Review: Roy Dean’s the Art of the Wristlock

Short review: THE DVD to get for incorporating aikido and small circle jiu-jitsu principles into your BJJ or vice versa.

This two-DVD set starts out with a great talk by Sensei Roy Dean on principles that aikido people would need to keep in mind when encountering or training in a BJJ environment. Actually, I would recommend anyone with an interest in martial arts, period, to listen to what he has to say because the principles he talks about could put you years ahead of your peers, especially if you practice a traditional martial art. The talks he gives bridge the conceptual gap that people have when making that transition from traditional to “modern” arts that practice against resistance. As I’ve said before, the fact that Sensei Dean has actual experience in bridging that gap himself makes the talks all that more potent. So when he talks about how strength is never irrelevant, how you can’t expect people to just give you their energy, the need for extensive pressure testing, etc. I would hope that people would take into consideration what he says.

The next section of the first DVD is a demo of seven basic aikido wristlocks: ikkyo, nikkyo, sankyo, yonkyo, gokyo, shiho-nage, and kote-gaeshi. These are done with the traditional overhead chop as an attack and Sensei Dean counters with the technique. All of the techniques are done multiple times with Sensei Dean pointing out important details each time. As the demos continue, he uses them to transition into groundwork and follows up with straight armbars or combines the aikido techniques.

One thing that I would have liked to have seen at this point was a few closeups on where the hands were positioned for the locks. The angles used in wristlocks can be quite small compared to angles used in barring larger joints like the elbow, for example. Without closeups, it would be a bit difficult to learn the locks themselves off of the video unless you had some prior training in them. If you do have that prior training, then this overview of the wristlocks will be enough to remind you how they are applied.

The DVD continues with a look at how some of the wristlocks are applied in ground grappling. Sensei Dean gives ideas for how to use some of the basic seven wristlocks while engaged in common BJJ positions. He uses them to submit the opponent, escape from side mount, etc. It’s at this stage of the DVD that you’ll start to see where he’s headed with this material.

The first disc ends with several demos of Sensei Dean’s belt tests in arts like aikido and traditional Japanese jiu-jitsu. These were interesting because you get to see where Sensei Dean learned these techniques originally before he integrated them with the BJJ.

This section also includes an interesting match he had at Grappler’s Quest in which he actually faced an opponent that performed two aikido wristlocks on him. Sensei Dean responded with ukemi and submitted his opponent.

Also featured in the last section is a clip on self-defense that looks to be his next DVD project. I noticed that several of the locks were shown through close-ups in that clip and more details on angles seem to be given there.

The second DVD features three seminars that he taught at an aikido dojo and it was at this point in the presentation that I grasped the potential for the wristlocks. It’s only after viewing the entire package that the structure of it all comes together. Looking back, Sensei Dean gives you an intro, the demos of traditional locks, some ideas of how to use the locks, the demos of where he learned them originally, and then finally how he applies them in his BJJ today through the seminars at this dojo. How these techniques evolved for him becomes clear through viewing the entire presentation.

The first seminar showcases some basic BJJ techniques for the aikido students and then the second seminar brings in more ideas of how to use the aikido techniques while rolling. Sensei Dean usually starts with an aikido standing technique then transitions into a BJJ technique like a submission or choke. He even introduces the students to the crucifix position. Sometimes the submission itself is another aikido technique.

After viewing the seminar sessions it became clear to me that aikido and BJJ can simply become one art, an idea Sensei Dean mentioned in the intro. There, he talked about flavors of the jiu-jitsu arts: aikido, judo, BJJ, JJJ, etc. During this last section, you will see that these various techniques compliment each other very well and that there’s no conflict between them because they’re flavors of the same thing. You will also see how the BJJ groundwork will add to your range as you follow the aiki principles from standing right into ground submissions and chokes.

During the last seminar session, Sensei Dean asked the participants if they’d like to wrestle with him or see some chokes, etc. and it was at that point that I realized that I hadn’t seen the wristlocks used much in a live rolling session. A few more clips of rolling would have been nice but the DVD is great as it is.

In closing, I highly recommend this DVD set for anyone looking to explore how the arts of aikido, BJJ and small-circle jiu-jitsu might flow into one another to become one stream of movement.

Alternate source:

Art of the Wristlock 2 DVD Set by Roy Dean
CLICK HERE TO ORDER

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