Thank you for uploading. It takes great courage to expose oneself to the internet at large. I am not going to comment on your performance - that was the job of your examiners, not keyboard warriors. Before I started training in aikido and judo I did tae kwon and then wing chun kung fu. When I got my 1st dan in TKD in 1985 my instructor - a 7th dan and All Korean Army champion - told us in his broken English "A black belt is just the beginning - now your real training begins”. I didn't quite know what to make of this as I thought I had already worked my butt off getting to this point after 5 years of hard training. Digression. My black belt test was absolutely gruelling - poomse (kata), different kinds of sparring against single and multiple opponents, self-defence scenarios, and concrete tiles and board breaking. I actually failed it first time because I forgot the movements in one of the poomse (kata), so I had to wait six months before being allowed to take it again, which I passed. I went for my 2nd dan three years later. End Digression. After my exam I finally realised what he meant. The first black belt exam is just one more step on your martial arts journey. Getting a black belt does not make you an instant master but it does give you the understanding of what is required to reach the next level. Whilst executing techniques against a partner who does not fight back may seem pointless and impractical to a lot of people, it allows the examiner to test one's understanding of the techniques. We all start by learning the techniques shown to us by our teachers. At first all we are doing is going through the motions and imitating them. It is only after years of practice that we come to understand the principles behind the techniques - they are far more important than the techniques themselves. Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day, show them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime. It might sound like a cliché but it’s the truth. Right practice comes first, then right attitude, then right understanding. If you have studied Buddhism you will understand this. Aikido has a very steep learning curve and will it take a lifetime to become proficient. So do not worry. The most important thing above all is to approach your training with a beginner's mind. Constantly drill the basics and the more advanced techniques will take care of themselves. The real master can adapt instantly and make up techniques on the fly because they fully understand the concepts behind them.
Hmm, did you complain about my gender on other videos or is that another william? Do you mean that we are not stretching our hands out like in the photos of O'Sensei? That's an intentional choice to focus on modern and effective technique.
I thought about a lot whether to make a comment or not. First of all I admire your braveness to let the comments switched on under this video. You look a nice girl, and I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But I think the way you guys practicing aikido is, how can I say it softly and kindly, is a joke. You completely destroyed the martial part from martial arts. Only arts remained, in a kind of a l'art pour l'art way. You're doing the art just for the art. You remained in the level of forms. (To be honest with you, you still have a long-long way to develop in the forms too, you must do a lot more kihon-waza) Absolutely no intentions in the moves, in the attacks of the ukes, completly empty. They just there to assist for a performance. They don't push you over the limit, not causing any threat at all. Zero, nothing. Martial arts have born on the battlefields. They have one purpose, and one purpose only: to survive, and to do anything what surviving is required. By the way that's the difference between combat sports and martial arts: the reishiki is made by common sense... You guys, with this work, couldn't even last for a second. That's the harsh reality. Without real intentions you can't practice a living thing. Only an empty shell. Like a bird when learning to fly. It has to jump out of the nest. You guys just standing there, not even looking down into the depths, your eyes are closed and you just imaging jumping. There is no ma-ai, no kuzushi, no seme, you don't understand what irimi and atemi really means, the randori is a complete mess. (You just keep getting backwards, giving the ukes space and time so they can swarm you. In randori you have to move forward, move in, or they gonna overwhelm you in a blink of an eye, which actually happened several time) If you really understand a technic or a movement, you can recreate it and make it work in an efficient way. You just copy/paste something you've learnt. But the worst: the ukes are assissting to a completly false, and ineffective thing. The ukes responsibility in practice is huge. They are the uchi-deshi, the higher level students, they must create an environment where they push you over your limits, making you feel threatened, and you must keep yourself calm and effective under these circumstences. That's the key to progress, stepping outside of your comfort zone, crushing your ego, so you can move forward freely. I'm not saying ukes should break your bones, and go berserk. But they must make you feel uncomfortable, they have to make you believe they gonna rip your head off if you make a mistake, and they must recognize if you give them the right responses, not just give their body to you so you can do whatever you want. That's their job, not assisting to bullshit. That's very hard, that's why ukes are always higher levels then toris. Sorry for being honest, I hope I didn't hurt you. But to say something positive at the end: you stood up from suwari pretty fast, I liked that.
Hmm, have you practiced aikido? It's not the best martial art for everyone. I feel like I'm not the real source of your frustration here. It can be hard to tell from a video what is going on and what it feels like. And I must defend my ukes from this unwarranted criticism, they were pushing the limits of my ability and contributed greatly to my test, which I am grateful for. Also, by the way, I'm a nonbinary person who isn't, particularly, nice haha.
