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Old 02-17-2007, 06:52 PM   #22
DonMagee
Location: Indiana
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,311
United_States
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Re: Aikido vs Brazilian Jujutsu

I think aikido can work, the question I have to ask is if the person is prepared to deal with a trained sport fighter. I'd have to look at the persons physical shape, see how their cardio is, etc. Its a whole different world of training. Most aikidoka do not train in a manner that is going to prepare them for a confrontation with a well trained athlete. The biggest mistake I think an aikido person could do is try to grapple with a bjj guys. I would suggest striking and moving. Grabbing onto a bjj guy gives him power (at least that is how I feel when someone grabs me, that they are feeding me). So I would go for more throws and less attempts to joint lock or grab. You also have to remember that bjj guys, like wrestlers and judo guys, tipically have very good balance. They are also ok with taking a hard hit if that means they can drag you into their world. If you let that happen, then all is lost (unless you have trained submission grappling). But if you could manage to keep the bjj guy off balance, on his feet, and moving, the question comes do you have the cardio to wear him out. If you can do that, you can beat him.

Now the reverse side of this is that if you trained throws and submisson as 'hard' as bjj guys train their stuff, then you probably will be able to do it against a fully resisting oppoenet, and thus you stand a much better chance. Again, allow me to point to my drill thread in the technique area that I feel would help improve chances of using techniques in physical resistant encounters such as this.

Or of course you could get a fat, weak, out of shape, unskilled, bjjer. They do exist contrary to popular belief. Its just that if they stick with it, they usually don't' stay that way long.

So the question is not can aikido beat bjj. Its do you train in a way that will give you the tools needed to deal with the way that person trains. I have to say that for the average non sport fighter, the answer is no, because they do not train vigorously enough, or with the right training methods to deal with a person who trains the way a sport fighter trains. Of course add a little Matt Thornton into your training and the odds improve. It also helps if you were a bad mofo before you started training in martial arts.

So I say, go give it a try. That is what I did. See if what you know works against them. Some of them will even be willing to suspend some rules to help you. At that point, take stock in what worked and what didn't. Then go and figure out why you failed at the stuff that didn't. See what you can do to improve it, and how you can change your training to make you better. That doesn't mean switch to bjj if you get wrecked. It just means adjust how you train if dealing with a well trained athlete is important to you.

- Don
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein
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