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Old 08-26-2008, 09:23 PM   #115
Keith R Lee
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 219
United_States
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Re: Defending Against Grappler Using Aikido

Haven't visited Aikiweb in a few months; a combination of being busy and growing tired of the same discussions coming up again and again. I come back and lo and behold, what do I discover on the front page:

"Defending Against Grappler Using Aikido"

L-O-freaking-L. People really can't let this go can they? I think Michael summed it up best here:

Quote:
Michael Fooks wrote: View Post
here's the question though. When these discussions come up - why is it that *everyone* who has a degree of experience in both Aikido (by which I mean a dan grade in aikido and at least a blue belt in bjj) have the same perspective? is it possible there's something in that?
It's pretty straightforward in my mind (that being said, I fall into Micheal's category above). There are those who come up with elaborate hypothetical situation to determine why their Aikido will work in one of these encounters. Then there are those who just go to a BJJ/MMA gym and try it out and see what happens. Then some of them go on to study BJJ/MMA and Aikido. Considering that these people have the greatest depth of knowledge in regards to the subject, it would follow that people would yield to their greater amount of experience and expertise. But nope, by the tone of a significant amount of the rest of the posters, the people who have years of experience in Aikido and BJJ are just doing it wrong.

Personally, I just got tired of reading this type of thread again and again, and going . Finally, I just got to the point of and just shook my head at the naivete of the majority of posters here who come into these discussion with only Aikido experience. It's just not worth it trying to convince some people. Although Michael, Kevin, Don, Roy Dean when he posts, are to be commended for sharing their knowledge and experience here.

Beyond all that, I would think that Aikidoka would not fall into the trap of Aikido v. anything. The entire point of Aikido is to move beyond conflict. The question should not be how does Aikido fare v. BJJ or whatever? It should be how does Aikido blend, adept, and compliment BJJ?

Whenever someone talks of BJJ or MMA as a brutish, sport-oriented, essentially soulless activity, it is patently obvious to me that such a person has never spent any significant time at a BJJ or MMA gym. They are ABSOLUTELY places of kenshin - the intensity of the training, the bond with other students, the pushing of boundaries, testing one's mettle, pushing beyond what you thought you had within yourself to find something greater - all exist in a BJJ/MMA gym. Perhaps more so than an Aikido dojo. It inevitably depends on the individual and in the manner in which they wish to forge themselves.

Invariably I think this versus, or absolute Aikido or nothing mindset rests on the twin specters of fear and ego. Many Aikido fear BJJ and its ilk in that they don't understand it. They also fear that it is a superior method of actually dealing with a physical crisis scenario which, in turn, assaults their ego. They fear that they have vested too much work into something that might have been a waste of time and effort. These people have used Aikido to transform aspects of their lives and feel as though they are being told it is false. IMO, these people have missed a large part of Aikido training, which is to subsume the self (ego) and banish fear.

There is no need to create a "us" v. "them" barrier between Aikido and combat sports; "traditional" v. "alive." Both have their place in training and, for what it's worth, I find that they seem to compliment one another in many respects.

Keith Lee
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