kenji ushiro

[Ian]

got this name from the "who's got IT and can teach it to aikidoka" thread. thanks!

saw him on MB&KM and thought his movement looked good.

cool stuff:




some horrific bs as well:

[middleway]

one thing this guy has shed loads of is timing and pre-emptive ability.

thanks for the clips.

Chris

[GrahamB]

That first clip looks like elements of absolutely everything you see posted here - in a good way.

XingYi, Aikido, Karate, Systema, Tai Chi, Bagua, Shaolin - he's got it all going on! Very nice.

[lbmcr]

thanks

[C.J.Wang]

Trying to demonstrate Karate strikes on Aikidokas are interesting to watch -- they just start falling even before contacts were made.

[Ian]

that's why I like the second clip. karateka don't have the habit of falling down unless they're really falling down. seem to be fine with getting hit as well.

[GrahamB]

These are certainly not the IT skills I learned on my BSc in Computer Science.

[Andy_S]

This is good: Guy gets "punicked" and is "pushed by ki" so can't do a damn thing...though if you look at the beginning, his strikes are actually aimed to miss! Why? A mystery of the martial arts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsuhU8uo ... re=related

[Sprint]

one thing this guy has shed loads of is timing and pre-emptive ability.

Haha it's funny how a bit of video editing can make anyone look good. I was only interested in how he got on with the karate guys and was not impressed. He only sparred with a white belt - so not exactly super-human credentials there. Then his demos were based upon knowing the type of attack that was coming or attacks that were slow/lacking conviction in which he reacted full speed. Then you see him landing a few shots and nothing happens. To me he seems surprised at his lack of effectiveness and tries several more times, with the same lack of result. I think you can see by the way he moves that he has nothing internal going on. This was especially evident to me after he landed the kick towards the end. I also did a bit of freeze framing and he hunches his shoulders quite a bit as well - so I would avoid if you really want to learn something special.

[ors]

Dear Sprint!

The white belt guy has white belt in Ushiro's system... It is not necessary that he is a white belt in any systems. When you go to learn from a teacher first time, you won't get your black belt. It would be rude...

As Chris wrote Ushiro's system is totally based on "timing and pre-emptive ability". As he said it is about "catch the initiative" of the opponent.
I have to add I have watched his DVD's and I am not "totally convinced".

I would love to see his teacher's videos though!

Örs

[Sprint]

Dear Sprint!
As Chris wrote Ushiro's system is totally based on "timing and pre-emptive ability". As he said it is about "catch the initiative" of the opponent.
I have to add I have watched his DVD's and I am not "totally convinced".

The second vid at .57 shows Ushiro demonstrating this "pre-emptive ability" but look how he rehearses it first. The attacker attacks 2 times (slowly and to the same spot) before Ushiro [re] acts pre-emptively! If he has special ability and if his whole system is about acting pre-emptively, then why the need for not one, but two rehearsals...? Is it that he still needs the practice?

The whole of Karate is based on timing, as is just about every other martial art I can think of. As for catching the initiative of the opponent that is something that being internal allows you to do quite successfully, but he has not got that ability. If you really understood, you would notice how after doing the front kick his body is moving backwards and not forwards - his opponent is also moving backwards (a lot further than he needed to, because his experience told him to expect a follow up) but Ushiro does not follow up. In fact his mind and body are going backwards.

[ors]

Good points Sprint! As I have said I am not "totally convinced" either.

Örs

[Sprint]

I've just realized the guy he's hitting at 1.20 is Hajime Kazumi who if you don't know was/is one of the top guys in Kyokushin. He also has a background in Taikiken which is the Japanese derivative of yiquan.

If he is now training with Ushiro that raises a number of questions in my mind. Like why? Did he not really get what taikiken is all about? Was this just a one off? Does Ushiro really have something special? Am I talking out my ass when I say Ushiro does not look like much? What's weird as well is that Kazumi is not trying to hit Ushiro at all, even though (IMHO) he looks like he would beat Ushiro with ease. Is Ushiro using Kazumi in more ways than one i.e. exploiting his fame to make himself look better, in order to sell DVD's?

[dtactics]

Funny to see Aikidoka's taking strikes. They usually only talk about Atemi but don't get to feel it. More instructive to watch the Karate boys response. Not nearly as theatrical.

Ushiro Sensei's for real. One of M. Saotome's Sensei's top student Hiroshi Ikeda is now training with him. I've touched hands with Ikeda Sensei and he's no slouch.