Episode 734 - Shihan John Araujo
Shihan John Araujo is a Martial Arts practitioner and instructor at the Aikido of Bristol County, in East Freetown, Massachusetts.
I want to seek out Aikido to se what it’s all about. See if it is what it is in the movies. I checked it out, I trained a weekend and it felt like I trained for months. Compared to what I did in 10 years, not even close!
Shihan John Araujo - Episode 734
Araujo Shihan is an inspiring teacher and holds a deep passion for the power of Aikido. While Aikido is often referred to as a light art, Araujo Shihan has unlocked technique with tremendous power. His unique approach can add power and directness to any technique.
Today Araujo Shihan travels throughout the country teaching and sharing his Tenshin Aikido. Not only is Araujo Shihan a member of the I.I.M.A.A, I.M.A.F. & several other martial arts organizations, but he is also a technical Aikido advisor and representative for the International Independent Martial Artists Association.
In this episode, Shihan John Araujo talks about his journey to the martial arts and how he found his passion for Aikido. Listen to learn more! Listen to learn more!
Show Notes
For more information about Shihan John Araujo, you may check these websites:
Facebook: Aikido Of Bristol County
Show Transcript
Jeremy Lesniak:
What's up everybody? Welcome. This is whistlekick martial arts radio episode 734. My guest today is Shihan John Araujo. I'm Jeremy Lesniak. I'm your host, I'm whistlekick founder. I wear a lot of hats over here, but in the context of what we do on the show, I'm the other voice that you're gonna hear from. If you wanna know more about all the hats that I wear and the hats that everybody else wears and what those result in, go to whistlekick.com. You're gonna find everything we're working on over there, including our store. It's one of the places that you can spend some time, maybe find something that you like, sweatshirt pants, T-shirts, training programs, stickers, books, protective equipment. There's so much stuff over there. And if you use the code PODCAST15 on something that you like, it saves you 15% and everybody wins everything for this show on a separate website, whistlekickmartialartsradio.com.
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Okay, but if you want all the ways, the entire list of all the things you can do to help us out in our mission whistlekick.com/family, go check out that page. It is not often that we have a guest on the show who, especially after 730 episodes, changes my perspective on something. I thought I knew, but that's exactly what happens today. I am not going to discolor what you're going to step into, by hinting at it, because I think it's important that you go in as open-minded as possible. Let's just say. That is in the same tradition that we've had some folks come on the show and say, yeah, this is the way lots of people do it, but there's another way to do it. And I think it's better. And here's why that is a subject that we tackle on this episode. And I loved it and I hope you do too. I've got a feeling you will. Hello, sir. How are you?
John Araujo:
Good. How are you?
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm doing great. Thank you.
John Araujo:
Awesome. Thank you for the invite.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Of course. Thanks for accepting. Andrew was very persistent.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yes, he is. He does a great job in so many ways. And one of those things, he is just like, “Hey, Hey, Hey, you should come on the show”. Yeah, you should come on the show.
John Araujo:
Oh, I said maybe the next thing I'm waiting for is him to knock on my door.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I don't think he's done that yet.
John Araujo:
You never know. You never know.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You never know if it's somebody nearby. I can see it happening.
John Araujo:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. How do you pronounce your last name? Wanna make sure we get it right.
John Araujo:
Yes, it’s Araujo.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Cool. Well so we've got a decision to make right here. We can either kind of pause and talk about what we're gonna do, or we can just roll.
John Araujo:
Just roll, just go.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Let's do it. [00:04:13-00:04:15]. Behind you. Go ahead.
John Araujo:
I did Shotokan karate before this. Okay. That I was about six years old.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I was gonna find a way to ask that question. So, you made it easy for me. We've had a number of Aikido practitioners on the show over the years, and Aikido seems to be an art that people end up in or start in. I do not know very many people who start and remain in Aikido.
John Araujo:
Correct. I absolutely a hundred percent agree with you. Aikido is depending on who you're training with, and I'm gonna be honest with you because a lot of your podcasts, especially the ones that hit people are not normal. Anyway, so you know that I've been watching it since I met you at Bill Wallace's party. Aikido is one of those martial arts that either works and is a big controversy on Aikido traditional arts. I started off with karate and it was basic Japanese karate. I did that for about 10 years. I guess I was active in driving my parents nuts. So, they said you want karate, whether you like it or not.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, how old were you when you started?
