steven seagal's aikido

[drummingman]

does seagal mix in kung fu into his style of aikido? i see that he does use punching and kicking and it looks like kung fu.does he teach this in his style? i think that would be cool if he does eventhough that would mean that his style of aikido is not a traditional style.
it would seem to me that aikido would me a lot more effective if it had more kicking and punching and added some ground fighting.im surprised that somebody has not taken it in this direction.has someone done this that i just don't know about?

 

[charyuop]

My Sensei showed us a couple of times (but I haven't done it for long yet) strikes which if I am not wrong they are called Atemi. By what I was told by Sensei the atemi is marely a strike which takes away the attention of the opponent from what you are doing, basically a way to open the path to the technique you want to use.
I have seen videos of my Sensei's Sensei, Saotome Sensei, in which he does not exclude strikes. He showed that in case of a real fight and you want to get out alive there are inside of Aikido technique times where you can strike your opponent. Why it is not done? I guess that is inside of the Aikido philosophy.
But as a beginner of course I might have said wrong things...

 

[morph4me]

Nihon Goshin Aikido teaches strikes and kicks as part of the curriculum.

 

[theletch1]

Nihon Goshin Aikido teaches strikes and kicks as part of the curriculum.

But generally from an almost kata like format. Chambered punches and front and side kicks from a set stance. Is it left to the individual instructor to show the students when atemi would be appropriate to redirect uke in the direction you want him to go? Sensei McCraw is very much pro-atemi when it's appropriate but I've spoken to others at seminars who will say that atemi is for those who have poor technique. My personal view, maybe because of the kenpo I studied, is that atemi should come as much second nature as the technique provided it fits in with the energy flow of the attack and defense. One of the things that we've concentrated on with atemi in our dojo is that no energy should be wasted during a strike. Use the natural rebound of the strike from the target to propel the striking hand on to it's final target of gaining control...i.e. if you're gonna grab with your left hand then you'd strike with the left hand not the right and you wouldn't strike with the left in a direction which is completely opposite of the direction where you eventually want the left hand to end up. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, Morph, I just wanted to chime in with my personal experience here. I've found that every instructor has a different personality and therefore approaches atemi differently just as every style approaches them differently.

 

[morph4me]

But generally from an almost kata like format. Chambered punches and front and side kicks from a set stance. Is it left to the individual instructor to show the students when atemi would be appropriate to redirect uke in the direction you want him to go? Sensei McCraw is very much pro-atemi when it's appropriate but I've spoken to others at seminars who will say that atemi is for those who have poor technique. My personal view, maybe because of the kenpo I studied, is that atemi should come as much second nature as the technique provided it fits in with the energy flow of the attack and defense. One of the things that we've concentrated on with atemi in our dojo is that no energy should be wasted during a strike. Use the natural rebound of the strike from the target to propel the striking hand on to it's final target of gaining control...i.e. if you're gonna grab with your left hand then you'd strike with the left hand not the right and you wouldn't strike with the left in a direction which is completely opposite of the direction where you eventually want the left hand to end up. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, Morph, I just wanted to chime in with my personal experience here. I've found that every instructor has a different personality and therefore approaches atemi differently just as every style approaches them differently.

Makes sense to me. I like atemi, and teach it and use when appropriate, when someone is having a problem with a technique in a self defense line, I usually tell them "When in doubt, punch him out". Technique takes time, and practice to do well, I like to give people something they can use now.

 

[theletch1]

I have found that atemi is almost always appropriate when defending against a grip of any sort. The attack is static once the grip is applied and atemi is needed to get some energy flowing in some direction. I like the "When in doubt, punch him out." idea for the newer aikido-ka. The biggest thing I hear from white and yellow belt practioners about attack lines is that they are so nervous that they freeze up. Giving them the option to strike during the attack line gets them moving instead of standing there looking silly and maybe just the act of moving will help a technique come to mind. As for the higher ranking students I really feel that atemi should augment the technique in a very subtle (if you can call a punch subtle) way and not be a substitute for it.

 

[howard]

Nice discussion of atemi... I hope I'm not getting too far off topic here, but in Kondo's Daito-ryu teachings, atemi are actually considered one of the seven primary types of aiki. Now, I've never had one class in any type of Aikido, but from reading discussions about the art by people who are clearly knowledgeable (like you all), I get the impression that at least some aikidoka think of atemi as something separate from aiki... almost like something to be used when an initial attempt at taking the attacker's balance fails.

Am I drawing an incorrect conclusion?

btw, Jeff... thanks for that earlier offer to come to Roanoke, train and share some homebrew... that is mighty attractive, I'll have to figure out when I can do it. I'll take just about any chance I can get to go back to the Old Dominion. ;~)

 

[morph4me]

Nice discussion of atemi... I hope I'm not getting too far off topic here, but in Kondo's Daito-ryu teachings, atemi are actually considered one of the seven primary types of aiki. Now, I've never had one class in any type of Aikido, but from reading discussions about the art by people who are clearly knowledgeable (like you all), I get the impression that at least some aikidoka think of atemi as something separate from aiki... almost like something to be used when an initial attempt at taking the attacker's balance fails.

Am I drawing an incorrect conclusion?

No, your conclusion is correct, some aikidoka frown on atemi as something un aiki. Personally I like using atemi as part of tai sabaki, the atemi happens as I move, not separately. I also understand that in the early days Master Uyeshiba was a big proponent of atemi.

 

[theletch1]

No, your conclusion is correct, some aikidoka frown on atemi as something un aiki. Personally I like using atemi as part of tai sabaki, the atemi happens as I move, not separately. I also understand that in the early days Master Uyeshiba was a big proponent of atemi.

Tom, I like the idea that atemi is part of tai sabaki. Often times folks not only think of atemi as something seperate from aiki but as a seperate movement all together. As with everything in the aikido world everything must happen with a certain amount of "harmony" to be truly effective and just throwing in a punch to be punching throws off the harmony and flow of any given defense.

Howard, your welcome. The offer to train is always open for anyone who wants to try a little NGA. The next batch of home brew will be ready on january second...it's an oktoberfest and is looking good already.

 

[shiho]

HI, I too became interested in Aikido thru Steven Seagal. We have discussed this many times in our Dojo. He trained in Japan shortly after OSensei's death , a time when I would think Aikido was far from " peace, love ,and harmony" . The man is legitimate and in his day definately for real. I just watched " attack force " one of his latest movies. It is hard to fin real technique in his moves now. I guess that's hollywood. His Aikido is martial and to the point wich I like. I still watch his older movies and find his style Martially valid , Oh well

 

[drummingman]

thats what i like about steven,his style is all martial.wam bam thank you mam!!!

 

[onequiks2k]

I just purchased that DVD on Ebay earlier today...thanx for bringing this clip up on the forums!!!