aikido to improve krav maga and grappling, opinion on style

Hello everybody, i am a brasilian ju jitsu and krav maga praticioner from Italy. Both there martials arts are deeply imparented with aikido (krav maga is recognized by the italian sports government as "israelian ju jitsu"). In fact the firts two krav maga black belts under the founder Imi Litchenfeld were already aikido and judo black belts too and most of the falls, locks and immobilization techniques are pretty similar to aikido ones, like this https://youtu.be/33QJlLaUC44 or this https://youtu.be/8l49jnk-UbY ). I am preparing for 2nd dan test with a friend aikidoka and he is extremely useful!

Now i am falling in love with aikido alltogheter and i am willing to enroll to a class and study it, but i'd like, due to my combat sport derivation (muay thai for years, now krav maga and bjj) and job (reserve police officer) to "keep it real". So.. what do you think of Tenshin Aikido? It seems pretty realistc, but i hold serious doubt regarding everything concerning Steven Seagal.. i mean, he is a true shihan, and appears to move with precision but.. come on, he also is extremely ow and seems to be a liars concerning many stories.. what do you think of the style of aikido he founded? are his students like Cody Lewallen legit? Or should i go for a classic aikikai school?

Thanks so much!

You'll have to look at Lenny Sly's videos on Youtube, aka "Rogue Warriors Compound" and make up your own mind.

Personally I think Tenshin Aikido is the right direction for the practical branch of Aikido, but it's still Aikido, and its attempts to adapt a weapons system to emptyhand self-defense, will not result in practicality level comparable to BJJ or boxing.

However, I've used Aikido concepts in actual self-defense situation in a crowd, in a situation where I didn't want to seem overly combative with a boxing stance, nor could I go to the ground. Reality creates interaction mechanics that are completely different from something you encounter in sparring, and Aikido works in some situations like that.

Fabrizio Lottici wrote: Hello everybody, i am a brasilian ju jitsu and krav maga praticioner from Italy. Both there martials arts are deeply imparented with aikido (krav maga is recognized by the italian sports government as "israelian ju jitsu"). In fact the firts two krav maga black belts under the founder Imi Litchenfeld were already aikido and judo black belts too and most of the falls, locks and immobilization techniques are pretty similar to aikido ones, like this https://youtu.be/33QJlLaUC44 or this https://youtu.be/8l49jnk-UbY ). I am preparing for 2nd dan test with a friend aikidoka and he is extremely useful! Now i am falling in love with aikido alltogheter and i am willing to enroll to a class and study it, but i'd like, due to my combat sport derivation (muay thai for years, now krav maga and bjj) and job (reserve police officer) to "keep it real". So.. what do you think of Tenshin Aikido? It seems pretty realistc, but i hold serious doubt regarding everything concerning Steven Seagal.. i mean, he is a true shihan, and appears to move with precision but.. come on, he also is extremely ow and seems to be a liars concerning many stories.. what do you think of the style of aikido he founded? are his students like Cody Lewallen legit? Or should i go for a classic aikikai school? Thanks so much!

There are plenty Jujutsu styles similar to something you know already and designed for old days self-defence purposes. Why you actually aim on Aikido?

Fabrizio Lottici wrote: Hello everybody, i am a brasilian ju jitsu and krav maga praticioner from Italy. Both there martials arts are deeply imparented with aikido (krav maga is recognized by the italian sports government as "israelian ju jitsu"). In fact the firts two krav maga black belts under the founder Imi Litchenfeld were already aikido and judo black belts too and most of the falls, locks and immobilization techniques are pretty similar to aikido ones, like this https://youtu.be/33QJlLaUC44 or this https://youtu.be/8l49jnk-UbY ). I am preparing for 2nd dan test with a friend aikidoka and he is extremely useful! Now i am falling in love with aikido alltogheter and i am willing to enroll to a class and study it, but i'd like, due to my combat sport derivation (muay thai for years, now krav maga and bjj) and job (reserve police officer) to "keep it real". So.. what do you think of Tenshin Aikido? It seems pretty realistc, but i hold serious doubt regarding everything concerning Steven Seagal.. i mean, he is a true shihan, and appears to move with precision but.. come on, he also is extremely ow and seems to be a liars concerning many stories.. what do you think of the style of aikido he founded? are his students like Cody Lewallen legit? Or should i go for a classic aikikai school? Thanks so much!

It's all the same crap. The whole point would be to find a good instructor who emphasizes intensity and precise training. That's it.

Fabrizio Lottici wrote: Hello everybody, i am a brasilian ju jitsu and krav maga praticioner from Italy. Both there martials arts are deeply imparented with aikido (krav maga is recognized by the italian sports government as "israelian ju jitsu"). In fact the firts two krav maga black belts under the founder Imi Litchenfeld were already aikido and judo black belts too and most of the falls, locks and immobilization techniques are pretty similar to aikido ones, like this https://youtu.be/33QJlLaUC44 or this https://youtu.be/8l49jnk-UbY ). I am preparing for 2nd dan test with a friend aikidoka and he is extremely useful! Now i am falling in love with aikido alltogheter and i am willing to enroll to a class and study it, but i'd like, due to my combat sport derivation (muay thai for years, now krav maga and bjj) and job (reserve police officer) to "keep it real". So.. what do you think of Tenshin Aikido? It seems pretty realistc, but i hold serious doubt regarding everything concerning Steven Seagal.. i mean, he is a true shihan, and appears to move with precision but.. come on, he also is extremely ow and seems to be a liars concerning many stories.. what do you think of the style of aikido he founded? are his students like Cody Lewallen legit? Or should i go for a classic aikikai school? Thanks so much!

Just to make sure there is no confusion: BJJ is not in any direct way related to aikido. It comes from judo which comes from different parent jujutsu arts than aikido (aikido is related mostly to Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, while judo's parent arts are different). Judo does have some self defence kata which stems from aikido, but I'm not sure if any of that made it into BJJ. You are right, however, that Krav Maga has connections to aikido through the ‘co-founder', and that can be seen in some of the techniques.

I agree and understand the sentiment to keep things real when practising aikido. I think you can find that in many varying lines of aikido, really depending on the teacher. Whichever way you go it's not a quick path to glory, but can be very rewarding. Just remember that if you approach aikido with the mentality of wanting to be bad ass, you may not be satisfied. Not because it doesn't work, but because that is not the attitude aikido aims to foster. Think quiet confidence rather than meathead egotism.