John Araujo:
I was about six, six and a half.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay. Pretty young.
John Araujo:
Yeah, pretty young. I didn't know much, still don't know much. I'm still learning. So at a later age I was about a teenager. I was maybe 16 years old. I said, what is that? Which was a movie?At the time that I was doing shotokan and I was also doing judo. My instructor was a judo practitioner also, and he had rank judo. So on Thursday night, Thursday evenings for two hours, we just tossed each other around and chokes leg locks on. And it was great. So, I said, you know what, maybe I just wanna do that as a self-defense martial a lot. I like to try it. My first decision was judo because I loved it. It was too far. I didn't have a car. I wasn't working yet at 16 and my parents, my father had two jobs. My mother wasn't gonna drive me to Boston. There was a judo club in Boston. So the closest thing to me was my instructor's best friend and father figure Iniki, which was, and I said, yeah, I'll give it a shot. I did. I'm gonna be honest with you. I didn't like it at first. A lot of roles, a lot of getting dizzy, and I said, I don't know if this is for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Putting some pieces together if you're doing show to, and if you're doing no, I mean, I, I could tell really early on the accent in Massachusetts. Yes. And, if you're doing Shotokan and you're doing Shotokan in New Bedford, I'm pretty sure I know who you were training with and, you know, a great group of people and, you know, they are solid people. Yes. And Aikido is about as opposite as you get. I mean, there's Shotokan and then there's this group of people as far as I've experienced. So you're, you're going to the other end of the spectrum.
John Araujo:
I am. I figured let me hang in there and give it my best and see what happens. And I stuck to it. Until I was 16. Now I'm 48. So, I love it. Here's my experience with the Aikido community. I've been in seminars and there is that type of Aikido that is fluff and that doesn't work. I'm gonna be honest with you because I'm an Aikidoka. And that type of Aikido doesn't work. I was used to training the hardest style of aikido, pressure testing it. Coming from karate. We don't punch, like Aikidokas. They do not know how to punch, they don't even know how to choke somebody. So, when I started, we didn't like that. You know, we bring out punch back. Everybody leaves their punch out and hopefully it's very simple to grab somebody's wrist or arm and take them into a pin or leg or throw, willingly. So, I mean, Aikido had its goods at one point.
It took it in a spiral downward motion these last couple years. I was like, that sucks. That would not work. Um, Going back a little bit. I've been doing law enforcement for years. So, when I first liked did, so, and you know, it's one of those where if you do aikido. Research it, you need to know that that's what you wanna do. Um, and research the instructor. Um, they have a lot of ITO schools. That's a big comradery. That's a big cult. It's like a church atmosphere there. It's very spiritual.
And if you get mugged out in the street because the world is really crappy out there, uh, as you know, you're not gonna wait for the angels from the sky to come down and help you. And you know, a lot of Aikido schools are built. With the love of peace in harmony that's what Aikido means, but there's postwar, pre-war Aikido. And there's this last fourth generation of Aikido that are doing this big circular, soft movement where everybody's invited and I get it, say I wanted everyone to do it and get that part because he was an older man, older senior citizen, man. That was brittle, it was cancer. You've heard from a good source that was involved with the [00:11:55-00:11:57] organization. That back then, right before sensei had passed away a few years before he passed away. He wanted to go back into that prewar, [00:12:05-00:12:07] because that's what worked, it worked in the war. But it doesn't work now. What is the problem then? Is it the new generation instructors? It could be, it definitely could be. I've trained with different organizations. Some are better than others. Some are worse than others.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I have a theory and I'd like to bounce it off you because you're the first person that I've been able to talk to, who I felt was appropriate to, to voice this theory. Well, most of us know most of us have been training for a while now that there's Tai Chi, you know, and, and then there's, there's tai chi, and to my understanding Tai Chi is not that fat. Even the effective stuff. It's not the fastest path to an effective self defense repertoire. And so you get a lot of people who start and they learn, let's say short form, and they fade away. And they know enough they start teaching other people and it becomes people start to think that's what it is. I have long wondered if Aikido was something similar, that you start with the slow, gentle, large, beautiful, graceful movements. And a lot of people just didn't spend enough time there in the early generations to get to the next step.
