Oh that's possible. I don't know when my sensei trained with Steven, but know for sure he trained under Ueshiba (my sensei, not Steven).

Honestly, I think Steven's contributions to martial arts has more to do with his outsized ego than his ability. Many of the practitioners in my dojo are probably just as skilled, if not more so, than Steven, but they simply don't have his charisma.

I don't think his size is really at cause for his power, however. In aikido, size can serve as a detriment if it is not embodied within the hara -- the center -- and moves with the hips, as in any athletic endeavor.

And as someone who has experienced the kind of qi he references here, the energy is in no way mystical. It is a real phenomenon with actual effects on the mat.

>> ^TheFreak:

>> ^Trancecoach:
My Aikido sensei, an 8th Dan, trained under the founder of Aikido with Steven. when you learn to embody the principles, the art is quite beautiful
His demo starts around 1:15 in this video.

Morehei Ueshiba died in 1969. Steven Seagal went to Japan in 1974. So Seagal never learned Aikido from the founder.
His accomplishments in Aikido are still impressive though. Undoubtedly the biggest influence in popularizing the martial art in the US.
And to elevate one of Westy's points, I suspect he gets more power from being 6'4" than he gets from any form of mystical, universal energy.

Trancecoach's door slams. Twenty two minutes later Trancecoach confronts his Aikido instructor at the dojo. Voices are raised. A struggle ensues. Trancecoach wrestles with his "8th dan" Aikido master. Eventually he gets the better of him when he finally pins his teacher's shoulders to the mat -- despite the fact he's only been taking Aikido for four and a half months.

^ All a matter of context I suppose. As I recall Bruce thought the same at one time, never make kicks above the waist. Your far better off targeting the shins, knees, thighs, and midsection. Mainly because their closer to the foot, utilizing both travel time and energy. Lower kicks can also fall beneath an opponents guard very easily. However, after training with several strong high kickers (i.e. Chuck Norris) Bruce changed his tune slightly, if the opportunity presents itself even a flashy high kick can be extremely devastating. Take one from the master, "be as water" nothing should be written in stone.

The problem is, the most popular dojos/dojangs you find today are either Tae Kwon Do or Karate and anyone who's been to a TKD/Karate tourney knows that high kicks are the only way to score points.

this may be the funniest thing i'll see all week! i wanna train in THAT guys dojo!

Frickin A! Thanks dude. IMHO, the sift doesn't see nearly enough kung-fu.

In reply to this comment by MrFisk:
*quality

The Bunny's self defence is rape?

...at a Ju Jitsu Dojo somewhere in the world...
"First, remember sidestep the attack, keep your hands up, grab the wrist and hip throw. Now apply armlock and force them face down in a submissive position. Make sure you apply you're full weight on them before unzipping and..."

>> ^HenningKO:
Wait... why is it the fat white guy's fault? The guy doing the beating killed him. He clearly lost control and couldn't stop. No one was egging him on, no one told him to stomp on the guy's head.
Sure, no one did shit afterward but don't gimme that nonsense like everyone in the room is a brutal murderer.


That "fat white guy" lured him to the dojo, set up the match, let the brutality occur, issued the command to have the body taken out back, filmed the blood trail, then uploaded it to his Youtube account 25 years later. You don't need to pull the trigger to be a murderer. Charles Manson, Hitler, and Judas are so reviled yet who did they kill?

>> ^TheFreak:
>> ^rougy:
I don't understand why they thought that was necessary.
Pure ego. Martial arts in the US is full of charlatans and egotists. Just the fact that this man uses his former Marine background as a resume indicates that he lacks any substantial success in his life. He's created a world for himself in which he's important by opening a dojo. Someone came along and threatened his personal self image and he reacted murderously. I'd guess he had very low self esteem due to domestic violence until he joined the Marines and found an identity.
Aaaaand, I didn't watch the video. I can't watch that. I believe it's important that it exists but there's no reasonable excuse for me to watch it.


Well said...

