when i started aikido in 98 i could never make it work - so much so that i left it and started baguazhang. an internal Chinese MA. internal power was explained in simple terms and it worked. i'm now taking my 16 yr old son to aikido lessons, my aiki works so well. if this was explained and practiced at the outset of all aikido training, students would stay longer and be much. more proficient.
Great vid. My dad used to amaze everyone (myself included) with his Aikido 'unbendable arm' and other tricks, and always explained it as 'extending ki.' But eventually he realised it was literally nothing more than physics and muscle engagement tricks. A lot of people need to realise these things before they go off wasting their time 'making chi balls' and the likes.
Saying "the weight is magnified" is actually correct in physics if we take the person at the far end of the lever as the frame of reference. The distance he has to lift the weight is compressed, so the two multiplied still results in the same amount of energy needed to lift the weight.
Exactly so. Beautifully clear explanation of leverage in Martial Arts (and everything else). Arts like Aikido employ the principles of leverage extremely well in my humble opinion. The efficient use of the Human Body's geometry, connective tissues, and nervous system is what makes it look like, "Magic". That it takes a little more understanding, and contemplation of all that to master Aikido's techniques rather than simply throwing a haymaker is what could be considered, "Internal". Excellent video.
@ 7:47 you are not pushing from your elbow. you are actually pushing from your back foot - and if you note it - it is the opposite foot from the palm. the opposite foot-hand is actually a principle where energy (force) transfers from ground-ankle-knee-hip to: latissimus dorsi (coiling motion) through the shoulder/elbow out to the palm. This is the total Chinese Secret.
Hi Cristopher, where is your Dojo ? I like very much the way you teach. I apologies for my bad Inglish , I speak French and Spanish . You are a very good Aikido's teacher . I love it . I can see Aikido with a new angle . Keep going like that . Thank you for all yours vidéos .
Leverage is discussing the properties of a piece of iron. Internal power is discussing the properties of that piece of iron after it has become magnetized. You can't debunk magnetism by playing with an unmagnetized lump of metal and a piece of wood.
I feel it's more like- there are some people showing leverage, saying it's magnetism. I'm trying to give a better explanation of leverage- so that people can see that what is being called magnetism is actually just leverage.
Right approach to use standard physics to shed light on the mystified styles of martial arts. Before making martial artidsts seem ridiculous let me quote Master Nakayama of Shotokan Karate said that any style is represented by its specific techniques, which becomes evident when watching a aikido practitioners, grapples or standard Karatekas. While Karate uses distancing and hits by legs or hands, aikido employes defensive movements with blocks and through, while grapplers rely on holds and armbars, throws, or even groundfighting. All of them apply some of the truth of physics, distance, leverage, angles and speed with an appropriate force and tactics as well. Paul, 68, retired instructor of Karate
Isn't this a huge proponent of the aiki aspect of redirecting opponent's force against them? The so called physics of aikido/jujitsu arts? It would be highly appreciated to see you make videos of how to set up aikido techniques in mma, like Shihya Aoki with the waki gatame. I understand you have your perception of aikido, but I still think there's a lot of aikido that can be used in the octagon, even if it would be as little as tai sabaki, ma ai and shomen ate or waki gatami. Hope you get the time to see what you could experiment to use practically in octagon. Take care
Based on his previous videos about how Aikido is meant to work, I think his perception of the perfect Aikido practitioner in an MMA cage would look like the guy running away, and avoiding any kind of striking, grappling, clinching etc range for the full match. They would lose based on 1. lack of activity or 2. lack of aggression. That's a 'perfect' scenario. What it would most likely look like is the Aikidoka avoids and disengages until they get unlucky and get caught in a place, at which point they get taken down and smashed (if they have no other martial arts to supplement) into a loss. All the techniques in Aikido that would be useful in an MMA fight can pretty much be found elsewhere, with far more appropriate setups and tactical frameworks. Based on his approach (which in my opinion is the most sensible interpretation of what aikido is meant to be / look like that I have seen) you can't really do aikido in the octogon. You can't maintain freedom, you can't get to a stronger weapons platform, and you can't deescalate. The thing is, he already tried his aikido in mma etc and found it didn't really work and there were better answers found elsewhere for that sort of thing.
A good discussion of leverage, but the assumption that this is a good explanation for all Qi/Ki phenomena is incorrect. See the new film The Power of Qi (the one narrated by Morgan Freeman), and check out the practitioners shown there.
