Back in the early 90s, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was originally conceived with one question in mind: Which martial arts style is superior in a no holds barred contest? Would it be the likes of karate or wrestling or boxing, sumo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kung fu, etc.

Fast forward to the present day, cross-training between disciplines is the norm, and mixed martial arts has become a style in and of itself, but now the pressing question is “Who would win in a fight between a traditional martial artist and a mixed martial artist?”

For example, the martial art aikido has typically been written off as not being effective against an MMA fighter, although the aikido side will say that their style is a self-defense art and not designed for sport. But is there more to it than this?

In the following video, 2nd Dan aikido black belt Rokas Leonavicius visits an MMA gym to investigate the claims and test his style first hand against Lithuanian MMA fighter Tadas Aleksanonis (5-6-1) in a series of friendly sparring sessions.

How will aikido fare? Check out the results below.

Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as “the way of unifying (with) life energy” or as “the way of harmonious spirit.” Ueshiba’s goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury.

Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba’s involvement with the Omoto-kyo religion. Ueshiba’s early students’ documents bear the term aiki-jujuts. [Source: Wiki] 

Author: Nic is a designer and illustrator alongside being a martial arts enthusiast. You can find some of his illustrative work for purchase here.