John Araujo:
I have to agree with you. Is this Aikido? Because I'm an aikidoka so I can verify that the big circle movements and is rock and roll like, I'm going to take your head off, like, you know, the pre World War stuff, do what I'm used to when I started Aikido, it was a very hard, rigid robotic form of Aikido. I got my butt handed to me, bumps, I got bruises, I hurt my joints ached, and I was young, and I was able to take it but it hurt. So my theory is if it hurts, it works. If you kick me in the face and I don't move, it's going to hurt or you're going to knock me out or break something.
So it is so you have Aikido and you have Aikido so, you know like Tai Chi and like other forms of arts if you're doing this type of Aikido, don't call it a martial arts. If you're preaching the books, if you're preaching the spiritual ality of Aikido, I get it I understand it. I'm not much of a book reader unless there's nice pitches in it. A lot of throwing, and so forth. I did read some of Sense’s philosophy. And I understand that I have felt this key power that people in general I'm talking about Ikki guy general Aikido. I get what they mean, I felt the key power. Key is not what people think it is like on YouTube, get thrown by my sensei, and he throws me with this key six feet back. That's not a key that doesn't work like that. I felt key. It's your core power, breaking your balance. It has a lot to do with body mechanics, and I get that part. But people think that with this key that they're trying to find this, I don't know this magic bean. It's not going to happen. It's through your hard work and dedication. You have to train, you have to make it work. If it doesn't work, there's a problem.
If it doesn't work, you need to be comfortable and ask your instructor why it's not working. You need unique options. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which I've done. I'm not ranked in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I don't teach it by any means, but I do use it in my techniques as an option. If you get off the technique, you do it badly. It doesn't work. It's not applicable. Give your students options. If you're by yourself with that one person, take him to the ground or if he takes you to the ground. What are you going to do on your back? What are you going to do with whatever ground control you have? So I teach ground control, also [00:16:56-00:16:58] , triangle choke. I teach all that because I did learn the basics of Aikido. I did cross train, I still cross trained with jujitsu people, which is great. And I believe that if somebody wants to do Aikido that's trained in another martial law, I think it's better for them. So if you come from a karate background of Krav Maga or Jeet Kune Do, or a different martial law, I think it's good to check out Aikido and see what it's got for you.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So this kind connects back to one of the first things we started talking about. So few people seem to me to start and remain in Aikido. And is that why they need another piece to make it to that next level?
John Araujo:
Yes. Okay. You know, I did Aikido, a trend in Aikido extensively. five, maybe six days a week, two hours a day. For 10 years. There was a seminar coming up, Seagal was putting out during you know the earlier movies between above the law and hot to kill in his ranch. So I signed up for it online. I sent my money and it fell through because of Hollywood and things that were going on with him. So I said well, my next best thing to do is seek out maybe his top students I don't know. I want to check out this hero to see what it's all about.
See if it is what it is in the movies. See if it's this brutal style of Aikido, you know, it looked like it had like an old style of day to do jiu jitsu. So I did, I seeked out a couple of guys. Actually my first seminar was in Florida with Shihan Louis Santos. And he was one of his black belts. And I checked it out. I trained on the weekend, it felt like a train from months ago. It was intense. It was brutal. You know, compared to what I did for 10 years, not even close. I thought I just started Aikido. So it was kind of odd.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Was it the intensity? Was it the level of education and competency? Were you training 22 hours a day like what was the difference?
John Araujo:
The intensity, the power behind the technique. It was very direct; it didn't have big circles. The different applications behind the techniques were significantly different than what I was used to. With my application, let's say the entity may not be acquitted guys, you're out turn throw. It was very Very different, intense and hurtful. And it worked. Because I came from that karate background. So, you know, I wanted to first kind of like go in with an open mind and just test it out and kind of feel it. And oh yeah, I felt it. It was different.
Another thing too, is that when I was doing Aikido, for the last for the 10 first years that I did Aikido, never, ever did I do, or seen any combinations, jab, counterpunch, you know, jab, front kick, side kick, roundhouse kick, spinning back, kick spinning, back fist. Never. I questioned some instructors, and they just brushed me off. I wasn't supposed to ask that question. I wasn't, it wasn't my place. Or they would say, Well, you know, this is not for you. The questions that you have, I can't help you with, it's not good, I've been in aikido for four years now. How come? Nobody throws a jab because you can't catch a jab. You can't catch these punches. You know, it's hard. Realistically…
Jeremy Lesniak:
Were they? Do you think they were hiding information? Or they didn't have the answers?