I’ll have to respectfully disagree; I’ve worked with students of some of those mentioned, and their skills are entirely legit. I think it’s important to stay humble in this world, and keep an open mind. Best of luck with your teaching!
I agree, keep an open mind I've studied with some of those mentioned, and you'd be amazed at what Ormond McGill could achieve. Best of luck in your adventures.
Good explanation of levers and body mechanics, but I did not see much related to internal works here. Using levers is not the same thing as internal martial arts.
@@ChuShinTani I like a good explanation and you got it to a 'T' ... Takes away the "woo woo" that so many like to "impress" people with... It really irks me to see the BS we do... I see they still argue the toss on Aikiwebb... It's why I got banned... Too outspoken...
i dont really get it. you have the same result but you use only external mechanics like levers. once you do it using internal power then you do internal. just saying.. you dont debunk internal styles, you simply show its possible to copy the outcome using external leverage.
If you can do it through leverage. And you can explain it, in a way that everyone can understand and do themselves rather quickly- or you do it through "internal" methods that are very difficult (read impossible) to explain and only a few vetted masters can demonstrate... You see where I'm going here...
Obviously he has never experienced or witnessed real internal force. This is not at all how it is used. His crude demonstration is typical of someone who doesn't comprehend basic or advanced scientific principles of the human biological energy systems.
You just teach basic leverage here, so your titel is misleading. Also everybody knows this and did learn this at school. Have you ever read about Ueshibas abilitys? For exampke he could hold out a Jo and two people push at the tip from the side and couldnt move the Jo. Explain this with leverage!
I have explained it. Have you ever heard of Lulu Hurst? She was a woman who could push full grown men over with a pinky. Everyone, including the scientists of her time (she would have been a contemporary of Ueshiba) thought that she had mystical powers that couldn't be explained. That is until her biography came out and she explained how it all worked- leverage, group think and illusion.
@@ChuShinTani "she later revealed that her feats had nothing to do with strength but were stage tricks " You compare Ueshiba, Aikido to a show magician?(What is totaly wrong in my view) So why are you stick with Aikido if you do nothing else than Ju Jutsu?
Aiki is not "internal power" in my opinion. It is a way to make energetic harmony- like a conversation. The system of Aikido is very different than Jujutsu- the goal of Jujutsu is to physically dominate your opponent. The physical goal of Aikido is to keep you safe long enough to have that conversation. Ueshiba was known to use all kinds of psychological tricks the get to the conversation he wanted- he had perfect Aiki and knew how to systematical use Aikido to make that happen.
@@ChuShinTani Have you ever read Art of peace by Ueshiba? Or anything of his disiples what it was like to be uke for him? Why do you think he had so many black belts from other martial arts? They all expierenced the same. They couldnt resist! Unless you dont have that power or ability its not Aikido.
Sure… but you’re brushing over the skill involved. You chat about leverage for ages and then say, “now I line up that lever and I can push easily with my whole body.” Well yeah… you’re aligned and skilled in pushing with your whole body. But that’s the thing that takes practice. Having taught many people internal power generation from a TCM stand point, it’s this alignment that takes them ages to grab and what “standing on a mountain” for a king time (figuratively) achieves. Most beginners try to push with their arm muscles and dont find the correct alignment with their target. Finding your own alignment and then tying it to the thing you’re trying to push is essentially the ‘secret’ behind internal power. And then, the thing that takes a long time, is being able to achieve that alignment of yourself and to your target in a fraction of a second and deploy it under stress.
Weapons actually help to understand a lot of the internal stuff in Aikido, it's so much harder to see and learn without.
when i started aikido in 98 i could never make it work - so much so that i left it and started baguazhang. an internal Chinese MA. internal power was explained in simple terms and it worked. i'm now taking my 16 yr old son to aikido lessons, my aiki works so well. if this was explained and practiced at the outset of all aikido training, students would stay longer and be much. more proficient.
Great vid. My dad used to amaze everyone (myself included) with his Aikido 'unbendable arm' and other tricks, and always explained it as 'extending ki.' But eventually he realised it was literally nothing more than physics and muscle engagement tricks. A lot of people need to realise these things before they go off wasting their time 'making chi balls' and the likes.
Thanks for sharing!
Chi balls sound tasty, like rice balls
Saying "the weight is magnified" is actually correct in physics if we take the person at the far end of the lever as the frame of reference. The distance he has to lift the weight is compressed, so the two multiplied still results in the same amount of energy needed to lift the weight.
