Best for UFC/MMA?

[wer]

So when this Delucia guy does stand up fighting, he does other styles besides Kung-Fu?

He's not all that interested in names. He calls his DVD/video set "Combat Aikido" to make it clear that it's martially effective. But he's said that when you pare things down to their essence, it's the same whether you call it Kung Fu or Aikido. You use the basic principles and you're in an improvisational state dealing with whatever your attacker throws at you. There's "entering" in both Kung Fu and Aikido, for instance, and they share other basic principles.

Of course, some people watching him say they don't see any Kung Fu in his fights, and some say they don't see any Aikido. But it's MIXED Martial Arts, so to be effective against such a broad range you're going to have to depart from dojo kata to some degree. So he'll do an Aikido-style entering but a Kung Fu style sidekick, but he's not violating either art's principles when he does those or when the fight goes to the ground.

You can see a lot of clips of his fights and teaching in the Videos section of aikidog.com

[White Warlock]

I completely disagree. Can you name ONE now I'm not asking for alot of examples but can you name ONE fighter that is competitive in the mixed martial arts world that does not have extensive grappling experience? THe reason why it is dominated now by supposed strikers is because they have learned and understand the groundgame and for no other reason then that.

They learned the groundgame to be able to 'defend' against it, but most have not specialized in it, and thus know just enough to 'get out of there,' except when they go against someone who is a 'specalist' in groundfighting... then they find their escape skills wanting.

Just to clarify, by posing this "can you name one" argument, you are creating a straw man. That was not what i was presenting in my earlier post, nor could what i wrote be inferred to suggest such. Therefore, you presented this 'task' for me to complete, of finding a competitor nowadays that doesn't know groundfighting defense, as the qualifier to my arguments... but they are unrelated and thus your argument, in retrospect, is invalid.

So when this Delucia guy does stand up fighting, he does other styles besides Kung-Fu?

He's not all that interested in names. He calls his DVD/video set "Combat Aikido" to make it clear that it's martially effective. But he's said that when you pare things down to their essence, it's the same whether you call it Kung Fu or Aikido. ...

You can see a lot of clips of his fights and teaching in the Videos section of aikidog.com

On that note, and also in response to Daedulus' post, i refer to an earlier KF article: Lost in Time - The Modern Way

[wer]

So when this Delucia guy does stand up fighting, he does other styles besides Kung-Fu?

He's not all that interested in names. He calls his DVD/video set "Combat Aikido" to make it clear that it's martially effective. But he's said that when you pare things down to their essence, it's the same whether you call it Kung Fu or Aikido. ...

You can see a lot of clips of his fights and teaching in the Videos section of aikidog.com

On that note, and also in response to Daedulus' post, i refer to an earlier KF article: Lost in Time - The Modern Way

It's an excellent article, but not apropos in this particular case. Jason holds his KF teacher in the highest esteem and still works with him. And his Aikido studies have included immersion in everything he can get (books, videos, knowledge passed along from others) of O'Sensei's and his students, encompassing not just technique but also philosophy. And that reverence for traditional technique and philosphy is something he passes along to his students.

I'm sure there are lots of MMA fighters who aren't particularly interested in the roots of the arts, but Jason's not one of those. What he espouses is budo.

[Goju_boi]

how do you use aikido in the octagon?I thought that Aikido was a deffensive art?

[wer]

how do you use aikido in the octagon?I thought that Aikido was a deffensive art?

Well, you've got this guy coming at you, right? No way did Morihei Ueshiba and all his guys wait til someone actually hit them -- the moment the opponent starts to move with the intent to attack, the aikidoka moves to neutralize the attack. And that doesn't just mean stop that one attack and wait for the next, it means take action that will stop the fight (without causing excessive harm to the assailant).

[Enviroman]

how do you use aikido in the octagon?I thought that Aikido was a deffensive art?

Well, Aikido has a lot of throws and joint locks. I was just watching some of DeLucia's combat Aikido videos and it shows you how you can use various techniques in a combat situtation.

[Goju_boi]

ohh oh.Because I've stuck around the aikido class at my dojo before while waiting for my ride and seen them practice from sitting position for the most part.

[wer]

ohh oh.Because I've stuck around the aikido class at my dojo before while waiting for my ride and seen them practice from sitting position for the most part.

Working from seiza (kneeling) helps your mechanics by making you "step" more precisely (you don't have feet to dance around on when you're kneewalking) and by making you use your hips better. Also, less leverage means you're less likely to resort to just arm strength instead of involving the whole body. And you can do pretty much all the techniques standing or kneeling, so you can practice the principles. You don't have to worry about your standing ukemi, either, if you're afraid to fall -- but that shouldn't matter except to beginners or injured people, since you can't do much in aikido if you're afraid to take ukemi.

I'll just assume they're doing their standup while you're not watching.

[Enviroman]

ohh oh.Because I've stuck around the aikido class at my dojo before while waiting for my ride and seen them practice from sitting position for the most part.

Working from seiza (kneeling) helps your mechanics by making you "step" more precisely (you don't have feet to dance around on when you're kneewalking) and by making you use your hips better. Also, less leverage means you're less likely to resort to just arm strength instead of involving the whole body. And you can do pretty much all the techniques standing or kneeling, so you can practice the principles. You don't have to worry about your standing ukemi, either, if you're afraid to fall -- but that shouldn't matter except to beginners or injured people, since you can't do much in aikido if you're afraid to take ukemi.

I'll just assume they're doing their standup while you're not watching.

Seiza work is interesting, but I'm not sure how applicable it is anymore. I'm sure you know why it was developed and whatnot, with the small Japanese houses and the fact that O'Sensei designed the seiza throws for a time if you were attacked while taking tea or something similar (kneeling).

[wer]

Seiza work is interesting, but I'm not sure how applicable it is anymore. I'm sure you know why it was developed and whatnot, with the small Japanese houses and the fact that O'Sensei designed the seiza throws for a time if you were attacked while taking tea or something similar (kneeling).

Like I said, though, you can do the same techniques kneeling as standing and it helps you refine your technique. Morihei Ueshiba and Gozo Shioda and those guys were no fools, they knew what they were doing. If you look at pix and footage of O'Sensei's dojo, you'll see that they didn't have low roofs but they were still training in seiza -- that's because it's good training, not because he was training them all to defend themselves at tea.