John Araujo:
You know, most of them did not have the answers. So they falsified a lot of facts from what I was doing. And I wanted to know why it didn't work. Well, you know, you have to train more, you have to come more. You got to stop questioning. It works. It works for me all the time. Well, yeah, you're the Sensei, I have to fall for you. I gotta make this work for you. Yeah. And you're the Sensei, of course it works. You know, because I'm going with it. Most of the time, you have to go with it to learn it, obviously, and choreograph all these techniques. But when I resisted that, when I'm with my Senpai, my senior student, I tried to stop it.
How come they tell me not to stop it? Because it's not working? Some of them will, some of them did brutally throw me, which was great. But they did not like that. Question them, you just have to do it. So it's like, how many years do I have to do this for this to work? So when I did this tension, which I was told when I started doing this tension, I know, there is no type of Aikido. But there is the heavy style, they have this style, you know, your [00:22:30-00:22:34] to make the aikido so there are styles you can tell. So, when I studied this tension in Aikido it was cool, because I can ask the questions. It was very open. My first technique when I got on the map was jab, front kick. Never did that my life never never did that my life in Aikido the last, or the first 10 years I was in it. I was like, Holy crap, what do I do now? And I kicked a punch, it was great. We were doing, you know, techniques from sidekick from roundhouse kicks from combinations. I had no idea what I was doing. And I said, I need to do this.
Jeremy Lesniak:
This goes back to your shotokan origin, you know, this whole body of stuff that you recognize there was a gap. You didn't know how to defend against it. And now they're filling in the pieces. It's not just throwing a punch in the out.
John Araujo:
You know what? I didn't mind going to the ground. I didn't mind trying to fight from that. I wanted You know, I didn't mind going to the ground. I didn't mind trying to fight from that. I wanted to see that I wanted to, you know, learn defensive techniques from this kick punch. Or if you take me down to the ground, what do you do? It was great because now I'm like, Okay, I'm in. I was used to sparring and that's what I wanted, you know, we're a little bit more violence a little bit more powerful.
More quickly, the timing was precise, even in shotokan. So I love this, you know, so after the 10th year of my general traditional Aikido, my sensei, my original sensei, had passed away. So I seeked out, these groups slip loose, and then I trained. I went to Taos, New Mexico. Craig Dunn was one of the students and he was also above the law. He wasn't hard to kill in the liquor store. He was the guy thrown around his stuff. And Elliott Freeman from St. Louis Matsuoka Sensei, who is a Japanese top student he was with for 20 years, did all the four in all the four first films that he did. He was in. He was okay. He was a stunt person to him.
So I seek these guys out and train them, they are great. I am very, very thankful for learning what I did and I'm glad I did that transition because the transition if you want to do it if this that's what you want to do, you're open to that you've got to be open minded to it. Because it's, it's a lot different. And people tend to shy away. I guess your terms when they see that type of Aikido go? Well, he's not doing Aikido. It just hurts people's just means. But you know, I've been at seminars and taught seminars that it feels like I'm taking them from their comfort zone. And I'm, I'm applying these techniques for real, to make it work to help them to just say, hey, there's another option.
There's another, I'm giving you guys different options, different styles of Aikido. Let's try this. And they seem to kind of wander off, and kind of go get some water, come back on the mat and say, Hey, can I see that again? Can I you know, it gets frustrating because, you know, when they are doing it, they really don't want to do it and they revert back to the big circle kind of throw. And it's like, okay, so I'll go into the next technique, the next technique, and it gets frustrating. So, you know, I guess at that point, through those seminars, I was teaching, or even training with his people, and by all means great people. Great attitude on the map, but then not about the violence. I'm not being violent, but I know I'm in law enforcement. This is what works.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now. When did you start law enforcement?
John Araujo:
I started in 1996. Okay. So I ended it in 2017. Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So 96 you would've been 20?
John Araujo:
Yep.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay.
John Araujo:
I went from being a [00:27:15-00:27:17] to a bail enforcement agent to campus police. So I did it all to chase people on warrants. I did it all.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I'm trying, I'm trying to build the timeline here. So, you know, six to 16 ish showed a con did you go? You went right into Aikido? So you had a few years of Aikido? Before law enforcement.
John Araujo:
I went into Aikido Okay, all right after 16. I did have some experience in Aikido. But very few techniques work for me. And I was very, very frustrated.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's where I wanted to get to was, you know, if you've been in Aikido for six months, when you start law enforcement and you're trying things out, it's easy to push back and say, you know what?
