Aikido to MMA Transformation

This is the story of my 6 year long journey from an Aikido Sensei to an MMA fighter.
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Welcome to the Martial Arts Journey KZbin channel!
My name is Rokas. I'm a Lithuanian guy who trained Aikido for 14 years, 7 of them running a professional Aikido Dojo until eventually I realized that Aikido does not live up to what it promises.
Lead by this realization I decided to make a daring step to close my Aikido Dojo and move to Portland, Oregon for six months to start training MMA at the famous Straight Blast Gym Headquarters under head coach Matt Thornton.
After six months intensive training I had my first amateur MMA fight after which I moved back to Lithuania. During all of this time I am documenting my experience through my KZbin channel called "Martial Arts Journey".
Now I am slowly setting up plans to continue training MMA under quality guidance and getting ready for my next MMA fight as I further document and share my journey and discoveries.
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If you want to support my journey, you can make a donation to my PayPal at [e-mail]
SUBSCRIBE to see when the next videos will come out:
► bit.ly/1KPZpv0
Check the video "Aikido vs MMA" which started this whole Martial Arts Journey:
► • Aikido vs MMA - REAL ...
If you want to support me and this channel on a regular basis check my Patreon page:
► / rokasleo
#aikido #mma #martialarts

[@MartialArtsJourney]

A (sort of) new video and health update. Let's start with health. As some of you know I've been recovering from Long Covid for more than a month now. What started as a high fever and all the other symptoms after a few weeks subsided, but a constant feeling of fatigue, brain fog and some other symptoms stayed. The most unfortunate side to it was the fact that I couldn't edit the now filmed season 2 of the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship, a project I was eager to deliver to you. Unfortunately, every time I try to edit it, very quickly I become exhausted and have no way to make any progress. I do have some good news though. My general day to day feeling is getting better. If I don't take on any mentally or physically demanding tasks, I feel rather fine and can go about quietly living my everyday life. Yet as soon as I try to focus on something for more than a few minutes, my brain capacity quickly disappears and I start feeling extremely tired (even writing this post is exhausting, but I feel it's important to share some news). For a person who is used to constantly training, challenging myself and making progress on various projects, it's a very frustrating situation to feel rather OK, but to be unable to do anything that's truly meaningful or impactful. Considering though that I am slowly feeling better, I am hoping that in a matter of weeks I will be able to start exerting myself at least in little bits daily and will start to put in some work into USDC 2. Meanwhile, I am lucky that my KZbin channel has a quality of generating passive income of which I get enough to make a living. That is a huge relief as I have very few ideas how I would support myself financially in this condition otherwise. Yet the channel, ideally still needs some "fuel" to keep the flame burning. That's why I decided to release a super-cut of my full story how I transitioned from Aikido to MMA. If you want to refresh your memory or support the channel by watching the newly released super-cut, you are at the right place. I am also going to do my best to organize a team to convert some of my older footage into KZbin Shorts, as that is a thing now and you can hopefully expect to see some of them coming out fairly soon. I also wanted to GREATLY thank you all for your support in my previous post about Long Covid and my condition. Your tremendous support made a huge difference in my well being and helped me feel more positive about the whole situation. For that I thank you again. And last but not least, quite a few of you were asking if I could hire a team of editors to post-produce USDC2. I definitely considered this option, but there are quite a few hurdles here. First of all, there is A LOT of footage (probably around 100-200 hours) including all cameras and different angles. To pass on such an amount of footage to someone who has no connection to the project, or has not been part of the filming process, would be very difficult, as USDC thrives on good story-telling and for an outsider, it would be difficult to tell good and right stories from the amount of footage that was filmed. Secondly, I have a strong vision of how I want to produce and edit USDC myself, yet it is a process which unfolds during the editting the footage. Every time I edit a scene, new ideas come out of even better ways to tell the stories of what happened and new, creative solutions constantly appear. To find someone else who would have the same amount of passion, love and creativity to deliver the series would be very difficult. You could perhaps say that I could instead direct someone else on how to edit the footage, but as many creative decisions happen in the midst of the editing process, it would be difficult to do so with an editor who wouldn't be sitting in the same room with me. While directing someone else, would also require a lot of energy, something of which unfortunately I do not have at the moment. Finally, there is the question of finances. To have someone else put together over 100 of hours of footage would be costly, and would most likely cost me much more than I would be able to currently afford. Yet, I am feeling hopeful that in a matter of weeks, or worst case scenario - months, I will recover and will put my full effort to create and deliver another unique series that will kick ass. Thank you again for all your support and till next time!

