The internet is full of bad self defense and martial arts videos. There is bad and there is worse. Bret Gordon's fighting with aiki videos and articles definitely fit into the worse column. If Gordon is going to do these types of videos and articles, it actually helps if he would and could actually fight.
Gordon's bad articles and his even worse videos are glowing examples of WHAT NOT TO DO IN A FIGHT.
Preplanned, Choreographed demos with a obedient and compliant uke doesn't prove effectiveness to any degree, definitely not in the streets. I won't get into Gordon's very questionable back ground. A 32 year old claiming to be a7th degree black belt is questionable enough. I wont address his lack of verified formal training beyond that of a junior black belt rank in Tae Kwon Do.
What Gordon can do is pull martial arts rank certs magically out of his ass, out of thin air like a proverbial magician. Not that any of them are worth an actual fuck.
AMERICAN YOSHINKAN AIKI RAVIOLI WITH MEATBALLS AND DONT FORGET THE CHEESE
Gordon's claims that he inherited a system, supposedly
connected to Daito ryu, but not daito ryu, from a mysterious dude who was
pretending to be a dude that was playing another dude, who changed his name to
a Japanese sounding name that isn't a real Japanese name. AND if Gordon's
youtube vid demos are any indication the dude obviously couldn't fight worth a
fuck.
If one wants to make up his own system of aiki then be honest about it but don't claim it to be something it isn't. When it comes down to it, Gordon doesn't really train and it shows. He is extremely out of shape. He is squat and obese. At all of 5' 5" and weighing around 300lbs with more chins than an adult walrus, it's obvious that conditioning of any type is nowhere in Gordon's wheel house. Hell the fucker has issues finding his pecker.
There is this prevailing thought among some that you don’t
have to be in shape or fit when it comes to self-defense. The argument is that
normally an attack doesn’t last long, it doesn’t last minutes, just seconds.
Well newsflash......It only takes seconds to become depleted, run out of gas, if
your aren’t in shape.
Poor techniques, coupled with little training and no conditioning is only a formula for failure.
Gordon would have people believe he is the epitome of martial arts badassery. The problem is there are no secret aiki techniques that are going to save you. If there were any such thing then Gordon shouldn't and wouldn't have an issue getting on the mats with......yours truly.
Most "trained" martial artists who have found themselves in street encounters or a bar fight find themselves overwhelmed by a untrained street thug or half drunk bar room brawler. That is the reality of the situation. The attacker controls the situation. He picks when he is going to ambush and attack you. He picks the level of violence used and what he is going to use.
Gordon's videos are as detached from the reality of fighting as it gets. Nothing he does will actually work in a violent encounter in the street or in a actual sparring session or scrimmage on the mats.
I honestly look at aiki arts like kata training...it only looks good if it's done well...but will it work in a street fight? Nope and certainly not putting that kind of faith in it.
Teaching fighting without actually knowing how to fight is another formula for failure.
If we look at Gordon's aiki vids as a martial art and its fighting
techniques, from defending ourselves from guns, knives, and other weapons, to
self-defense with hands and classic street fights, it's all bullshit. I mean who on
Earth would go and try something as he shows in his vids, and what attacker is gonna throw a straight and slow punch to attack someone? Or as in his aiki stopping a wrestling takedown performed in slow motion? Yeah a wrestler is really going to do that.
What is telling is if you can't hold your own on the mats you certainly won't withstand a violent encounter or survive a street fight. Gordon wont put anything he claims he can do against me on the mats. That tells me that he doesn't even believe his own methods and system actually work.
In actual aiki arts, like aikido or aiki jujutsu, maybe as few as 2 or 3 out of 100 plus techniques can be useful at all.
As for what Gordon shows...it is not a real defense that you can actually use in real
life to any degree of effectiveness. Gordon has obviously tried to pick up stuff here and there and has very limited training in it and it shows in his vids. I believe any connection to daito ryu Aiki jujutsu that Gordon tries to imply or claims to have are entirely false. He is more or less cosplaying and larping. If that is what you're into then knock yourself out but don't claim rank, don't claim to be able to fight or be about them streets.
Stick to drinking milkshakes and eating ice cream and pies.
Us real instructors with real knowledge can handle the rest.