John Araujo:
And that's where I wanted to get to, you know, if you've been in aikido for six months, when you start law enforcement, and you're trying things out, it's easy to push back and say, You know what? Yeah, I just need more time. This isn't working, it's on me. But four years in, especially with your background understanding, you know, where in, say, a karate school you might be in four years, one would expect that your stuff would, if trained, well have some chance of working at least a good chunk of the time.
John Araujo:
Very little.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But it wasn't happening.
John Araujo:
Wasn't happening. Very little, but it wasn't happening. wasn't happening. My karate helped me a lot. Self awareness and Aikido helped me to move, obviously, but the big circle stuff, the fluffy stuff. Come alongs some of the bars that we did, because I really forced it and worked at it and trained every day. They worked. But a lot of the other techniques didn't work. And I asked the questions. I wasn't getting the answers I was getting, I was ready to quit, I was ready to try something else. And I said it worked. This worked in the war. Why isn't it working here? I'm not at war.
You know, I'm just locking people up and chasing people down. But, you know, in Aikido, I find that a lot of instructors that are these six, seven times and rank to me doesn't mean anything. If you can, put it on the map. I don't care if you've got a brown belt, blue belt. If you can put it on the mat and prove it to me. I'm good. Let's go. I'll be a first year student. I don't care if you're six down to seven times. You know, it's not going to help you on the street. My last rank was 2006. I've never been ranked since. It's not important to me, you know, people that have to prove as my students that I have a small group of students that are very selective. And the reason why I do that is because Aikido could be so complex. For that, you need a small group to teach it and understand it like, like I understand it now, before I just I just couldn't do it, I couldn't understand it. I could do the movements. But I had these guys that are even bigger than me. They were just throwing themselves. I'm like, Dude, you need to work with me like, you're throwing yourself. I'm not even touching you. And this is fake. This is not working for me. And again, I'm not trying to put it down. I'm not trying to put any martial art down. Because what I do works, I've been taught I cross train, make Aikido work. This tension, Aikido, is very brutal. And it's not the peaceful stuff that people think this is what it is.
Because it doesn't work some of these instructors going back to that I've met that a six times shift, that's four times seven times. They've never been into confrontation or fight in their life. How do they know that this works in the street? Yeah, it works right here on the map, because I have to respect you and go with it somewhat. Even if you tell me to resist that you got 30 people on the map. I don't want to I'm not going to embarrass you on the map. If it doesn't work, and you're gonna say, you know, I did that once. But with a senior student that was in a seminar. We're applying a wrist lock. And I asked him if I can resist some and we were both black belts. And he said, oh, yeah, that works all the time. No problem. Use it as you want. It didn't work. Well, the sensei came over and he's like, whoa, what's going on? Yeah, you're not doing it. Right. You got to move your body this way, in that way.
And obviously, I went for the sensei. Because it's just part of respect. And, you know, he just didn't talk to me after that. We became best friends. And he became one of my students later on. He says, I don't understand why is it because you're stopping me is because you know what I'm doing? You know, sometimes it is, but sometimes most of the time it isn't. Because you suck. You know, if if I'm throwing punches, and I'm not hitting you, am I really not throwing those punches to connect with you? Or are you really good at bobbing and weaving? So, you know, what is it?
You know, let's go ahead and test it. I've gone ahead. I have headgear here. Most of Aikido schools don't have him. Okay, let's test this. See if it works. You know, I have, I have a Saturday, monthly class with my senior students. We have Saturday classes, and we have five days a week, one Saturday class a month. I have my students put on the a gear. Let's go let's test this. And, you know, sometimes you get a bloody nose, sometimes you don't. All in fun not to be mean.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, no, but you get to it all you want to know that what you're doing is no, just gonna work.
John Araujo:
Like go round and do a straight armbar. Let's go ahead and do a Kimura let's, let's do a right [00:33:07-00:33:09]. Let's get into that. And I teach my senior students ground defense techniques, finger locks, it's you have to be very open to that stuff. You know, especially if you don't like my kind of Aikido.
You know if you're coming here to do traditional Aikido, which I do, but I have a different approach to those techniques, a different application. It's not this big. Love, peace and harmony. And we're all hugging each other and ballet and dancing in here. I don't dance. I like to rock and roll. I like getting hit and I like hitting people. I know it's not natural to you. I liked that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I enjoy it too. I like kicking people in the head.