[@JimmySaint43]

Glad you are starting to feel better Rokas, your channel has been a blessing for me. Just over 5 years ago I became a para/tetraplegic (have minor difficulty with my arms but not enough to seriously impede my life, but almost zero use of legs), I long to train again someday, and your honesty, humility and passion have inspired me to get out of this chair. Your perseverance in the face of absolute uncertainty and adversity, and your willingness to push forward despite it all fires me up. I don't care what the doctors say, I KNOW one day I will be in the gym again, but you gotta promise me if I do, we are gonna spar lol 😂 Thanks for being such an inspiration Rokas, God bless from Canada! ❤

[@prof.dr.jorgmeuthenne765]

The first part really gave a fresh perspective cool, cool. :)

[@Robluex]

Oh my, good luck with recovery. Fingers crossed. Recent long-covid took down some of our competitors out of competition for life.

[@KingDeadpool3883]

Health comes first Rokas but if I may offer a piece of experience and this advice. I was also an athlete and martial artist most of my life, always held myself as far above the average man even as I fell off into my middle age. Then I got Covid. 3 times. I suffer from Long Covid as well, and have since the summer of 2022. Life changes, it gets easier to accept that things will change but things will likely never go back to what they were. It will take you to do that. Not feeling exhausted and giving up because you have long COVID. Learning to do it anyway. It took me time and only now am I getting back into my athletic and martial arts journey last year. In that time I’ve also quit using substances and am in active recovery. Life is not what it once was an never will be but if you get tired you have to fight through it. You can’t give up because it’s hard like it’s only a temporary thing or you may as well just give up now. So my advice take the advice you’ve been giving these last few years on your journey. Quit complaining it’s hard or not working for you and figure out a way to make it work. Much love brother and good luck on your journey.

[@floresklisterc.6561]

Train in kudo, Its 1. traditional 2. Functional 3. Mixed of styles

[@martialgeeks]

And here we go, I started a youtube channel, I train my ass off and I had fought in mma...none of that would have happened if I wasn't inspired by you, the friends I made through Martial Geeks is such a blessing that wouldn't be there if I hadn't given myself a chance and followed in your steps, I thank YOU for all of that! 🙏🥋 ossu ~ Tomislav

[@AspiringSaint]

Thank you for having so much integrity, Rokas. Most people wouldn't have been able to do that.

[@JimmySaint43]

Just over 5 years ago I became a para/tetraplegic (have minor difficulty with my arms but not enough to seriously impede my life, but almost zero use of legs), I long to train again someday, and your honesty, humility and passion have inspired me to get out of this chair. Your perseverance in the face of absolute uncertainty and adversity, and your willingness to push forward despite it all fires me up. I don't care what the doctors say, I KNOW one day I will be in the gym again, but you gotta promise me if I do, we are gonna spar lol 😂 Thanks for being such an inspiration Rokas, God bless from Canada! ❤

[@MartialArtsJourney]

That's a deal 🤝

[@bigballsmcgee8681]

Great username. Rooting for you, the human mind can accomplish a lot, not to say doctors don't know what they're doing, but a mindset like yours can make what seems unlikely happen, I hope to see a video of you two sparring someday. Keep fighting 🥊

[@JimmySaint43]

@@bigballsmcgee8681 Thanks so much, in my experience in the last 5 years, having a healthy mindset can make or break a person. Also nice username too lol 😆 and thats a deal! God bless 🙌🙏

[@fredriksjoblom5161]

​@@JimmySaint43And if he ain't saying it, i am. Doctors don't know what they are talking about. At least that's what my mother always told me. She is a doctor and hates how the public constantly projects the image of a superhuman onto them, more or less forcing them to pretend that they always know with certainty what they are doing when in fact a huge portion of it is based on educated guessing. My mom's own cousin was born with cerebral paulsy. The doctors adviced her parents not to get attached to her or even bring her home as she would never survive a full year anyway. She was a paraplegic without speech, wich was even harder to manage in those days. But she ended up burying both her parents and this very month we buried her. She was 55 years old and deeply loved by many when she went away. Doctors are like you and me, some days they know and some days they don't. And they can't always predict wich of the two today is going to be.

[@bigballsmcgee8681]

@@fredriksjoblom5161 I'm sorry to hear about your mom's cousin. I was only saying that the counsel of a trained medical professional is not something you should ignore. The doctors I've dealt with in my life have been very forthcoming with what they don't know about and what they feel they can tell people. A strong will is an asset to be sure but as with anything, if used wrong can lead to injury or other consequences. Your mom seems like a smart woman so I'd probably listen to her medical opinion, for example. Anyway have a good one

[@Griffth1996]

Underrated video, amazing story, I usually don’t like to comment, but this video deserves to be seen by many, so let’s push it for the algorithm

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you

[@Noslack412]

I did Aikido for a year as my first. I quit and am currently doing BJJ and judo for almost 2 years now. I wanted something real and a way to test myself. I'm glad I made the change. My only complaint is with Aikido I wasn't in pain most of the time and never went to work with a black eye lol.

[@Javillchoirboy]

Which do you prefer between BJJ and Judo?

