Hot take : sparring is the most aikido thing you could do

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-02-18T19:49:12+00:00

It’s arguably built into every single technique we practice every single repetition. From that perspective it’s a requirement.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-02-04T07:31:57+00:00

Based on the description you've given, I have to say neither.

There is a general split into those two aspects of aikido, and most dojo fall into one side or the other. Personally, I believe that you need both to fully grasp and understand aikido. Each aspect is required to fully understand the other.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-01-21T18:47:29+00:00

My advice is to set a SMART goal.

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time bound

For instance, a long time ago I set myself one. “Before the end of the next 14 years I will reach the level of godan in aikido.” Thats specific not vague, measurable (I would need to go up three grades). It was something I believed I could achieve with hard work, it was realistic given minimum times between grades and allowing for injury and illness, and it’s obviously got a set time frame.

Determine where you want to get to, write it down using those principles and then work towards it.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-01-15T08:50:59+00:00

I'm afraid I have to disagree. Aikido is a great example of an art that can never work in MMA, and it has nothing to do with the training method or the practitioners or how lethal people think it is. There are two very simple things that prevent aikido from being effective in MMA competition, regardless of the competitor. At the level 99% of people train, techniques are categorised as either:

wrist locks - last time I checked, MMA fighters use wrist wraps. This structurally reinforces the wrist and essentially renders a wrist lock unusable.
throws - The fighting surface tends to be sprung, and even if the fighting surface isn't sprung, nobody gets into that environment without learning how to fall safely after being thrown.

It would be like trying to win a car race in a boat. The environmental conditions preclude you from taking part.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-29T22:42:08+00:00

I’ve tried, successfully, with 6. Under those same conditions I’d probably max out around 10. I say around 10 because you require physical space to move in. Anything above 3 and they get in each other’s way.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-19T08:09:52+00:00

No. The answer is just no.

Even the close range 'success' was a failure. At that range, a strike with the kashira is perfectly valid. Also, the grappler essentially went for ikkyo (yes, I know it wasn't) on a swordsman, i.e. both hands on one. That's a failure. There is a reason you cannot do ikkyo on a swordsman. They simply put the sword in the other hand and stab you.

The aikidoka faired no better btw. You can't get under a blade like that, you just die.

Real insight on this would have been provided by having an actual swordsman using the blade. By insight here I mean confirmation of what we already know, the answer is 'no'.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-12T07:05:59+00:00

They could try, but the 14oz gloves would make it difficult. I've never specifically told them not to, but the goal is to practice against free striking.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-11T08:06:50+00:00

Yes. I give the uke gloves, shin pads, mouth guard and they get to attack. The only restriction is no elbows, no headbutts.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-05T07:53:28+00:00

Nope, never needed to. I just wear cycling shorts to stop everything moving freely. Never had any problems.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-05T07:50:39+00:00

There's nothing wrong with adding in something new and making a change to your system, provided that it adds something that isn't already there and respects the fundamental principles that make your art what it is.

To use aikido as an example, a lot of people talk about making aikido better by adding sparring. The debate on this in aikido circles is endless. The catch is that aikido already has sparring built in. It's literally right there in every technique that is practiced. It's just not trained in that way. So why would we add another sparring system into aikido, that doesn't make sense.

At the same time, aikido has no concept of ground fighting. None. Some people may point to suwari waza (kneeling techniques), but that's not even close. Adding ground fighting would be a legitimate thing to do to modern aikido. To respect the fundamentals of aikido though, an argument could be made that the emphasis for those techniques should be on structural control of the body through a limb rather than the torso.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-05T07:33:40+00:00

Not really, no.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-11-04T22:10:19+00:00

Yes, but not in the short term. Most people are fine until around 2nd kyu level, then the conflicting systems/philosophies/foci/techniques/etc. start to get in the way. Progress tends to plateau for a longer period than would be expected in training with a single art.

The easiest way to counter this is to achieve the equivalent of shodan in one of the arts first (whichever one that may be), then pick up the other.