John Araujo:
Yeah, like the walls you know, it sounds mean it sounds violent. It sounds maybe not Aikido-ish, but like that love peace and harmony type of Aikido but it is Aikido. This is what I'm doing. And I love it. And so be it. You know, I just can't falsify my students. If they have a question right from the get go. Sure. Let's go. Let's try it. It's not working for a reason. Let's go do it for me. I want to see what you're doing wrong. So yeah, it's been tough
Jeremy Lesniak:
Your description. And then you, you, you reminded me again with finger locks, the description you're using in contrast with let's call it common Aikido? What most of us have experienced with Aikido reminds me of if you gave me that description, you know, tight smaller. Reminds me of a small circle of jiu jitsu. Yes, it makes me think of Wally. So how similar is perhaps someone's experience with that body of movement to what you're talking about?
John Araujo:
Similar to day two, I could use it to date day two, I can change it to a small circle just with all the things that small circle jiu jitsu. And a lot of my students will say, hey, sensei I saw a YouTube video I'm like, Oh, it sucked. That didn't work. These guys are flying. They're not touching anybody people. People are dying, right? No, I watched this guy, small circle jiu jitsu, Wally Jay, I'm like he's awesome. We did those finger locks. It's almost breaking the fingers. But yeah, that's, that's what we're doing. Yes, it's all part of that. And oh, sensei did that he, he did that. And he blended this Aikido.
So everybody can do it. And I get it, you know, elderly people can do it. But I don't teach Tai Chi, when I get to a point that I can't do this, I'm gonna leave it for my younger crowd to do it. Like, Hey, I can't kick ass at eight years old, I carry a gun. But guess what you take over, you know, I'll carry my cane, I'll carry my gun. You know, we'll be good to go lock and load. Some people, you know, think that, you know, if you're starting to get away from that self defense.
You need to stop and probably have your students teach the younger crowd because you don't want to falsify anybody. It's a bad world out there. I know, from the background I've had, you know, I don't mind head butt you. I don't mind going into a clench with you. But let's go. And I teach that, you know, and but people have seen my kid on go. I didn't, that's not what I saw on YouTube. I'm like, well, it's either this or you can go to that. It's either Tai Chi.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Because a lot of people are looking for that. And that's okay. You know, we talk often on the show that, you know, your reasons for training don't have to be the same as other people's reasons for training. But your reasons for training should be reflected in who with and where and how you train.
John Araujo:
It's Budo martial arts. True Budo. I need to teach that if I turn this into a religious type, key type, chi gong type of school. I can't teach that I might as well shut the place down. I just, I can't do it. I can't do it. Maybe when I get older, maybe I'll go into Tai Chi, when I can't move out in the chair. You know, do that type of thing with my wife sitting drilling with me. But right now, I just can't do that. This is what I teach. This is my Aikido. I've had people here that have military background, law enforcement background, and they can't believe it. They like oh, you know, a lot of people say, don't train, Aikido sucks. I say it does suck. Depending on who you're training with. You have to explore, you have to do your background checks on the Fructus when they come from what's their background? Have they ever been into a confrontation or fight? I mean, you don't have to, you don't have to be rude. You don't have to meet mean and ask them that. But you shouldn't be able to ask questions. And if that instructor shiz away from that, you know what, don't be in that school. You know, I had a guy here that was very high in Krav Maga that trained at my other dojo, loved it. Last winter got his black belt down there. And he has a school down now for Aikido.
So yeah, I've trained. I've even trained people that do executive bodyguard work. With that type of training, I have a different teaching style. So it's a little different. But this is what I teach. I don't teach the fluffy, beautiful circular motion. Sometimes, Jeremy, I find that a lot of the schools love to teach that stuff and love to do that. Because they have 30 plus students at probably, you know, 100 plus dollars a month. And it's paying this the monthly salary or the weekly salary plus expanded, and that's how they have to stay in business. And plus, they have to give out rank and charge for that. So I get that, but I work a full time job unfortunately. This is my evening full time job. This is what I love to do as my expensive hobby. And I just, I can't do it because of the money. I just can't get it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's a concept. That was pretty important. You said about 10 years into Aikido this recognition that there was more, and you hadn't found it. You were aware that there was something missing, and you sought it out. Are you still seeking out? Is there still more that you're looking for? Are you trying to go ahead? I think you know where I'm going.