>> ^rougy:
I don't understand why they thought that was necessary.
Pure ego. Martial arts in the US is full of charlatans and egotists. Blythe created a world for himself in which his ego reigned supreme by opening a dojo. Someone came along and threatened his personal self image and he reacted murderously.

Aaaaand, I didn't watch the video. I can't watch that. I believe it's important that it exists but there's no reasonable excuse for me to watch it.

Cruisin' Mos Espa
In my Delorean
War's over
I'm a peacetime mandalorian

My story has stumped
Star Wars historians
Deep in debate,
Buffet plate at Bennigan's

Rhyme renegade
Sure to penetrate
First and second offense
I won't hesitate

Got a job to do
And Darth's the guy that delegates
Got something against Skywalker
Someone he really hates

I don't give a fuck
I'm after Solo
For all I care
He could be hidin' at Yoda's dojo

Gotta make the money
Credit's no good
When the jawas runin' shop
In your neighborhood

Think you can cook
I got a grappling hook
Let's make this quick
'Cause I'm really booked

I'm a devious degenerate
Defender of the devil
Shut down all the trash compactors
On the detention level

chorus
My backpack's got jets
Well I'm Boba the Fett
Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt
To finance my 'Vette

wicky wicky woo

Well I chill in deep space
A mask is over my face
Well I deliver the prize
But I still narrow my eyes
'Cause my time
I don't like to waste.

Get down

I'm a question
Wrapped inside an enigma
Get inside the slave one
Find your homing signal

From Endor to Hoth
Ripley to Spock
I'll find what you want
But there's gonna be a cost

See, my name is Boba Fett
I know my shit is tight
Start not actin'right
You're frozen in carbonite

Got telescopic sight
Flame throwers on my wrist
You still don't get the gist
Spiked boots are made to kick

Targets are made to hit
You think I give a shit
Yo mama is a bitch
I see you in the Sarlaac Pit

You just flipped my switch
Integrity been dissed
You scratchin' on my itch
You know I shoot to get

Got bambinas at cantinas
Waitin' to lick my lusty lips
So I'll let you get back inside
Your little space ship

Give you a head start
'Cause I'm the sportin' kind
Consider the starting line
The sneaky smile I hide inside

Hope you have hyper drive (drive)
pray to stay alive ('live)
Don't try to slip me a five
'Cause I never take a bribe

To the beat of a different drummer
Bad ass bounty hunter
Let no man put asunder
Or else they be put under

As in six feet
Got an imperial fleet
Backin' me up, gonna blow up
Any attempt to defeat

They gotta death star
Got four payments on my car
Hand it over to hammer head
At Mos Eisley bar

He used to carjack
Now he's a barback
Just goes to show how you can
Get back on the right track

As for me that's not an option
Can't say that with more clarity
Me going legit would be like
Jar Jar on speech therapy

Chorus
My backpack's got jets
Well I'm Boba the Fett
Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt
To finance my 'Vette

wicky wicky woo

Well I chill in deep space
A mask is over my face
Well I deliver the prize
But I still narrow my eyes
'Cause my time
I don't like to waste.

Get down

Slice you open like a Taun Taun
Faster than the Autobahn
Or a motorbike in Tron
Do the deed and then I'm gone

Jaba has a hissyfit
Contact Calrissian
Over a colt, the plan unfolds
No politic is legit

Back in the day
When I was a slave
Living life in the fast lane
Like in a pod race

My mean streak tweaked
I became a basket case
So this space ace
Split that place, poste haste

Took up a noble cause
Called the Clone Wars
'Cause life's not all about
Girls and cars

Getting fucked up
In fucked up bars
See, I'm not a retard
Or gay like de Barge

I'm large and in charge
With a face so scarred
A cold black heart
That's been torn apart

The Sith wish that they
Had a dick so hard
'Cause it's long long ago
In a pussy far far

Call me master, 'cause I'm faster
Than Pryor on fire
I no longer have to hot wire

I'm a hunter for hire
With no plans to retire
And all the sucka MCs
Can call me sire

Chorus
My backpack's got jets! (jets jets jets)

Well I'm Boba the Fett! (the Fett the Fett)

Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt, (Jabba Hutt Jabba Hutt Jabba Hutt)

...To finance my 'Vette (my 'Vette my 'Vette my 'Vette my 'Vette)

"ASU aikdio"

Maybe this very scene was the basis of Saotome-sensei's kata then! Wouldn't surprise me in the least. After all it was staged by one of Katori Shinto ryu's most distinguished proponents.

