Video of aikido techniques against full resistance

Taiji empties to neutralize. BJJ empties to submit.
I can understand how a BJJ guy may choke his opponent to death. I just can't understand how a Taiji guy may neutralize his opponent to death.

To pull your opponent in is the opposite of to push your opponent away.
 
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🤔

The teacher talks about neutralizing force

Don't see any "finish strategy" in your clip.

fist_meet_face_1.webp
 
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It might be better to look at something similar that people can relate to...


In Taiji, we speak of the Transparent Body. Rickson Gracie speaks of Invisible Jiu-Jitsu.


In the Taiji line of Wang Yongquan, the transparent body is a body so empty, so free of resistance,
that force passes through it as if it isn’t there.

It’s not about disappearing. It’s about becoming undefinable.
There’s nothing to grab. Nothing to clash with. You’re present, but without edges.

Rickson Gracie doesn’t use the same words,
but he uses the same principle in his “invisible Jiu-Jitsu.” He doesn’t fight force, he absorbs it.
He doesn’t oppose your structure, he slips through it.

“If my opponent uses strength, I use relaxation. If he uses speed, I use timing.”
Rickson Gracie

Both arts listen before they move.
Both do more with less.
Both find control not in domination,
but in alignment, sensitivity, and timing.

Taiji empties to neutralize.
BJJ empties to submit.

Aikido's Aiki, and Invisible Jiu-Jitsu share many physical and strategic parallels with Taiji,
they do not operate with the same underlying framework of intent (意 / yì) and qi (氣).

It's different.

This means that while we can see similarities, we cannot really talk about the underlying principles without agreeing on the same theory by which they are employed.
Fwiw, I know some aikido and Daito-ryu groups that use the yi/intent concept. And Ki Aikido relies heavily on it as well.
 
Fwiw, I know some aikido and Daito-ryu groups that use the yi/intent concept. And Ki Aikido relies heavily on it as well.

Interesting 🤔

My first contact with Aikido long ago, was through a friend who was a Shihan (師範) in Koichi Tohei’s branch in Hawaii.

Back then, He didn’t talk about Yi in the Chinese sense, he did emphasize “extending ki.” Since Tohei’s system isn’t based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, it’s hard to say whether that concept is truly analogous to the Yi used in Chinese internal arts.

Would be interesting meeting him again, see how much his understanding now parallels what I’ve come to know.
Over the years, I’ve met others who studied with people using what they call “Aiki.” Based on my encounters, their approach feels quite different.
 
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What if an Aikido guy also cross trains Judo and wrestling? Will he try to apply Aiki into his Judo/wrestling, or will he try to apply Judo/wrestling into his Aikido?
That will depend on the individual. I'm an integrator. All I see are ways to learn to use bodies, so every new way I learn goes along with the ways I already know. If they've learned Aikido the way it is often taught, adding Judo or wrestling fundamentals will give them a great insight into how their Aikido techniques can work. Bringing Aikido principles into Judo/wrestling would be more nuanced.

My punches and kicks in NGA are less strictly what I was taught than other instructors I knew. That's mostly because I don't see a hard line between those and boxing-style punches, and I slide between them, using whichever seems best in the moment. Every art I've studied or dabbled in since starting NGA has also changed my Aikido, and my Aikido has flavored my approach to those arts.
If a TKD guy also train MT, will he

- train 2 different kind of roundhouse kicks, or
- try to integrate both, or
- pick up one from the other?
That, again, depends on the individual.
 
An issue I have with Aikido is that i don't think the training develops this Aiki sense in any meaningful way.

In the same way any timing and sensitivity is just hard to drill compliantly. And needs to be done via games.

Which is where BJJ is sort of heading.

So if he cross trains. At least he will get used to the idea of a moving partner that does stuff. And will get that element of timing and sensitivity.
I saw NGA move further from moving partners doing stuff during my time. Sparring has become far less common than it was when I started - it's part of what I was trying to push at with my approach to teaching.
 

Roy Goldberg (Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu) and Sam Chin (I Liq Chuan) demonstrate the similarities and differences in their arts, along with the underlying principles that guide them.
 
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Roy Goldberg (Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu) and Sam Chin (I Liq Chuan) demonstrate the similarities and differences in their arts—along with the underlying principles that guide them.
That's wrist lock 101 - sink wrist and raise elbow.

Most people may know how to sink wrist. Some people may not know how to raise elbow.
 
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