Yeah, I've been practicing aikido since 1996... And no, I am not frustrated at all, I told you at the beginning I find you a nice girl. The real problem is not you, it's the way you guys practicing. And yeah, after this many time, you can tell a lot about someone's skills based on a video. You see, movements reflects the way you learn. If you are happy with it, if you're good with the fact that you learn something dead, fine, good for you. The thing is people are forgetting what aikido is. Martial arts are not for flower loving people. You have to understand and accept the purpose, understand the jutsu in it. Aikido became a "do" because after World War II, the amercians banned all martial arts and all dojos in Japan. They only allowed the ones they didn't see as a threat. So O-Sensei made a show for them, put in a lot of circular motion, made everything nice and beautiful, so americans allowed aikido to reopen the Hombu dojo. Look at some of the old footages of O-Sensei before and after the war. Hell, even the name aikido didn't exist before the war. It was called "The martial art that Ueshiba Morihei teach" Look some Daito-ryu videos. Ueshiba took most of the techniques from there, because he learned Daito-ryu. Daito-ryu is called an Aiki-jujutsu. I pressume you are familiar with the terms "jutsu"and "do". "Jutsu" is the essence, the hard core, "do" is more of a spiritual, softer way. But without jutsu the do becomes empty and meaningless. It becomes a delusion. That's why people nowadays say aikido is useless, it's not effective, it's a crap, bla-bla-bla. Beacuse a lot of dojos stucked in the technical level of practice, they putting up a show with very cooperative, overreacting ukes and think this is gonna work. It won't. And it's better to face this here or inside your dojo, or anything safe place, rather then on the street, when someone really wants to hurt you. You're gonna do what you have learnt and it's not gonna work. So it's dangerous to be delusional about something, especially about martial art. So, I wish you good practice, the most important thing is to never give up, just try to see clear and learn something useful, what can really takes you forward. @@reywrites
I have alreay answer about this video in a positive way. Some points are indeed true when I see the randori. Stepping backwards is deadly and indeed not that good, But Nidan is just the second starting level in learning Aikido in a life. When I was Nidan it was the same, just using the arms and not the whole body just press the partner into the ground. This is the way it is and the examination in this Aikido-language is OK. Now it is working into the next level. It is dangerous to think aikido is safe on the street. It isn’t … The only safety Aikido is giving on the street is the way of thinking and spirit inside the headand mind. I have trained with boxing people, MMA and other learning aikido to each other. It was different and my mind was changing. ‘DO’ is learing indeed more spiritual but my sensei now is learning us the more practical but … never forgot the Kihon Waza !!! This is the foundation of Aikido. For me using the whole body is just in the beginning stage after so many years and my sensei is al the time pulling me in this direction. This can be hard and destroy the inner ego but it is needed. This is the reason I say in the previous reaction ‘keep on the good work’ in respect the way of her path. The sword-kata … the 13 … is different with ours, but it is always some interpretation of the sensei. And it is his dojo. Again to the student. : forgot you are Nidan en continue to learn and listen. It is needed until the end of life !!! And try to find the Yin/Yang relations and energy-directions …. It is also my own search ...
I agree with this comment, which was the first real/honest one, and the woke reply it was given is why I'm adding one of my own. I don't do Aikido, I do Krav Maga which is like MMA, very full-contact, employs resistance, and has a high attrition rate, and wasn't sure what to make of this. It looks like a choreographed dance; what jumped out at me was all the strikes your attackers had available to them but chose to not use, and that they not only gave zero resistance, but actively rolled in whatever direction you wanted them to. Particularly unrealistic was when you flipped 5 or 6 people at the same time after not even having the energy to escape from their grasp--try doing that in real life. In KM we do similar multi-attacker drills starting from the lower belts, and the lack of intensity/realism in this video makes it look like a yellow belt test. To the previous commenter's point, there is nothing wrong with learning a dance or art. But to call this a "martial" art is self-patronizing--what is shown in the video would not work in a combat situation.
Thank you for uploading. It takes great courage to expose oneself to the internet at large. I am not going to comment on your performance - that was the job of your examiners, not keyboard warriors. Before I started training in aikido and judo I did tae kwon and then wing chun kung fu. When I got my 1st dan in TKD in 1985 my instructor - a 7th dan and All Korean Army champion - told us in his broken English "A black belt is just the beginning - now your real training begins”. I didn't quite know what to make of this as I thought I had already worked my butt off getting to this point after 5 years of hard training.