Saotome-sensei's bokken and jo are very different though from Saito-sensei's, who was taught the most by Osensei in bukiwaza matters. Osensei based most of his swordplay (he didn't teach any sword kata per se) on Kashima Shinto, in which style he briefly enrolled. The Kashima shrine is directly on the opposite side of the river from Katori shrine, so maybe Saotome-sensei saw fit to bring something from Katori in aikido too? But Saotome-sensei seemed at one time to follow Kashima Shinto (viz. the bokken shape)... Anyways, Katori and Kashima are like cousin-ryu so the basics remain the same.

"You should relax your wrists."

Well, it's not because is wrist is bent that it's tense. Apply nikyo ura to your own wrist (like we do in warming-up) or have it applied to you by someone else. Your wrist is bent but still your keep your wrist relaxed, or at least you should to avoid injury. But here again, in waki kamae the point is moot since you will need to change your grip before striking, even if you strike from below.

"And every kumitachi can be done differently from Dojo to Dojo depending on the teachers."

Yes I know full well, hence the question. It's simply that I do not practice ASU kata, only Iwama (I practiced ASU nito at two seminars but that's it).

ASU aikdio

You should relax your wrists.

Every voluntary muscle should be relaxed, bending the wrist like that activates muscles.

Even a boxer knows this. When I throw a straight left, I should do so with a relaxed arm until the last instant, at contact with my target. The same goes for all strikes or stances.

And every kumitachi can be done differently from Dojo to Dojo depending on the teachers. They are not set in stone, unless they are but I haven't seen these engravings.

>> ^chilaxe:
The claims that non-collusive sparring can't be done using Aikido without hurting the opponent too badly can be tested easily against a mixed martial artist willing to risk broken arms, wrists, fingers etc. (he won't think it's much of a risk). I believe this issue is only going to grow, as mixed martial arts is growing rapidly, with viewership of the monthly UFC events eclipsing boxing and sometimes even baseball viewership among the under 40 generation.

This would be ridiculous, because aikido is practiced as a defensive art. Also see my points below. As an anecdote, there was such a duel arranged between one of Osensei's student and an american judo champion for a film on aikido in the 1960's. The judo guy was told not to attack since aikido was a defensive art. So he didn't. But the aikido representative (Akira Tohei), feinted an attack to create an opening and finally got the much bigger American judo guy on the ground. Still afterwards he was scolded by Osensei who said "You should have waited for an attack no matter what!". This is to say that there is no point in fighting if it's not to defend your life (or honor, since for the old Japanese the two are equal).


Isn't it a good cause to encourage Aikido to back up its claims, or to utilize more realistic sparring? UFC champs become millionaires, so there does seem to be ample incentive to participate.

Japanese bushi (samurai) did not participate in "realistic sparring" with their jujutsu techniques, yet the best of them could have probably killed any UFC champ. Why? Because they were ready to die at anytime. At that level, an untrained and sloppy but sudden and unexpected eye poke, for example, can become a lethal tool.

In my eyes, Judo and MMA competitions are much more dance-like than aikido practice. They're "freeform" dances. In judo and MMA you both have freedom from kata, but you lose that freedom because of 1) rules and 2) the "fair duel" setup, i.e. two guys that know when they will be fighting each other and even sometimes know what techniques the other favors. Aikido on the contrary doesn't require a "fair duel" situation to be effective. In fact, many (dan level) techniques are done with two or three opponents. We also practice with 4 or more opponents to make sure our techniques can flow instinctively under pressure. Karate still has kata with many opponent situation but most student don't even know they're fighting more than one "shadow" opponent in their kata. In comparison, in aikido we practice our "kata" (techniques) with a partner. This is because jujutsu is a skin-to-skin contact art, so you have to train your somatic sensations, up to being able to execute a technique in full darkness (this is practiced in many dojo in fact).