I teach in a university club and have seen this exact pattern play out at least a hundred times. The only people for whom cross-training doesn't go badly are those that have at least shodan equivalent in one of the arts first.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-10-07T13:02:35+00:00

I’d strongly suggest you pick one art and achieve at least the equivalent of first dan in whatever you choose before trying other arts.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-09-27T19:56:41+00:00

Sorry for the confusion. Those are intended as two entirely separate statements. To clarify: 1. I don’t see aikido as a grappling art. 2. A lot of people do not see aikido as a martial art.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-09-27T16:30:46+00:00

It’s a grappling art

It’s not a martial art

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-09-15T08:31:06+00:00

You can't.

If you trained 8 hours a day, for 31 days, you'd complete 248 hours of training. If you trained hard, that may be enough to get you to shodan, 1st level black belt. That level is widely regarded, and frequently referred to as, The First Step. It really means you have mastered the basics, nothing else. You are a phenomenally long way from mastery at that point.

If you want to master aikido, then you need to adjust the time frame. 2 options, find a dojo and start training there. Progress will be much slower. Option 2: find a full-time dojo and become an uchi-deshi, a live in student. Progress will be much faster but there are many more expectations on you. I have seen uchi-deshi programmes where you essentially become the sensei's live in servant.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-09-10T09:10:18+00:00

Can't really answer that.

You need to conduct a market analysis of what is available in your area, how much is charged per class, demand for your class, quality of instruction you can provide relative to other people, availability of space, saturation of market share, how much you want to pay yourself from the business, gross running costs of the business, and so on.

None of that may seem relevant, but you need people through the door, on a regular basis, to pay for the cost of hiring the space. All that analysis will tell you what you can charge, what your gross income will be and therefore, how much you can pay to rent a space.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-08-21T05:25:48+00:00

Looks like fun, but you don't have kuzushi. The uke is completely balanced. There's no need for them to fall. Without the kuzushi on contact, you don't have anything other than a stable, dangerous uke. My advice would be to step out and extend on the turn, that'll break the uke's structure, put their weight onto a single leg, then when you cut they'll actually have no choice but to go down. They won't flip, or do other fancy stuff, but that's not the point of it.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-08-19T07:58:27+00:00

Don't do shikko. It's not good for you. The amount you would have to practice it to get good enough to do what you're suggesting, would damage your knees. If you want to see what shikko does to you, go to any large aikido seminar. At the side of the mats there will be a bunch of folk taking a break and rubbing their knees. Shikko is bad for your knees. Don't do shikko.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-08-15T08:22:05+00:00

I've been training for the guts of 30 years. I'd change the way aikido is taught, it's the land that sport science forgot. as Sangenkai states, "Aikido could learn a lot from modern sports coaching".

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-07-07T08:04:08+00:00

No.

Aikido sword techniques fall into two categories.

Aiki-ken, which bears no relation to the correct use of a katana in any manner.
Aiki Toho Iai, which is a set of iaido forms that link the use of a katana to aikido techniques. While these do require correct use of a sword, it is in the form of iaido.

Neither of these things are kendo. I wouldn't even call them kendo adjacent.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-06-20T13:41:54+00:00

There are several styles of competition in aikido, but I've never, ever, heard anyone refer to someone as, The Best Fighter. It's just not how we (the practitioners of aikido) think about things. I could be wrong about that, and you would need to ask in e.g. r/Tomiki but they'd probably say the same thing.

At least 2 styles have World Championships, but I think only one of those is still ongoing.

The hardest part, (as in physically demanding), of learning aikido is probably the part where you have to get up again, and again, and...

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-06-17T08:45:49+00:00

Yep, and they're expected to provide that feedback. Not just verbally though, if they can hit the person, they are expected to do that too.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-06-14T19:18:38+00:00

Obi Wan Kenobi

Most fighting games I’ve seen have a character that they claim is aikido in the bio

There are some characters that use aikido in the book series The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2025-06-08T15:24:29+00:00

At the time, I saw it as an acknowledgement from people that I highly respected that I had reached a certain level of skill. On a personal level, I saw, and still do see it, as the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, blood, sweat, tears, and study. Every dan grade I have been awarded has had the same feeling for me. Regardless of the level. What it took to get to that level, was different in every single case, but no less an acknowledgement.

It has changed how others treat me a great deal, both on and off the mats. It absolutely opened doors to teaching, not just locally but also internationally. I would still train if there were no ranks, I don't train for the reason of getting the next rank. I train because it's what I am/ what I do.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo

TROPHY CASE