[@darthludicrous99]

I'm an Aikido black belt and your videos inspired me to try another martial arts with pressure fights. I started Judo coupled with Kickboxing and I'm loving it! Also, it hasn't led me to think little of Aikido. Sure it isn't good for self-defense, but it does serve its own purpose for mental peace and discipline. For instance, I get wrecked in both Judo randori and Kickboxing sparring sessions, but I am constantly calm throughout that process. XD I do feel that if I implement kuzushi in Judo and proper punches and kicks from kickboxing then Aikido techniques could certainly work. But I have come to learn that this has never been the purpose of Aikido. Morihei Ueshiba was a real fighter who actually fought and killed bandits, he purposely created Aikido to be peaceful, non-competitive and more like a dance than actual fighting. I think its time we accept that and also embrace Morihei Ueshiba's philosophy of avoiding fights entirely. But yeah, thank you so much for inspiring me to start my own Martial Arts journey.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

That's awesome! It takes a strong person to go outside of your initial martial art. Congratulations for that and keep owning your journey

[@7dollarproductions]

Rokas the secret to nailing your aikido techniques is to apply kuzushi from judo and then going for the aikido move!

[@miqvPL]

I can imagine knowing how to fall (from aikido) is super useful in judo. I'm very tense in judo and every fall hurts. Also our best judoka in our dojo is also an aikido black belt, dude is pure perfection when it comes to judo technique, being able to lift you gently and put you to the ground gently when showing the technique slowly. And during randori he wins 95% of the time being second fastest, best technician and like third strongest out of all judoka there (and we have like 8 black belts total). So I can see aikido falling and movement being decent additions to his judo.

[@viliusjokubaitis2114]

i trained 14days per week :D :D hahaha kzbin.info/www/bejne/pl7bkoWvZ7CDlacsi=XMKhbYfaG4nK1BHv&t=60 @@MartialArtsJourney

[@orlandodantas4197]

​​@@miqvPL 🎉 good to know your experience. I think aikido isn't obvious, sometimes confusing to me, but I think there is a lot to learn from it even for self-defense. But aikido is polished, the violence is hidden, you have to watch carefully to see it.

[@markdag1113]

Been following your journey over the last few years. You are a true martial artist and an inspiration!! Thank you for sharing your story!!

[@sirlysis]

Your openness of your journey is only one of the reasons why I was very excited to have you on whistlekick Martial Arts Radio! Thank you so much for all that you do, and keep up the great work!

[@mancoantoniogaming]

You had me at "MMA Dojo"

[@MartialArtsJourney]

😄😄

[@goofygrandlouis6296]

@@MartialArtsJourney I don't think you should drop Aikido. I think Aikido should be reformed.. into something more *offensive* . Just like the Brazilians improved the classi juijitsu style, I think westerners could improve Aikido. Oddly enough, I think Steven Seagal is on to something here. Classic Aikido is too much about the aesthetics. Make the moves simpler, quicker, sharper, less telegraphed.

[@playoffl36ron8]

@@goofygrandlouis6296 just no

[@scoobydoo7275]

​@@goofygrandlouis6296why reinvent the wheel? What youre describing is japanese jujutsu. Also BJJ only improved the Ne Waza from Judo, which also is JJJ but adapted for safety and sport.

[@mizutxko]

@@goofygrandlouis6296 Aikido was inspired by Japanese Jiu Jitsu, so most moves of it are the moves that the samurai would probably use in a sword fight, MMA is probably useless against a armored samurai with a sword, so Aikido is pretty good for disarming swords. Just don't use it in a fight, because your not a samurai, and your opponent probably isn't too

[@grumpyae86]

Nice one Rokas! Happy to see your progression. I remembered all those previous videos years ago. True representative of martial arts

[@Mark-mu2or]

Without a doubt the best MA channel on KZbin.

[@gianpieromarchi7652]

i especially appretiate your progress, you could overcome all the cult abot aikido, lose alot of friends in the way and learn about it, you were capable of overcome your own ego, i think that it is some of the hardest things in our life, lose our ego, lose alot of friend and evolutionate , your special thanks for all your videos and all of what you do, greetings :)

[@kcpth]

I just turned onto your channel 4 days ago, I have to admit... I LOVE your content! I love the journey your going through.... I love your honesty. I am 42 years old and I just started my BJJ journey. I am really late into this journey. I have always loved how Akido looks and works and always thought how beautiful it was due to Steven Segal. I have always wondered how functional it would be in real world applications. I think if I ever learn akido, it would purely because I want to enjoy the flow and harmonious movement it brings. Thank you and keep up the great content

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thanks man! All the best in your BJJ journey!

[@1971anaconda]

Rokas your inspiration is wonderful yes I’m still doing Akido but also went back to karate so doing both meeting you all in Australia just inspired me to do what I love 🇦🇺

[@jasonfairbanks4714]

Mad respect for your humility and self honesty! I wish I had spent 7 years of training BJJ instead of Aikido when I was younger.