On the other hand, what is difficult with both competition and kata practice is to understand that in a non-comptetition or non-practice situation, you do not have to conform to kata or techniques. You execute them when the occasion presents itself, otherwise you try to create, in the heat of the moment, such an occasion (with atemi or some other distraction). In the end, the best teachers are real situations: if you really want to know if you're ready, go catch some criminals or kill some terrorists.

P.S. I know true judo (as done by Kano and Mifune for example) and many of the arts practiced in MMA by themselves don't need the "fair duel" setup to be effective, but the way they train for competitions makes it so (in fact Gracie jujutsu was made for fair duels. That's how they became famous in Brazil, by dueling. Saying that BJJ is good on the street is like saying a rapier is good on a battlefield: complete nonsense).

Funny how shit like this never works on people who you haven't had time to indoctrinate... One thing about his statement at the end that because those guys at the other dojo were trained athletes they wouldn't be susceptible to his bullshit: uh... then why are your own trainees so much MORE susceptible? If anything, I would say that going to your dojo makes you WEAKER by making you susceptible to some bullshit energy punch that doesn't seem to affect other trained martial artists...

Aw, I like the Aikido vids you've been posting. Makes me think back to the days of my Aikido training. And I would disagree with you about Ikkyo and Nikkyo not being effective if your uke is kneeling. He doesn't finish those techniques because first, he doesn't need to; he already has full control of his uke with the joint-lock, and second, to finish those techniques he'd have to go down to the ground with him, at least that's how those are traditionally taught.

The first technique is a variation of Shiho-nage. Shiho-nage can be translated to "four-directions throw" because of the multiple variations there are. Here, we see the entering form, where you enter the technique by moving your center of gravity under your uke's arm. The turning form has you turning your body around the outside of the arm, but since your uke ends up on his back, its less effective within the context of handcuffing techniques. You want your uke to end up on his belly if you want to cuff him.

The second is Sankyo. You hold your uke's arm as if you were holding a sword. As long as you are turning his arm towards his center, he cannot break free. It can be very painful to resist. If uke tries to strike at you with his free hand, you can apply more torque, which forces him to move away from you.

The third looks like a variation of Kaiten-nage, but I'm not 100% sure. It is an effective shoulder-lock, though.

The fourth is Nikkyo, performed from a two-handed chokehold.

The fifth is Kote-gaeshi, from mune-tsuki. Steven Seagal uses that one a lot in his movies, because if you torque the joint-lock at chest-height, your uke has to take a high-fall over his own arm, or risk breaking it - it looks very flashy when you perform it that way. You can be kinder, and let him down to the ground easier, though.

The sixth could either be another Kote-gaeshi variation, or a nikkyo variant, I can't see his hands well enough. Either way, its a very simple but effective joint lock.

The seventh starts out as an ikkyo, but I don't know the technical term for that elbow torque. I should also note that Ikkyo is called the "first principle" for a reason. If you can get into ikkyo, you can change up to nikkyo, sankyo, or yonkyo very easily. Well, yonkyo is a little harder, because it's a pressure-point-based technique, but Nikkyo was always one of my favorites because of how easy it can be to apply it, especially if you start from an ikkyo. One of my favorite things to do in a Ran-dori (gang attack exercise) was to get one uke into either nikkyo or sankyo and then use him as a shield to interfere with the rest of my training partners, before eventually forcing him into a roll-out.

The eighth and ninth are more variations of nikkyo, one from an ushiro (blind attack) bear hug, the next from a one handed chokehold. The same principle can be applied to a lapel-grab.

The finishing locks he uses aren't always the traditional locks that are taught - he's altered some to make it easier to cuff his uke without sacrificing efficacy.

I've posted before that these techniques are very old, and have stood up against the test of time. While Aikido itself is rather young, the concepts it borrows from are not - they come from ancient Jujitsu principles.

Man I miss training. Keep posting more vids like this, and I just might force myself to find a dojo around here...