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Old 11-25-2005, 01:37 AM   #41
jss
Location: Rotterdam
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 459
Netherlands
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Re: Aikido against judo

Quote:
Michael Gallagher wrote:
Yeah, but O Sensei wasn't a Judoka, and he sent Judo black belts like Tomiki flying across the room. So the "you need Judo to beat Judo" has a very big hole in it.
O-sensei had experience in Sumo, which is close range grappling, just like judo.

And more importantly, I said having some experience in judo is an advantage against a judoka; I never said you need judo to beat judo. If you want to beat judo to beat judo, you better be the better judoka!
I did judo as a child and when playing around after aikido class I noticed how easy it is to give a cautious attack, twart the other person's attempt at aikido, which will make you end up in close grappling range and then use judo. You need to be really good to apply aikido to the cautious attack or to apply aikido principles at a closer range than they were designed for.
So to generalise, if you want effective aikido, get comfortable in ranges that are not aikido, especially get to know some close range grappling. A year of judo, bjj or wrestling would be plenty. You're not doing it to master those arts, you just want to get the basic idea what they're about. That way when someone closes in on you, your experience will give you a chance to look for aikido principles. Otherwise you'll get uncomfortable, need too much time to adapt and to think, and you will lose.
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