Aikido, Seagal style
Interesting old footage of Steven Seagal practicing Aikido. I can't assess his proficiency (maybe Eric can comment), but he certainly has a powerful style.
Search This Blog
Quick calculator
Blog Archive
Subscriptions
Label Cloud
Recent comments
Links
- Cold Thistle
- Mountain Project
- Gym Jones
- Catalyst Athletics
- Mountain Athlete
- Brooklyn Barbell Club
- Lost Battalion Hall Weightlifting
- Go Heavy forum
- Norcal Strength & Conditioning
- Socal Strength & Conditioning
- Optimum Performance Training
- Crossfit Football
- Dan John
- Ross Enamit
- Steve's Club
- FitDay
- NutritionData
- PubMed
5 comments:
This video definitely shows what I understand of Seagal's style and ability. He is very strong, but very good and not overly aggressive in his teaching (when he was still teaching). But he was also demanding and emphasized applications and more sophisticated techniques. All of what is shown on this video is quite exceptional--especially some of the speed he shows in the basic movements (like the hand-grab two-thirds of the way thought or the duck-sweep-grab). It is also impressive to see him move very quickly on some of the height changing techniques given his size (like the well-executed two-handed guiding throws that are shown early on). One of the students in my dojo studied in the dojo he founded and has met him a few times. Apparently he hasn't kept up his daily practice as much since his shift to action-hero B-movie star but he is still quite good.
There are also definitely factions in the Aikido community--not just about where he should fit (he is arrogant, but perhaps good enough to be so). There are at least three or four main branches or viewpoints on teaching aikido and he fits firmly into the more applied and aggressive faction. But, from everything I read and heard, in his Aikido teaching he was never what I would consider too hard on his students. Chiba Sensei (in San Deigo) is also known for his very hard and aggressive style. He has also driven students away and there have been injuries. The Aikido that is taught to all Japanese SWAT police is an early branching of Aikido that goes back to O Sensei's harder Aiki Ju-Jitsu roots that is famous for injuring about one student a year (broken arms mostly).
The rondori that was shown seemed especially good to me--it is often not emphasized enough at the dojos I've attended. Thought that also is a reflection of the fact that some dojos don't teach it to the students below a rank (e.g. 3rd Kyu) and I hadn't achieved that rank yet. But when its done right it really shows the effectiveness of Aikdio. At Dan (black belt) you usually do three people for some period of time and then as you progress up in ranks both the time and number of people increase. I saw a ni-dan or san-dan test that was a five person rondori and was quiet amazing.
^ good stuff
During the randori, what are the feeders attempting to do? Hard to tell from the video, they look like attempts to grab the lapel or neck, but sometimes they look like shitty punches. Is the objective to take they receiver down? Are the rules that the attacks come one at a time?
Just curious, we've worked variations of this (one vs. multiples), it can get very dynamic and difficult to control when the attackers coordinate.
Randori varies slightly from dojo to dojo, but the most important element of randori is the coordination of multiple attackers.
The general rule is that the uke (attackers) are trying to grab or attack in a stylized version of one of the basic forms (cutting motion, grabbing and punching). The nage (thrower) is only trying to handle the attacker quickly and efficiently to move on to the next attacker.
The uke are normally not going to attack exactly simultaneously. They can and should come almost continuously and there should be variation in attack, position and speed.
The nage must choose an uke to take down. This is an important component--the first action according to AIkido philosophy should be neither the nage attacking nor waiting for the uke to attack. The nage chooses an uke who is preparing for an attack and moves in before they can get an advantage. Then comes the tricky part. As you move in to throw (and the nage is not trying to perform complex techniques, just get free of danger) you are already choosing the next uke to engage. This way you don't every wait to react. You choose the most advantageous person to engage. And you can therefor use the throw of one uke to ensure that no one can attack from that direction while your engaging the next uke.
Typically, the randori are focused on continuity and not letting anyone get control of you. You use only the most basic techniques unless you are a testing at a very high level. It should build both comfort in multiple attacker situations and improve the 'active-reactive' application of techniques.
In a real world fight you could (should) probably both use the uke as weapons against the other opponents and you could use variants of throws that are more likely to injure an opponent.
Interesting. The variations I've worked are different in at least two ways, 1) usually weapons are involved (either longsword or knife), and 2) the attackers can coordinate (actually encouraged to). The latter makes things *much* more complicated. While some mass attacks have a sequential structure (see here), coordinated attacks are very common as well. There is a lot you can do with body mechanics to prevent this, which is something you mention at the end of your post.
Post a Comment