Digression. My black belt test was absolutely gruelling - poomse (kata), different kinds of sparring against single and multiple opponents, self-defence scenarios, and concrete tiles and board breaking. I actually failed it first time because I forgot the movements in one of the poomse (kata), so I had to wait six months before being allowed to take it again, which I passed. I went for my 2nd dan three years later. End Digression.
After my exam I finally realised what he meant. The first black belt exam is just one more step on your martial arts journey. Getting a black belt does not make you an instant master but it does give you the understanding of what is required to reach the next level. Whilst executing techniques against a partner who does not fight back may seem pointless and impractical to a lot of people, it allows the examiner to test one's understanding of the techniques. We all start by learning the techniques shown to us by our teachers. At first all we are doing is going through the motions and imitating them. It is only after years of practice that we come to understand the principles behind the techniques - they are far more important than the techniques themselves. Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day, show them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime. It might sound like a cliché but it’s the truth. Right practice comes first, then right attitude, then right understanding. If you have studied Buddhism you will understand this. Aikido has a very steep learning curve and will it take a lifetime to become proficient. So do not worry. The most important thing above all is to approach your training with a beginner's mind. Constantly drill the basics and the more advanced techniques will take care of themselves. The real master can adapt instantly and make up techniques on the fly because they fully understand the concepts behind them.
Congrats. My sensei is Robert who was your fourth or fifth? Uke he is an excellent teacher. We were actually practicing those techniques tonight!
Nice randori! You improved a lot.
Thank you, Nick! Appreciate your kind words.
So impressive ! Congratulations !
Thank you so much!
Wonder, what kind of Aikido-style this could be. 😮
This is Kokikai Aikido. Thanks for watching!
I was wondering also. But after all all Aikido-style are dialects in communication. Congrats and keep on the good work !!!!
Hard work
Thanks for watching!
Wow!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Congrats on your promotion. Be sure to thank those hard working uke who helped make your test a success!
Thanks so much! Absolutely!
Sad to say both uke and nage has no form
Hmm, did you complain about my gender on other videos or is that another william?
Do you mean that we are not stretching our hands out like in the photos of O'Sensei? That's an intentional choice to focus on modern and effective technique.
I thought about a lot whether to make a comment or not. First of all I admire your braveness to let the comments switched on under this video. You look a nice girl, and I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But I think the way you guys practicing aikido is, how can I say it softly and kindly, is a joke. You completely destroyed the martial part from martial arts. Only arts remained, in a kind of a l'art pour l'art way. You're doing the art just for the art. You remained in the level of forms. (To be honest with you, you still have a long-long way to develop in the forms too, you must do a lot more kihon-waza) Absolutely no intentions in the moves, in the attacks of the ukes, completly empty. They just there to assist for a performance. They don't push you over the limit, not causing any threat at all. Zero, nothing. Martial arts have born on the battlefields. They have one purpose, and one purpose only: to survive, and to do anything what surviving is required. By the way that's the difference between combat sports and martial arts: the reishiki is made by common sense... You guys, with this work, couldn't even last for a second. That's the harsh reality. Without real intentions you can't practice a living thing. Only an empty shell. Like a bird when learning to fly. It has to jump out of the nest. You guys just standing there, not even looking down into the depths, your eyes are closed and you just imaging jumping. There is no ma-ai, no kuzushi, no seme, you don't understand what irimi and atemi really means, the randori is a complete mess. (You just keep getting backwards, giving the ukes space and time so they can swarm you. In randori you have to move forward, move in, or they gonna overwhelm you in a blink of an eye, which actually happened several time) If you really understand a technic or a movement, you can recreate it and make it work in an efficient way. You just copy/paste something you've learnt. But the worst: the ukes are assissting to a completly false, and ineffective thing. The ukes responsibility in practice is huge. They are the uchi-deshi, the higher level students, they must create an environment where they push you over your limits, making you feel threatened, and you must keep yourself calm and effective under these circumstences. That's the key to progress, stepping outside of your comfort zone, crushing your ego, so you can move forward freely. I'm not saying ukes should break your bones, and go berserk. But they must make you feel uncomfortable, they have to make you believe they gonna rip your head off if you make a mistake, and they must recognize if you give them the right responses, not just give their body to you so you can do whatever you want. That's their job, not assisting to bullshit. That's very hard, that's why ukes are always higher levels then toris. Sorry for being honest, I hope I didn't hurt you. But to say something positive at the end: you stood up from suwari pretty fast, I liked that.