[@Arcknight9202]

It's definitely nice to see you realize that your game plan against Tadas was so flawed. He knew exactly what you were trying to do. However, you had no idea what he was trying to do. It was like fighting a child for him. Now, since you have so much other experience, you're able to much more effectively apply things you learned a long time ago. I hope to see more in the future.

[@firedude339]

babe wake up! rokas uploaded his journey from aikido to mma for the 17th time!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

I've made a super cut of my old videos to tell a congruent story as I'm currently sick for the past month and unable to make new content and won't be able to produce new content for a while

[@curtisnollner6942]

Haha, well I watched the original Aikido vs MMA video years ago and then the channel fell off my radar, so I’m definitely appreciative of this.

[@4thbranch834]

Humility, honesty, and integrity are the easiest traits to respect brother, thats why i love your channel. #Respect

[@Martial_Mindset]

I'm glad you moved outside of Aikido after testing your skills. It has been an inspiring journey to follow!

[@justinAclark2075]

Your humility is admirable, and I believe it is the reason you were able to score points in the first self defense championship. A more sensitive and stubborn person of your age and experience would have failed miserably in every challenge. Some people thrive off aggression, but people like us need deep emotional maturity for us to perform well.

[@unanaspig]

Truly, truly thanking you for this endeavour. So keen to see more of you making Aikido work!!

[@bounce510]

What a fantastic and inspiring journey. For me it was illuminating when i realized that a lot of "traditional" martial arts really focus on a very different style of instruction than the originals of the various styles and a lot of them have become stylized, true forms of cultural art rather than a cultural expression of martial training. Aikido like many of the non combative sport styles can be effective when you shed the trains and focus on the underlying principles of body mechanics and friction...where do the bodies connect, where is momentum generated and transferred? That's the true "heart" of the style, all the set-ups and flourishes is the "art" of the style. There is much to value in a cultural art, but actual self defense is rarely among it.

[@troygerencer1620]

Firstly wish you a good full recovery from Covid, don't over do it. Another great video from such a humble, open minded person, and that is what makes you a true practitioner. There's nothing wrong with persisting in trying to make some Aikido moves work, all Martial Arts have pro's and con's, it just a matter of how it "can work" in combat. You'll get there. As usual love seeing you with all the gang Seth , icy Mike etc The collaborations are the best viewing with all your channels. It's a community building thing !

[@danielllama9197]

Just have to say that your journey is really inspiring

[@trafficemperor8495]

Been a follower of your channel for a while, love your videos

[@OneaeMighty]

Thanks So Much About This Cool Personal Story Aikido Teacher Master!!!

[@niklasmeier7030]

i am a novice boxer. and i have to say your storry is beautiful

[@balancecreative]

Great story. I think some traditional martial arts get too obsessed with the 'art' over multiple generations and forget about the 'martial'. The ego of the individual 'art' takes over and the real techniques get diluted.

[@gengotaku]

I recently got my black belt in aikido (aikikai) and judo and never got disappointed with aikido, because it has its purpose and isn’t completely useless just like there isn’t any martial art that works 100% in all situations, so I decided to start gojuryu karate at the end of 2022 to add striking to my judo grappling and aikido throws/joint locks. More recently I started taking Tomiki aikido classes to find out how techniques are trained and used in competitions, which I had the opportunity to watch. You surely had a lot of disappointment with aikido after being challenged by a Bjj guy, but people from other non-grappling martial arts would have had the same result, which is what BJJ uses in their favor to boast about their martial art: fight against people who don’t grapple just to brag. I don’t hate BJJ, because as a judoka I know that Bjj came from my martial art but abandoned the throwing parts. It’s just useless to say what is the BEST martial art. People should practice whatever they love and let other people do the same. I’ll continue practicing aikido and judo towards the 2nd dan and in karate I hope to get the black belt in 2 years. I hope you recover from COVID asap. God bless you

[@chadlpnemt]

Impressive resume Rokas! Something for you to think about is something I learned when I wrestled in high school and later in life doing kung fu is that, just like Aikido and most other martial arts, landing a technique is opportunistic. Pulling off a technique when trying to do it is very difficult. But like Seth and his "crucifix" it just happens when you intentionally or inadvertently set up your opponent. Make them over-commit then hit them with your whatever. Set them up for the position you want to throw certain techniques. Being a patient martial artist is a good thing for many guys like myself. When I wrestled I wasn't the biggest or the strongest at heavyweight and I knew if I just tried to go after my opponent I'd get overpowered. So I'd grapple with them for a while and I learned to put them in a position that I knew I could pull off a takedown. Aikido is the same. You probably wont' just make a wrist lock work, you have to set it up. I believe your Aikido can be more functional, but my impression that setting up your techniques wasn't a thing, I've never done it but that's what I'm hearing you say. I am glad you are doing so well on your journey.

