The BJJ legend Rickson Gracie was once asked what he thought about Steven Seagal and if he is legit.
This was Rickson Gracie’s response:
“Definitely. [Seagal] has – based on his training – a deep understanding of the concepts. How good he is in real life, how he will display his effectiveness, I’m not sure. His philosophy is based on proven realities. He believes in technique, and the concepts within Martial Arts.”
So what does this mean exactly. For Rickson, Seagal has a deep understanding of Aikido’s fundamentals. When it comes to effectiveness, he believes that the only way to see how legit he is from live training. This is why it is important to test your technique on resisting opponents in live sparring, to be able to see what truly works.
A martial art and martial artist that doesn’t actively train with his students to test and refine his techniques, cannot improve…
Now when BJJ and Taekwondo black belt Joe Rogan was asked the same question, he went deeper questioning the effectiveness of the martial art of Aikido….
In the past, Joe Rogan welcomed an Aikido Master during his podcast and slowly broke Aikido down, calling it the most ineffective martial art ever.
When asked how he would deal with a wrestler, his guest answered:
“I’d just step to the side”