Hmm, have you practiced aikido? It's not the best martial art for everyone. I feel like I'm not the real source of your frustration here. It can be hard to tell from a video what is going on and what it feels like. And I must defend my ukes from this unwarranted criticism, they were pushing the limits of my ability and contributed greatly to my test, which I am grateful for. Also, by the way, I'm a nonbinary person who isn't, particularly, nice haha.
Yeah, I've been practicing aikido since 1996... And no, I am not frustrated at all, I told you at the beginning I find you a nice girl. The real problem is not you, it's the way you guys practicing. And yeah, after this many time, you can tell a lot about someone's skills based on a video. You see, movements reflects the way you learn. If you are happy with it, if you're good with the fact that you learn something dead, fine, good for you. The thing is people are forgetting what aikido is. Martial arts are not for flower loving people. You have to understand and accept the purpose, understand the jutsu in it. Aikido became a "do" because after World War II, the amercians banned all martial arts and all dojos in Japan. They only allowed the ones they didn't see as a threat. So O-Sensei made a show for them, put in a lot of circular motion, made everything nice and beautiful, so americans allowed aikido to reopen the Hombu dojo. Look at some of the old footages of O-Sensei before and after the war. Hell, even the name aikido didn't exist before the war. It was called "The martial art that Ueshiba Morihei teach" Look some Daito-ryu videos. Ueshiba took most of the techniques from there, because he learned Daito-ryu. Daito-ryu is called an Aiki-jujutsu. I pressume you are familiar with the terms "jutsu"and "do". "Jutsu" is the essence, the hard core, "do" is more of a spiritual, softer way. But without jutsu the do becomes empty and meaningless. It becomes a delusion. That's why people nowadays say aikido is useless, it's not effective, it's a crap, bla-bla-bla. Beacuse a lot of dojos stucked in the technical level of practice, they putting up a show with very cooperative, overreacting ukes and think this is gonna work. It won't. And it's better to face this here or inside your dojo, or anything safe place, rather then on the street, when someone really wants to hurt you. You're gonna do what you have learnt and it's not gonna work. So it's dangerous to be delusional about something, especially about martial art. So, I wish you good practice, the most important thing is to never give up, just try to see clear and learn something useful, what can really takes you forward. @@reywrites
I have alreay answer about this video in a positive way. Some points are indeed true when I see the randori. Stepping backwards is deadly and indeed not that good, But Nidan is just the second starting level in learning Aikido in a life. When I was Nidan it was the same, just using the arms and not the whole body just press the partner into the ground. This is the way it is and the examination in this Aikido-language is OK. Now it is working into the next level. It is dangerous to think aikido is safe on the street. It isn’t … The only safety Aikido is giving on the street is the way of thinking and spirit inside the headand mind. I have trained with boxing people, MMA and other learning aikido to each other. It was different and my mind was changing. ‘DO’ is learing indeed more spiritual but my sensei now is learning us the more practical but … never forgot the Kihon Waza !!! This is the foundation of Aikido. For me using the whole body is just in the beginning stage after so many years and my sensei is al the time pulling me in this direction. This can be hard and destroy the inner ego but it is needed. This is the reason I say in the previous reaction ‘keep on the good work’ in respect the way of her path. The sword-kata … the 13 … is different with ours, but it is always some interpretation of the sensei. And it is his dojo. Again to the student. : forgot you are Nidan en continue to learn and listen. It is needed until the end of life !!! And try to find the Yin/Yang relations and energy-directions …. It is also my own search ...
Mcdojo rubbish, cringe to watch.
I agree with this comment, which was the first real/honest one, and the woke reply it was given is why I'm adding one of my own. I don't do Aikido, I do Krav Maga which is like MMA, very full-contact, employs resistance, and has a high attrition rate, and wasn't sure what to make of this. It looks like a choreographed dance; what jumped out at me was all the strikes your attackers had available to them but chose to not use, and that they not only gave zero resistance, but actively rolled in whatever direction you wanted them to. Particularly unrealistic was when you flipped 5 or 6 people at the same time after not even having the energy to escape from their grasp--try doing that in real life. In KM we do similar multi-attacker drills starting from the lower belts, and the lack of intensity/realism in this video makes it look like a yellow belt test.
To the previous commenter's point, there is nothing wrong with learning a dance or art. But to call this a "martial" art is self-patronizing--what is shown in the video would not work in a combat situation.