[@tweadz9846]

[@pedrovillelabjj3163]

I always enjoyed your channel and still do. I’ve been through a similar experience, from Wing Chun Sifu to BJJ black belt and boxe practitioner, on bringing traditional martial arts technique work, a bellow average traditional guy with a combat sports experience can pull off more techniques than a traditional martial arts master with no combat sports experience

[@umbramortus8687]

I startet „reality based martial arts” after a suicide attempt. First Kickboxing and then Nogi Grappling which I love now. According to the coaches I became really good really fast and they gave me my first few John Danaher institutional for free. I’m looking forward to my first regional tournament within a year and love to learn everything about Bjj, Judo, Wrestling and MMA that I can.

[@Rubicanteful]

Your vidoes make we want to try Aikido! Love the beauty of it.

[@Stingers_realm765]

Can't believe i just watched this 42 min masterpiece Keep it rokas don't give up❤

[@jajoez3291]

8:05 man, I feel sorry for you that you experienced such a thing and at the same time I am glad that I am I school where we enjoy "trying" techniques from different martial arts during regular classes.

[@ramuneleonaviciene8509]

Great video, proud of you❤❤❤

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Ačiū! 😊

[@whizthesugoi]

you're eerily good at storytelling

[@gamegamer9523]

Here’s an idea challenge every member of your aikido organization to a fight and see what happens.

[@dogabutila]

The transition into war thunder is so hilarious i didnt even skip it.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

😄

[@Newaza-lc9yt]

Hola Rokas! Felicidades por el canal, es muy inspirador. Si me permites una pequeña critica, te diria que Aikido no es solo la aplicación de técnicas concretas, por ejemplo kotegaeshi, sankyo, ikkyo, etc. Creo que tratar de aplicarlas en un combate es algo así como tratar de cazar moscas con la mano. Realmente difícil. Deberian de surgir en ocasiones muy concretas. Creo que deberías poner más foco en los principios. Por ejemplo, si logras esquivar un ataque haciendo tai sabaki, estás haciendo Aikido. Si logras esquivar y dar un atemi, éstas haciendo Aikido también. De hecho, si revisas videos de O sensei no hay un catálogo extenso de técnicas como en el Aikido actual, solo movimientos y oportunidades. Un saludo

[@gianpieromarchi7652]

el aikido no funciona, te lo dice el que lo estudio 14 años e hizo el ridiculo frente a 4 millones de personas , perdio todas sus amistades en aikido y te lo sigue diceindo que el aikido aunq ue quieras modificarlo o cualquier cosa, no funciona saludos

[@Newaza-lc9yt]

Hola, he entendido su mensaje y lo comparto. Practico Aikido y Judo por más de 20 años y estoy totalmente de acuerdo en que Aikido en un COMBATE no sirve. Pero no todo en la vida son COMBATES. Pero si hay ciertos puntos en común en todas las artes marciales como son la distancia, el timming, los golpes, las esquivas que el Aikido también los tiene. El problema es que cuando se trata se poner en práctica sólo se pone el foco en tratar se proyectar a tu oponente o torcer una articulación como si Aikido fuese solo eso. De todas formas estoy de acuerdo, si quieres luchar contra alguien de mma práctica mma.

[@samthescotsman]

Aikido is a sport you do purely for the enjoyment, not to get better at fighting. I do Karate but since i am very disabled and ill i can't actually spar so i know it is not making me a better fighter. i do it because i love it.

[@ArnasLeo]

Awesome transformation!

[@MrImm0]

Rokas man you have gone so far. I have been following you since your first fight with the MMA guy. Have you ever tried old school catch wrestling? The way you are trying to apply your techniques in the clinch it just seemed catch wrestling might help.

[@floresklisterc.6561]

How about you focus on Kudo karate instead? 1. Its basically a mixed martial arts with gi 2. Its traditional and have kyukoshin karate like mentally 3. Its more on functionality and traditional as well I'd like to train in kudo but I think its not available in my country

[@虚無の魔法]

Aikido was originally Aiki Jujutsu, and its core was the grappling part of Kenjutsu. In swordsmanship, you could use those techniques in the sword clinch part, and if you put him on the ground, you could stab him with a sword or stab him with a knife. The blows of people at that time also changed the movement of swords to bare hands or knives, The movement is different from modern martial arts punches. (All of them were swordsmen at that time). Chop, palm swing...If you throw a punch, with the low medical technology available at the time, not only will you never be able to regenerate your hand, but there is a high possibility that it will be amputated. Those who give Aikido, Kung Fu, and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu a low opinion are ignorant of swordsmanship, spears, and the history of those days. In modern times, there are many things that don't work well when you use bare hands versus bare hands or bare hands versus a knife, but if you think about it, it might work.

