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George Howard wrote:
I guess one definition of aiki - in this context, certainly - is yielding, and taking the path of least resistance by allowing the person to do what they want, harmonising with this intent, and adding your power to it.
Whereas what I see in the UFC is a lot of fighters with a wrestling base, who use brute force - in direct conflict with the strength of their opponent - hence the success of Matt Hughes for a long time, for instance, who would pick people up - while they actively used their strength to resist - and slam them.
Chuck Liddell is likewise not concerned with aiki as I understand it - he just gathers as much force into a fist to someone's face, regardless of how 'strong' their face is...
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George, do you have any experience at all in a MMA paradigm to lend any credibility these words? With lots of time in a grappling setting (wrestling, submissions, etc.) I'd put the body sensitivity skills (sense of center, sensitivity to another's position) one develops in that setting to be far superior than most things I've seen in the average aikido dojo. I'd substitue "the surgical application of power" for your (I'd hazard uneducated and non-experiential) description of "brute force".
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George Howard wrote:
I've seen plenty of things in the UFC where i think: 'He should allow him to push his wrist, as he has put such a lot of strength into doing so, that if he removed his resistance quickly, that would unbalance him' etc. - but instead they struggle against one another, not achieving the harmony which, in my opinion, and a lot of others', is what aiki(do) is.
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I would welcome you to visit any MMA gym of repute and see how that works out for you. This notion of "harmony" that you posit I think has a lot more to do with "cooperation" . . which is a noble philosophical aim and definitely has its place in training, but has little to do with managing someone coming at you with the intent to really do harm.
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George Howard wrote:
I was interested with the matter of using atemi to create openings/destroy the posture of somebody before applying a technique when I saw Cro Cop do exactly that to get the choke on that guy on Saturday.
It worked then (beautifully), but i've seen plenty of instances in the UFC where people attempt the same choke on an opponent who can still actively resist. Aiki (I think) is not about doing what you want - it's about doing what your opponent/partner wants: you 'yield' to them, as Gozo Shioda said - you have no intent: you assist the other in their intent, but in the process bring about a different outcome.
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Actually, I think your interpretation is a bit simplistic . . if you look deeper into the context of the discussion, then you get into the notion of having a coordinated body that can "borrow another person's force" in a manner that 1) Offsets any power they can bring to bear on you 2) Makes it possible for that person to defeat themselves when their power is returned to them = aiki from an applicative perspective.
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George Howard wrote:
When GSP and Anderson Silva can do it in a(n actual) war, like O'sensei, Koichi Tohei, Gozo Shioda, and many more aikidoka did, who faced death on a daily basis for years, then returned to civilian life to practice aikido in the way we now practice it, i'll regard the mindset of MMA sportsmen as more valuable/brave than that of aikidoka.
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Wow, I really have no idea what relevant kind of point you are trying to make with this comment at all . . .