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Old 05-31-2007, 12:30 AM   #103
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Re: What technique would you apply to neutralize Brazilian Jujitsu attacker

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Re: What technique would you apply to neutralize Brazilian Jujitsu attacker

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Quote:
Michael Fooks wrote:
I've said this before ad nauseum on other threads but guess you have not tracked them down.

1. Why is it so important to find an "aiki" solution to a problem Aikido was never designed to solve?
2. How do you define an Aikido solution? Does it need to be kote gaeshi and shiho nage or will it do to take the principals and strategies of Aikido and adapt them to the ground situation? I mean principals like blending, centering, leading, off balancing, focusing the unified power of your movement against their weakest points etc ertc.
3. If you are happy to use aikido strategies on the ground and call that an aikido solution - the good news is there is much that can be done. In fact a lot of work has been done in this area and it goes by the name of BJJ.

I have benefited a lot from your threads thanks Michael, it seems the majority opinion is on complementing Aikido with BJJ, thefore the question now is: would you train in both martial arts right away or concentrate your effort into one until reaching black belt then explore the second?
Not an easy question to answer. It depends on many things and becomes personal in nature..

I train in both right now. I see the benefits for myself and I can say I would recommend it.

However,

It really depends on you and many things, and is something each individual needs to explore separately with the guidance I think of good mentors and sensei.

On one hand (extreme), if you goal was to be a good grappler, or to compete in BJJ aikido would be a waste of time.

One the other end, if you goal was to realize and reach a deeper understanding of O'sensei's message, then BJJ would be a waste of time.

In between there is a great deal of room for exploration and interpretation. The two arts are complementary I think, enough so that it is worth spending some time exploring each of them.

Right now I am recommending that one of my BJJ students spend some time in Tai Chi, Aikido, or some other art because he simply has issues with posture, breathing, and movement that I cannot seem to correct within the context of BJJ. Slower, more deliberate training I think may be helpful to him at this point.

I don't think you need to wait to get your blackbelt in either art. Frankly if you did that, it would take you about 10 or 15 years to derive the benefits of the synthesis of the methodologies.

I would though in most cases say that you probably should ground yourself a little in one or the other for a while (year or so), starting two arts cold turkey just getting comfortable and going through the learning curve would be a challenge.

Each persons path is different, but no harm in trying things out for yourself, there is no one right way, formula or mix.

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