[@mrarmaggedon31415926]

love seth's chael sonnen reference

[@prowse321]

Undrrated video sir

[@riichobamin7612]

Calling Sensei Seth a tank as a segway was ❤😂

[@วิชชากรสุขวัฒน์]

Final Fantasy should be Title of This Movie (A Great Journey)

[@rickyrain7773]

I think i watched this already but im not complaining 😂

[@brokentypewriterprod]

Has any aikido practitioner challenged you to a match? Would you spar them in pure aikido or a modified version of what you’ve learned after pressure testing?

[@MartialArtsJourney]

I have not been challenged since I started doing combat sports seriously. I'd love to spar an Aikido practitioner.

[@brokentypewriterprod]

@@MartialArtsJourney I think the martial arts community would love to see an aikido vs aikido real world sparring match. Win by submission or 10 second pin. Even the aikido community would appreciate it if it was objective and practical.

[@mcmacoo9626]

rlly good video

[@Gymthingz]

That’s why wrestling is superior

[@alchapo5372]

Icy Mike is your biggest hype man

[@binnieb173]

#30:00 you don't need to improve your technique on the take downs, you need to learn when to let go and take your advantage. Multiple times when Jeff 'rolled out' he gives away his back or some other position. You just hold the lock for dear life like it 'must' end in a submission... it doesn't. Just like how the many submission moves are just set ups.

[@davidfeddanigga54]

damn one of the first

[@kachowtime]

Love you Rokas! Fellow Aikidoka here...I've found a lot of the Aikido community is full of shit. I think Aikido, more than most other martial arts, really suffers from people with huge egos that try both to be masters and spiritual teachers, and are blinded by their self importance. I think because spiritual teachings is a huge part of Aikido it attracts certain types of people with messiah complexes. Just my two cents. Luckily I've had good instructors. I was always taught that Aikido is best used when paired with something else. It isn't good on its own. You would like my Aikido dojo in San Francisco; it shares the mat with BJJ and Judo classes (and sometimes Muy Thai) and cross pollination between all the arts is highly encouraged. The best one can do is just train in as much as they can to cover all bases, whether striking, throwing, grappling, etc. I hope to get more cross training in myself in years to come. Happy as always to see your evolution/transformation and glad you are pressure testing it!

[@chuckles2040]

I did Aikijiujitsu. Instructor was very blunt. Techniques are applied after strikes and person is imbalanced. there is a small window to apply them. Even then... he gave it up, after 8 years, and moved to mixed martial arts and bjj. I believe he is going to catch wrestling.

[@Sx-xy2zi]

Rokas I don't think you made a patreon before but you have 300,000 plus people here. There is going to be atleast 1000 people from this bunch that can help contribute to a patreon. You don't need to give some roi just let them support you. I may not be able to afford it but I really think the good will you generated people will support you Just set two prices for the patreon a medium one and a high one and let people help you

[@mladenmilosavljevic6449]

I did train multiple martial arts, including the ones that do "suck" like Aikido or Wing Chun and the ones who dont like boxing, savate and grappling and I think there is gread value in them all. Its not all about being just capable figher, rather to understand different concepts and approach to fights. Aikido wold work good if we start using swords for example. Its also good when it comes to some grapling stuff that includ wrists, that aren't alowed in the ring but are allowed on the street, and are very good.

[@liquidketamine8562]

25:18 Homeboy caught her in a rizzlock

[@kentao5]

My Transformation came when I started with Burton Richardson's JKDU.

[@aleistersenna]

My first Aikido sensei was a terrible person. He saw himself as superior and tried to crush my confidence when I asked why Aikido isn’t practical in real-life situations. One day, he told me that I shouldn't speak unless I was constantly looking him in the eyes.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Yup, he sounds like a dick

[@MrAnimal47]

I want to do a martial art where you really learn everything, but what are the best choices? MMA is too hard because of my health problems, but I really want to be able to defend myself if I have to in the worst case scenario! Thanks for the advice! I am 36 and as a child i did 2 years of judo and as a teenager 2 years of taekwondo but i forgot everything… I am 6 feet 3 and a little above 200 pounds, so not a big dude but a normal average guy but I want to get a little bigger but difficult with my health issues… physical and mental problems

[@kevinx1893]

I think instead of going for control, you can try to catch your opponent with strikes when you successfully applied any aikido technique. Don’t hold for too long because falling alone won’t do much damage to trained fighter on a matt.

[@tichtran664]

Well you not the only person to go from one martial art to another AND also try MMA. Like Laetitia Blot who went from judo( left because they said she was too old) to freestyle wrestling then to sambo. Then went into MMA ( with training in bjj and Luta Livre ( Brazilian catch wrestling). And won medals or belt in ALL four combat sports.

[@tichtran664]

And I believe she also went back to sambo last year and won medals in both sport and combat sambo( first time combat sambo was open to women). Now I would like her to also compete in catch wrestling ( whether in US or UK ( where choke are banned. So instead do neck crank like crossface neck crank). Or even go to WWE ( owned by UFC parent company. LOL 🤣). And then join UFC just like Brock Lesnar. LOL 🤣. Although now Brock Lesnar is IMPLICATED in a major $EX scandal.

