It's what we have been saying for a while now. You have to spar and you have to spar against people outside of your system.
I'm muttering at the screen the whole time: "That's how that technique is supposed to work."
He said it happened during sparring a few times. At that MMA gym.
So, the MMA coach saying he was surprised to see it happen in sparring doesn't really have any value to you?
Actually, if you drop their weight forward with the block, it doesn't require lightning-fast reflexes. It's a small addition to the block, when you can actually get a block in, that sometimes (never always) makes an opening to get a grip.
A good grappler should be able to leverage the motion you're talking about using. If he gets the grip in the first place, it should give him an advantage - either because he has the grip, or because he gets to make use of what you feed him in breaking the grip.
It's unlikely to be useful against a compact, powerful punch. But against a light OR over-powered punch, there's sometimes an opening.
I'm not sure I followed anything after the first paragraph, DB. You seemed to be saying opposite things - maybe I'm just too tired to follow.
There's some grey area between "can't fight" and "highly trained".
This is where folks (even many in Aikido) miss a key point. You're not supposed to depend upon that wrist grip. This is what you do when you get it, not what you plan for. That's really the overall approach of most aiki arts - learn movements that can work, then learn to recognize the situation they work from. Then you don't manufacture the situation - you stay in the fight until one of those situations occurs. If you're good, there are a LOT of those situations, so unless the other person outclasses you, one will occur. (This whole thing, in my opinion, REQUIRES that you be good at handling a striking or grappling fight for a while from a defensive standpoint to truly leverage the principle.)
I like that he's thinking about things critically now. But they are still talking about making it happen - going for the technique. The only way that kind of technique works is when the block (and yeah, it has to be when you can actually block) can add some down force, which weakens the ability to pivot. If there's no "connection" - to make the grip a real possibility - then the technique is never available. Trying the technique when it isn't available isn't a very good test.
The issue (and this is an issue with how those are taught) is that you shouldn't be trying to catch a compact punch. Ever. There are situations where (with the right block) that kind of technique can become available. A good striker isn't often going to provide one. The times I've manage that in sparring, it was either because I set up a situation that led to over-reaching with a strike (I'm good at playing distance), or because the other person wasn't a very skilled striker (easier to track and trap hands).
Well, yes and no. There are some "highly trained" people that couldn't beat a ten year old, and some completely 'untrained' people that will eat your face in under a minute. That doesn't really address the question though. If a systems stated purpose is to give you fighting skill(a huge if mind you), and YOU don't believe..you..the one spending your time and money to train..you don't believe it will work on anyone if they are good at fighting, or even sober...
I tend to agree. The system should be able to handle both. With Aikido, it's long been my opinion that it was never designed to do so, because most early students could already handle skilled fighters. Aikido training simply added efficiency and new options.
