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Old 11-24-2005, 06:43 PM   #37
CNYMike
Dojo: Aikido of Central New York
Location: Cortland, NY
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,005
United_States
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Smile Re: Aikido against judo

Quote:
Keane Lee wrote:
Sorry i know this topic has probably been brought up like 1232144 times,but i seriously need to know whether if you guys are confident to take on and judokas or grapplers?I remember reading a book about Koichi Tohei sensei, he had no problem taking on judokas or anybody.And from what i read it seem like Aikido is able to counter Judo easily.Tohei sensei and his students had no problem.But personally,when my friends try wrestling and stuff,i cant seem to defend myself properly.Though it's playing,i tried my best,but still.. Thats why i have been questioning myself whether if i have been practicing correctly?or why is it my aikido isnt effective?Aikido is suppose to be able to defend against ppl that are bigger, but i seem to have no confidence in doing that..i cant even defend myself against a friendly game with my friends.So can anyone help me pls?
Hi, Keane,

First off, get this in your head: There's nothing wrong with Aikido. There's nothing wrong with your sensei. There's nothing wrong with the way you practice. There's nothing wrong with you.

What is the bad word here? "Wrong." Or any other word with a negative connotation. You do not want to start thinking badly in any way about whatever art you are doing. You want to emphaszie the positive -- what am I getting out of it? What am I learning? Yes, you want to be aware of where things might not work so well, but you don't want that to color your overall perception of the art.

My Kali instructor provides a good example here. He loves boxing -- not only watching it on TV but doing it himself. "It flows very nicely," he says, and even tells you what boxers excel at, like how they "know how to hit you when you think you can't be hit. They're the masters of their range." But he will also tell you what boxing doesn't address. But does this mean anything is inherently wrong with Boxing? No.

It sounds like splitting hairs but I think it's important: There's a fine line between being aware of what you do and don't train for and putting down what you do, even a little bit.

My first karate sensei also said the same things over and over again:

1. Every move has a counter move.

2. You won't win all the time.

3. There's always someone out there who knows something you don't.

Did this color the way he talked about karate or taught it? Not that I could see. But it means you shouldn't be flustered if you find someone who is better than you. It's only natural. In fact, this is why I wasn't floored when the Gracies started taking out strikers. They were proving my sensei right, so what was the big deal?

I sometimes wonder if some people are drawn to Aikido by reading aboout the feats of O Sensei and his disciples and think they will become invincible. When that doesn't happen, they go the other way and think Aikido is almost worthless. That may be why you start to see things like "Aikido is not about fighting," or "We train for the street, not a sport," or even, "Master such-and-so knew Judo before he knew Aikido, so of course, he could beat Judoka." So your choices are you are either invicible or totally helpless -- all or nothing.

That helps. Yeah. Right.

Reality is somewhere in the middle. Guro Dan Inosanto always says, No one art has all the answers, but everything has something to offer. Aikido does work and does have something to offer you, but it may take a while to dope out what. Confusing, I know.

I agree with what Leyard Sensei says about how rare martial artists are in our culture, but in your situation that can sound like sour grapes: "Ok, so you pinned me again, but I'm not going to get mugged by a wrestler! <sniff>" Doesn't really help, and can lead to having negative feelings and a chip on your shoulder at the same time.

So what can you do about your friends?

Well, what's happening is you are being faced with techniques you have not and will not see in the dojo, and they are screwing you up. Again, it is only natural that would happen. I ran into the same situation myself twenty years ago, when I started karate. I would spar with friends of mine who had some training and a lot of street experience, and they constantly counfounded me with the things they did. The fakes and tricks were bad enough, but the main thing were the low stomp kicks and side kicks to my kneecaps. They weren't full force, thank God, but they screwed me up because we didn't train against them in the dojo. (Shito-Ryu karate does include a knee kick, basically a standard front kick at knee level, but we never used it in ippon kumite and never learned how to counter it.) However, in time, I learned to watch for the things they did, and even learned to improvise blocks to those kicks. Does that mean my karate training was bad? No. If anything, my training gave me the skills I needed to come up with those counters on the fly. (At the time, in fact, I was in cat stance the whole time and never realized it until afterwards. My best friend, who was watching, noticed that.)

So my advice to you is as follows. First, remember your friends aren't (or shouldn't be) trying to hurt you. (If they are, bail.) This means there's no pressure to "win" except in your own mind. Believe me, it can be there even if you think it's not! Have fun.

Second, if you didn't see this coming, Watch what they do! Pay attention and remember the specific things that screw you up and/or how they get to those positions. The you can think about improvising counters. Note the plural. In grappling, you want at least three counters to any move he makes. If there's just one and it doesn't work, you're toast. If you have two, it's AB or BA and so after two tries, you are toast. However, with three, there are at least six orderings. The more the better. You will find out what confounds HIM; he'll let you know. "Man, what was that? What did you do to me?" Then you can gloat, in a harmonious, non-egotistitcal way, of course. Think about Aikido's principles; this is what you will draw on to generate techniques.

I make it sound like you will be giving it a lot of thought; in reality, you may find yourself learning what to watch out for, and then responding to it on the fly. But again, it should be based on principles, not trying to force a specific technique.

So I hope this helps. Remember: Have fun, don't get mad, and try to learn from watching what they do instead of getting flustered by it. It's a game. Have fun and don't be a sore loser when it happens.

With Respect,

Mike
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