Exactly so. Beautifully clear explanation of leverage in Martial Arts (and everything else). Arts like Aikido employ the principles of leverage extremely well in my humble opinion. The efficient use of the Human Body's geometry, connective tissues, and nervous system is what makes it look like, "Magic". That it takes a little more understanding, and contemplation of all that to master Aikido's techniques rather than simply throwing a haymaker is what could be considered, "Internal". Excellent video.
Shout out to Josh and Maya.😋😎👍🏾
Thanks for sharing!
Yeah internal power is bone structure, muscle mass, gravity, and force = mass X acceleration.
Brilliant video - much needed and hardly discussed!
Thanks for watching!
This helps clarify some of my experiences in Aikido and BJJ. Great vid, thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you. Looking forward to the next videos.
Thanks for watching!
A great explanation the simplicity of it made it awesome
Glad to hear that!
Congrats, it a level up to understand this, more internal arts will go through this phase
Great example of external structural body mechanics.
The truth is, there is no difference between "internal" and "external"- the only difference is whether it is a mystery or it's explained.
Excellent instruction! Thank you! 🙏
Glad it was helpful!
@ 7:47 you are not pushing from your elbow. you are actually pushing from your back foot - and if you note it - it is the opposite foot from the palm. the opposite foot-hand is actually a principle where energy (force) transfers from ground-ankle-knee-hip to: latissimus dorsi (coiling motion) through the shoulder/elbow out to the palm. This is the total Chinese Secret.
Great expalation
Hi Cristopher, where is your Dojo ?
I like very much the way you teach. I apologies for my bad Inglish , I speak French and Spanish . You are a very good Aikido's teacher . I love it . I can see Aikido with a new angle . Keep going like that . Thank you for all yours vidéos .
Im in California. Glad you enjoy my work!
Leverage is discussing the properties of a piece of iron. Internal power is discussing the properties of that piece of iron after it has become magnetized. You can't debunk magnetism by playing with an unmagnetized lump of metal and a piece of wood.
I feel it's more like- there are some people showing leverage, saying it's magnetism. I'm trying to give a better explanation of leverage- so that people can see that what is being called magnetism is actually just leverage.
Right approach to use standard physics to shed light on the mystified styles of martial arts. Before making martial artidsts seem ridiculous let me quote Master Nakayama of Shotokan Karate said that any style is represented by its specific techniques, which becomes evident when watching a aikido practitioners, grapples or standard Karatekas. While Karate uses distancing and hits by legs or hands, aikido employes defensive movements with blocks and through, while grapplers rely on holds and armbars, throws, or even groundfighting. All of them apply some of the truth of physics, distance, leverage, angles and speed with an appropriate force and tactics as well. Paul, 68, retired instructor of Karate
Isn't this a huge proponent of the aiki aspect of redirecting opponent's force against them? The so called physics of aikido/jujitsu arts?
It would be highly appreciated to see you make videos of how to set up aikido techniques in mma, like Shihya Aoki with the waki gatame. I understand you have your perception of aikido, but I still think there's a lot of aikido that can be used in the octagon, even if it would be as little as tai sabaki, ma ai and shomen ate or waki gatami. Hope you get the time to see what you could experiment to use practically in octagon.
Take care
Based on his previous videos about how Aikido is meant to work, I think his perception of the perfect Aikido practitioner in an MMA cage would look like the guy running away, and avoiding any kind of striking, grappling, clinching etc range for the full match. They would lose based on 1. lack of activity or 2. lack of aggression. That's a 'perfect' scenario. What it would most likely look like is the Aikidoka avoids and disengages until they get unlucky and get caught in a place, at which point they get taken down and smashed (if they have no other martial arts to supplement) into a loss.
All the techniques in Aikido that would be useful in an MMA fight can pretty much be found elsewhere, with far more appropriate setups and tactical frameworks. Based on his approach (which in my opinion is the most sensible interpretation of what aikido is meant to be / look like that I have seen) you can't really do aikido in the octogon. You can't maintain freedom, you can't get to a stronger weapons platform, and you can't deescalate.
The thing is, he already tried his aikido in mma etc and found it didn't really work and there were better answers found elsewhere for that sort of thing.
At 7:45 essentially you are "basing" your elbow. Is there a specific name in aikido for this technique?
I would just say it's an alignment- there may be a specific name for it, but if so I'm unaware of it.
Really good points, man. I'm really enjoying your videos
Thanks!
A good discussion of leverage, but the assumption that this is a good explanation for all Qi/Ki phenomena is incorrect. See the new film The Power of Qi (the one narrated by Morgan Freeman), and check out the practitioners shown there.
