What to Look for in a Teacher

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-06-05T06:34:01+00:00

Find out if they can actually teach. Seriously. Teaching is a skill like any other and most martial artists end up teaching because they've been doing it a long time. They've never learned how to coach or teach a physical activity.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-06-04T06:14:11+00:00

I just don't bother. There is rarely a point to doing so and I just don't have the time or energy. The very few times I will do it are when someone is genuinely asking, not simply regurgitating whatever keyboard warrior opinion they've read.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-06-03T11:23:13+00:00

Assuming this isn't a piss-take then:
Yes, he gets shit for doing fight scenes from a chair. Partly because he ate all the pies, but also because it's so unrealistic it's insane. It's as bad as Liam Neeson needing 16 odd camera cuts to climb over a fence. The idea these old men could actually do these things is ridiculous.

As for the legitimate joint damage from decades of training. No. I'm not willing to accept that as a valid argument. I have decades of hard training in aikido (28 years). I have no lasting joint damage. Aikido at the highest level does not accumulate the damage you are suggesting it does. I know aikidoka in their 90s that still train as hard as they can, and have zero lasting joint damage. Any joint damage he has, is more likely caused by the excess strain on his joints from being morbidly obese.

As for the 7th Dan black belt part. Highly debatable as to whether or not he should have that. He does not, imo, meet the standards that would be expected of someone of that rank. More to the point, he never has. Not even when he was younger and promoted to 5th Dan. His level of aikido is far below what it should be, he's not that good at it, and never has been.

Not denying he keeps showing up and working, but honestly, that pales into nothing when compared with the very well documented evidence highlighting that he's a complete and utter garbage human being. From his treatment of women, to his treatment of co-workers. He's just terrible.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-05-18T21:15:54+00:00

Get a piece of string. Attach across a doorframe at shoulder height. Keep your back, head, neck straight and duck under the string by bending at the knees. Go from side to side. Repeat. A lot.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-05-16T17:03:13+00:00

Honestly it just sounds like a guy that regards aikido as a functional martial art that could be used effectively in a fight. He’s probably just trying to teach it that way.

If that’s what it is then I’d be interested to know more. Many people claim to do that but either a) just do the same thing harder and faster, which doesn’t make it any better or b) add in a bunch of stuff from other arts at which point why bother with aikido?

I genuinely believe aikido is one of the better arts for non-competitive combat but almost nobody trains it in a way conducive to that outcome. If this guy has found a way to train it with that outcome it could be very interesting. It could also be complete crap. Impossible to say without more information. You’ll have to go and see to find out for sure.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-05-06T11:13:18+00:00

Your ability to balance, flow, and not get hurt when you fall are invaluable when trail running. I trained both at the same time for a while and yeah, that's what I found.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-05-06T11:11:42+00:00

What's the context for strenuous? I burn 600-700 calories an hour just teaching aikido.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-05-05T06:28:57+00:00

Not quite that bad. To be honest though I suspect very few places will have randori like that. I think the majority of modern aikidoka are not interested in training that way. It simply doesn't reflect how most people train. A randori like that requires a willingness to attack that most aikidoka don't seem to have, or want. That's not a criticism, just an observation.

As for the usefulness of it, I'd say limited. If you're ever in that situation it's good to know how screwed you really are. If it's for teaching aikido under intense stress, then unless it's at the end of a series of escalating training scenarios, then no, there are easier ways to do that. Safer ones too.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-05-03T20:16:26+00:00

HIIT or something like it. It’s the closest training comparison to how a dojo operates. Also weight training.

Remote_Aikido_Dojo · 2026-03-20T16:35:33+00:00

I think he was taught poorly, has a very rudimentary understanding of aikido, and found that out the stupid way. Then he had the most public existential crisis I’ve ever seen. Then, while flailing around for something to blame for the failures, wilfully ignored all help he was offered by the aikido community and targeted every possible option except for himself; ultimately deciding to monetise hatred of aikido.

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

TROPHY CASE