[@SINdaBlock411]

just remember Rokas: even the path to ruin has its' tollgates

[@cosmixwis]

Great video! Have you ever heard of Real Aikido? It's supposedly a better Aikido, and from what I saw a teacher(Igor Petrovic from Serbia) is some crazy trainer, not in a bad way, but I have seen him using it and he's pretty quick. I thought I'd have a suggestion for you to try real aikido or even go against Igor Petrovic's real aikido. Now Idk if you will see this but at the same time it may not even be in your interests.

[@chris55529]

Kind of sucks to find out that Aikido sucks from a guy who studied it so hard and for so long that he would know, and was willing to put himself on the line to find out. Seagal fooled so many people by mixing Karate with it in his first film.

[@BillyTheKidsGhost]

I find wristlocks very useful as ground submissions... I don't do Aikido 😄

[@703simpson]

A good example that the truth will set you free. I like the cult reference. And it would seem we can extend that to most areas of life. You know who your friends are when "everyone" stops calling you. It could be leaving a church or a marriage. The people who you spent time with in so-called sincere friendship end up self-deleting. And there is seen the truth. Falsehoods will always collapse given enough time.

[@WayneAbbruscato-Orr]

Bro Aikido wasn't a waist of time. The issue with Aikido, is how it's meant to be used or rather how you are suppose to apply it to an aggressive attacker i.e. grabbing someones wrist as they punch you. Super hard to pull something off like that. But perhaps that means, if one could apply actual Aikido during an attack, and win. Then that would me they are super fast, precise, a super human, no? In any case, the core techniques of Aikido that come from straight up Japanese JiuJitsu, will work in grabbing situations of MMA, BJJ etc. I've done 3 years of Japanese JiuJitsu. When I sparred in BJJ within the first week of training, I had sparred against an MMA practitioner which I pulled off a kotegeishi from his grab of my lapel. Granted this was one scenario because I then pulled a muscle the following week and that ended that lol. The point is, that you can use certain techniques. But they tend to be the basic ones you learn in Aikido/Japanese JiuJitsu etc. My opinion of course. With my experience in JJJ and knowing what I know of Aikido, I feel there is a lot of techniques that are a bit farfetched and perhaps they are either super old/out dated for the times we live in now or they are somewhat fluff to build up a curriculum at the dojos.

[@Pifagorass]

Sensei Sef is a state level sumo champion in he's division. It's unfair to mention only karate skills in this context 😅

[@MartialArtsJourney]

This story is older than a year, he wasn't an accomplished sumo wrestler then 😎

[@fernandorivera2131]

I believe that some Akido could work in MMA but you gotta follow up with something else, you did great with Jeff and seth using some moves, to throw them down but of course mixing some bjj or wrestling on it, i feel akido is not bad they do have some nice wrist control that could work, but that's what MMA is all about bringing everything together i know as a boxer i could have some nice hands but i know thay there's some stuff that i can lack on, like defending a leg kick or a take down, so i know that my boxing could work in MMA cage but i know i have to learn other tecniques because it could only work like 1 min or so until the guy realize that i have a crappy kick and bad at defending take down, so i know my art is good but i know it has its weaknest and the best way to get better is bye learning another art form. So your akido could work but not by itself, more like to set something up, for a wrestling take down or bjj lock. Me i had to learn some wresling and muy thai to help me with my weaknest as a fighter. In conclusion fighting is amazing and your journey it's cool because sometimes we gotta move our egos aside and realise that fighting evolves and some of the the traditional stuff don't work anymore but having some of the fundamental of it could help you with what other people lack on, a crane kick was use in UFC and it's one of the most fundamental kick in Karate and knock a fighter down wasn't nothing fancy but it got the job done, so probably one day an Akido fighter might pop up and execute an old move that wasn't expected to be use on MMA cage. So good luck on your journey and opening the eyes to other people not to be scared and always believe that the master of your dojo is not always right, even in boxing you'll be suprise how many fighters still believe they could beat an MMA fighter by just using their hands. 😅

[@Dan.50]

We all fell for "Black Belt Theater" in the early days. It's like if someone were to watch John Wayne movies to learn how to gunfight. After UFC exposed the whole con game people now have NO excuse to fall for this stuff.

[@لافتىالاعلي-ق1ل]

Waiting for USDC!!

[@charlesxavier1904]

Roka. Before you started your mma journey you actually had successfully defended yourself using aikido. I wouldn't say aikido isn't good for self defense I would just say it's a limited style. Like boxing is good for self defense but limited since you don't address the ground. Fighting obviously is a whole different story. I think a distinction between the two needs to be made.