You are correct, for an explanation of the kinds of things seen in that video you should look to: James Randi, Steven Banacheck or Daren Brown.
I’ll have to respectfully disagree; I’ve worked with students of some of those mentioned, and their skills are entirely legit. I think it’s important to stay humble in this world, and keep an open mind. Best of luck with your teaching!
I agree, keep an open mind I've studied with some of those mentioned, and you'd be amazed at what Ormond McGill could achieve. Best of luck in your adventures.
Good explanation of levers and body mechanics, but I did not see much related to internal works here. Using levers is not the same thing as internal martial arts.
This is more like a, "if people are doing this, it's leverage, not something else" kind of thing.
@@ChuShinTani thanks, then I am with you. Good walkthrough.
Where did you find the long pole?
We had them custom made, we train with them.
@@ChuShinTani yes I would too if I could find one.
Home Depot has 10' poplar - not a true hardwood, but if you're not going to do a bunch of impact...
I remember Aikiwebb....!! LOL! Sorry, but I knew this way back in 1980 when I got my shodan in Tomiki aikido... Simple body mechanics....
Hey Tony, thanks for watching!
@@ChuShinTani I like a good explanation and you got it to a 'T' ... Takes away the "woo woo" that so many like to "impress" people with... It really irks me to see the BS we do... I see they still argue the toss on Aikiwebb... It's why I got banned... Too outspoken...
Yeah internal power is bone structure, muscle mass, gravity, and force = mass X acceleration.
i dont really get it. you have the same result but you use only external mechanics like levers. once you do it using internal power then you do internal. just saying.. you dont debunk internal styles, you simply show its possible to copy the outcome using external leverage.
If you can do it through leverage. And you can explain it, in a way that everyone can understand and do themselves rather quickly- or you do it through "internal" methods that are very difficult (read impossible) to explain and only a few vetted masters can demonstrate... You see where I'm going here...
Obviously he has never experienced or witnessed real internal force. This is not at all how it is used. His crude demonstration is typical of someone who doesn't comprehend basic or advanced scientific principles of the human biological energy systems.
Comment approved!
@@ChuShinTani lmao 😂
You just teach basic leverage here, so your titel is misleading. Also everybody knows this and did learn this at school. Have you ever read about Ueshibas abilitys? For exampke he could hold out a Jo and two people push at the tip from the side and couldnt move the Jo. Explain this with leverage!
I have explained it. Have you ever heard of Lulu Hurst? She was a woman who could push full grown men over with a pinky. Everyone, including the scientists of her time (she would have been a contemporary of Ueshiba) thought that she had mystical powers that couldn't be explained. That is until her biography came out and she explained how it all worked- leverage, group think and illusion.
@@ChuShinTani "she later revealed that her feats had nothing to do with strength but were stage tricks " You compare Ueshiba, Aikido to a show magician?(What is totaly wrong in my view) So why are you stick with Aikido if you do nothing else than Ju Jutsu?
Aiki is not "internal power" in my opinion. It is a way to make energetic harmony- like a conversation. The system of Aikido is very different than Jujutsu- the goal of Jujutsu is to physically dominate your opponent. The physical goal of Aikido is to keep you safe long enough to have that conversation. Ueshiba was known to use all kinds of psychological tricks the get to the conversation he wanted- he had perfect Aiki and knew how to systematical use Aikido to make that happen.
@@ChuShinTani Have you ever read Art of peace by Ueshiba? Or anything of his disiples what it was like to be uke for him? Why do you think he had so many black belts from other martial arts? They all expierenced the same. They couldnt resist! Unless you dont have that power or ability its not Aikido.
Great leaders are not the most physically powerful people. Those who can understand the minds of others are.
Sure… but you’re brushing over the skill involved. You chat about leverage for ages and then say, “now I line up that lever and I can push easily with my whole body.” Well yeah… you’re aligned and skilled in pushing with your whole body. But that’s the thing that takes practice. Having taught many people internal power generation from a TCM stand point, it’s this alignment that takes them ages to grab and what “standing on a mountain” for a king time (figuratively) achieves. Most beginners try to push with their arm muscles and dont find the correct alignment with their target. Finding your own alignment and then tying it to the thing you’re trying to push is essentially the ‘secret’ behind internal power. And then, the thing that takes a long time, is being able to achieve that alignment of yourself and to your target in a fraction of a second and deploy it under stress.
I agree with your comment. This is simple "how it works" and not a "how to get better" video.
Aikido is a religion not a martial art.