi....some redirection techniques. I think a combination of the best techniquees are better for those not having 15 years to learn complex internal energy flows etc....like Barathy said ...... As couple of solid low kicks ..nothing higher than the waist ..and explode with rapid hard hand and elbow strikes to eyes throat groin. He used to tell his students...if he moves a fraction of an inch ..stomp him until he ceases to move.

Could you do a video on traditional aiki jujutsu vs modern aikido and the differences I haven't seen anyone cover that yet

the question shouldn't be "what separates aikido from other martial arts " but "what separates aikido from other jiujutsu - derivative arts. all jiujutsu based styles are so different to other martial arts that they should be handled as a separate entity. The ultimate form of martial arts if you aske me 😎

He is one of 5 grand masters on earth. Doing it for over 40 years.

Aikido must include judo and boxing in its program. Someone who has never boxed will never be able to hit a boxer in the head. The boxer will read the trajectory of the blows and dodge them like child's play. Now, if the boxer knows aikido techniques, he'll apply them with unprecedented effectiveness. Judo will help the boxer if he enters into a hand-to-hand confrontation.

You know that kind of makes sense about the soft Aikido when he mentioned the reason why was like that I had an image of Tai Chi which I guess if you're older and you can't move very well but you always wanted to do Aikido for fun and that could be the ticket

Viking Samurai I have a question might be a silly one I love watching martial arts I wondered would you ever consider doing a fight scene with a friend on one of your videos just to show a little bit of your Martial Arts and have some fun in a fight scene like they do in the movies

Cool 👍👌 in my experience bjj, boxing, and karate/tkd. MMA (obviously) Is whereas arts like kickboxing are present but not as widely popular. At least here on cali

With tenshin aikido it’s very old school where strikes kicks punches & chokes wasn’t taken out.. compared to todays teachings where some dojo schools of aikido don’t Incorporate what is known as atemi waza but focus more on movements balance breaking kuzushi but what they don’t understand is aikido has all of these strikes it was called then aiki jujitsu if you read about it’s founder Morihei Ueshiba he was a great Japanese martial artist he founded aikido 🇯🇵 & changed its Philosophy… but if you look at tai jitsu it’s Ancestry is Aikido and if you look at Aiki jujitsu Same again same ancestry you can Incorporate atemi waza in your own training

People who complained about martial arts practice drills should complain about people doing target practice with guns and say that is useless and they need to have people shooting at them too during practice.

Omg seagal again dude please let this chanel grater again 🙏

Real compassion can be seen in the willingness to sacrifice yourself for your fellow students especially in Aikido, BJJ, wrestling even judo in the fact that there's really very little that can be done to get better without a partner willing to train with you. This is not to take away from the hard sacrifices made in the various awesome striking arts, but my point is that there aren't any katas, bag work etc that can be done alone. You have to work together, attack as realistically as possible and yes, hurt each other as you get closer to that edge of giving and dealing with a real hardcore honest attack. Additionally, a big part of people not understanding Tenshin Aikido is that they see training and public demos as needing to translate to dealing with street attacks and thinking that the demos are the only way we train.

Hey viking Samurai.... can you please put up a top 25 list of martial arts movies you enjoy? Maybe get other's input using polls?

I think another part of the internet Seagal-Aikido hate is that he doesn't know when to quit. He is over 70 now, can't move around as well anymore (obviously comes with old age and almost inevitably gaining some weight). It seems like he'd lost his mind somewhere along the way. In the same way that his old movie classics inspired martial artists, his straight-to-dvd contemporary stuff does the exact opposite. It also doesn't help that he was never much of a good person (I won't waste time here listing it - that would be besides the point and it's easy to look up). And fans tend to believe seemingly likeable people more - a big human flaw. But, personally, it took me a WHILE to see past the old guy whose huffs and puffs you can hear before he enters the room and the next thing you hear, he's trying to convince you that he's some kind of a deity. I won't comment on the art itself, I'm not a practitioner and there's plenty of people here down in the comments who can explain that part super well.

I came across a video on you tube of James coburn talking about seagal and seagal training in wing chun etc

I think Aikido can be effective and a good martial arts to train Steven put it on the map world wide and I think he is the real deal

No one can deny that he has the biggest belt...

"I didn't hear no bell!".... Haha, nice pull. I think sans the last act of Rocky V it's a great film, the street fight is just too cheesy for what otherwise appears to be a back to basics gritty drama like the original Rocky film. Luckily I think Balboa really nailed that concept.

There is no post war Aikido. You can find pictures of Ueshiba when he was old still use atemi. Actually the most popular Aikikai Aikido is more a creation of his son Kisshomaru. Iwama ryu is more close to Ueshibas Aikido.

Stephen wrist locked his way into our hearts...

Bruce Lee introduced Wing Chun Kung Fu to the world, and Steven Seagal introduced Aikido to the world. No matter what we may think, this is what they have contributed. It's major.

When I was a kid, I took a Japanese hard style called, "Yoshukai." When I first saw a Steven Segal movie, I immediately recognized so much of his movement, stances and mechanics, because that old aikido is rooted in all Japanese styles that came from the Bushido tree of arts. The more advanced levels of our school did in fact teach direct aikido techniques, and they weren't the sissy ones (think, taking off an ear). I've always respected the Japanese hard sty;es, and always thought Segal was true to that hard style philosophy.

Hahahahaha love the rocky segment.

I allaways thaut it was just simple Aikido... Remy seems pretty legit to me.

What do you think of Adrian Paul (Highlander Series)? He does aikido, I think.

Is there any footage anywhere, where Aikido is being applied and actually works in a real situation?