[@devindodge8648]

The real truth is always right down the middle. Aikido is incredible because an MMA fighter can supplement their repertoire with it to be far more effective. However, Aikido is not a complete self-defense system. Being an expert is, in fact, very impressive, and somebody needs to protect that ancient knowledge. However, it was never an entire fighting system, it is a part of the greater Budo of the Samurai. Effective and super good, but it's not complete. 😊✌️

[@guytakamatsu7326]

Have a solid recovery. Don’t push yourself too hard. I think the late muppets creator pushed himself too hard. I have cancer, so I can’t do as much as I like. But I have to know my limitations as the fictional Dirty Harry would say. So pace yourself.

[@אלחנןבעל-שם]

Do you thing that functional aikido is something that you can teach, or maybe only after gaining a certain level of experty in fighting it is possible to aplay it in a real fight?

[@MartialArtsJourney]

It's possible

[@jaisonjalvarado83]

MIKE TYSON said it best... " Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face".

[@Pifagorass]

Instead of closing dojo you could transform it to JJJ dojo with self defense focus 😮😢

[@naez2249]

1:01 14 days per week?

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Yeah, I was that hard core 😎 (joking)

[@himuragoXD]

Like this so I can come back at the 1mill mark

[@user-bm3ts2ql6s]

how about akijujitsu?

[@TapPaires-ob2lr]

"You're holding your pinkie wrong"... Haha, just this morning I was thinking about trying some aikido moves out in bjj, and kept thinking about how in aikido it's always these weird very unpowerful ways to control someone, instead of let's say bjj where you much more just get as strong grips as possible and play from there. It's fun to play around with the moves, but holy fuck if you actually needed to be 100% precise with them to pull them off.

[@vaimast]

When you goona do kyoku

[@BWater-yq3jx]

I love Icy Mike's enthusiastic support from the sidelines 😁👍

[@bongkem2723]

you choose the path of the truth and you gain so much along the way, no Aikido sensei could ever imagine what it is to be on that journey, they would stay forever in their comfort zone and the state of denial. Great effort man, if you ever open a Dojo again (for MMA or even practical Aikido) your dojo will be successful for sure !!!

[@MichaelAres]

Love your story! I’m just 10-months into BJJ and dabbled with 6-months of boxing. I feel so much better as a man compared to two years ago. I’m only 5’6 and 145-pounds, and I enjoy trying to figure out how to make my grappling work against bigger people and that’s happening for me 6-days a week. Sometimes twice a day. Martial arts is the best journey a man can go on!

[@1individeo]

Look up to Mike Tyson and Rocky Marciano to learn how to make your boxing work against bigger guys. Because Grappling is very good but only in controlled situations: in a ring/octogon, on the matt or illegal fight that have a referee. In a crowded place you need good striking (boxing, Muay Thai, Lethei, karate...) and avoid going to the ground at all costs. You need to be able to hit and move/run, or takedown but stay standing or fall on top (Judo, Wrestling or Sambo), also if you try to grapple someone in the street and he has a knife on his pocket you're finished because you are not in a position to be able to run, unless you knew before the fight that he has a knife

[@michaelgarcia1018]

I remember coming across his MMA dojo video 6 years ago and I felt bad for him because he seemed like a nice guy and I thought Aikido was a waste of time. Next I noticed his transition from Aikido practitioner to a legit fighter and i was shocked and happy he was able to mesh his former training into his MMA journey which is what mixed martial arts is all about.

[@quickfiredan]

I've always found your videos to be very inspiring - you are the living embodiment that the true measure of a fighter is not how many times they fail to get knocked down, but in how many times they get back up.

[@ElmoStarIsInDaHouze]

I see Anime Creators taking notes for their Shonen Anime 😂 Great work sir!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Haha 😁👊

[@Berengier817]

Okay so I do Japanese jujutsu. And I'm glad you did this, and MMA people from my experience are mostly cool. On occasion yes there are Meatheads, but most all MMA people respect people (as you should) who go into the ring to prove something as long as it's on good nature.

[@johnthompson8580]

I think i worked backwards on mine, went from Shotokan Karate to do a bit of Aikido and Bujinkan, when I discovered if I pressure tested the instructors it wouldnt work.. of course they gave me the usual "it would break the wrist" excuse so I went back to my roots and now I live vicariously through my daughter who is doing BJJ

[@WakeUpUniverse66]

In other words its the story of how Rokas learned how to fight

[@oskyconk5652]

Hey, Rokas! How are you feeling? I hope you're doing better.

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Hi! Thanks for asking. I made an extensive post about my current situation at the community area, but to summarize the long post, I am feeling better in my day to day life until I start exerting myself physically or mentally. Then I crash quite quickly. But although it's a slow process, I am feeling a bit better by the day. Here's the long post if you'll feel like reading it: www.youtube.com/@MartialArtsJourney/community

[@hellokittybebop]

Awesome video last 6 years of your life could be a movie lol