John Araujo:
Here’s the thing. I tell my students, I have some senior citizens in my school, and they run circles around a lot of younger guys. Which is great. I wish at that age I can do that. I tell my students to listen, I don't know anything. I don't know it all. I know a grain of sand at the beach. And they're like, well, that's a little bit that grain. So I'm still learning. And I learned from my students. I still cross train judo and BJJ. I love it. I love to practice. And I love to learn. So yeah, I'm learning every time. I'm always seeking that. A little bit better opportunity. A little bit better technique, a little bit more fun.
So I'm always trying to polish that brass to make it shinier and shinier. So yeah, absolutely. And you know, some of my students are like hey, can I go to this seminar? Can I go to the seminar? I'm like, absolutely. You know, I used to belong to and you've probably heard of it, the [00:41:47-00:41:49] is a humble dojo in Japan for 10 years. So I was in that group and asked the questions and wanted to open the dojo. And at that point, nobody wanted to help you. They wanted money, money, money, money, money, money, rank your Yeah, we'll give you 15 It's still 25 grand. Well, so I resigned and joined the Martial Art Association. So that way, I'm independent, but wouldn't be independent. So I would have some backing to my knowledge to my rank. So I did that.
So that way my students could go to organization or another organization, one, two, and three, so they can pick and choose because of being under , depending on what organization of Federation you have, because I have my own. You can't train an organization one, two and three, if you belong to A, B and C. They frowned upon that. And if you do go there, and somebody knows about it's like, it's not a good deal. Why did you go there if we have these seminars, so I can teach you this and don't go to that school? It's like, listen, it's all Aikido. Learn from everybody. You know what, there's a Krav Maga seminar going on in class, go for it. Tell me tell me you knew, you know, you've done your Aikido, you know, and just learn if there's a Jeet Kune Do coming up in Boston or Filipino knife fighting. Go for it. That's why we do the Terry Tao seminar. There's a bunch of different groups. That's great to learn. Go for it. You know, don't have to ask me if you're here. I know you're coming back. You know, I have confidence in that. I have no problem. People. Some of the schools you know, you have these Kempo schools. Another great karate person I liked was the pocket system. Going into his karate and going into groundwork loving it. Absolutely. Great, great martial artist. Some of the Kempo karate cannot go to this Kempo school because they fall into this
Jeremy Lesniak:
Do you mean Speakman?
John Araujo:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Just amazing.
John Araujo:
Love him. Love his martial arts a lot. Love his karate. Love his 5.0 system. Love it. If there was any around here, absolutely. I'd go for it even though.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I've heard he's a great guy too.
John Araujo:
Oh, he's awesome. But some of these guys in the area, they go to this guy's school. You can't go to this guy's seminar because he doesn't belong to us. He sucks. It kinda sucks hearing that. Aikido is the worst for that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Which is so ironic.
John Araujo:
It's a lot. It's this love. I love peace and harmony. And I'm like, hello…
Jeremy Lesniak:
Unless you're not part of our group, right?
John Araujo:
It's like you go here, you go there, and it's like that person from the USAF you shouldn't be an [00:45:05-00:45:07] shouldn't be here. It's like, guys, it's not ambitious. And I want to train, I want to learn, show me, I'm open to learn different applications, give me different options to apply these techniques, to better myself, and it's tough. That's why I left that whole organization commodity and church gathering Aikido type of group and you know what, it's great. That's what you want to do. I'm not doubting that. But if you want to do martial law, do not if you want to do self defense, martial arts, true Budo. Don't do that Aikido. It's not going to work, period. If you want the exercise, if you want the movement. Go ahead, Do it.
After 10 years, will it work on the typical drunk on the street, belligerent person on the street, maybe you can Aikido, talk yourself out of it, possibly try to talk out of it, get your butt and run and get the car and take off that will work on the typical drunk after a few years of doing Aikido, that traditional general Aikido, possibly depending on who you're training with, or what type of hardness what type of training you're doing, maybe it would work, you have to seek out. If you want to do real Aikido true Aikido you have to seek out you possibly have to go through a couple of schools and seek it out before you say okay, this is what I'm looking for. Especially for self defense.
So, it's a tough community. Because Aikido has gotten a bad name these last 10 years I want to say you gotta do really good work and you gotta be true students.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So the question, you've brought up the the bad reputation that Aikido has garnered over the last chunky years in no small part because cell phones, video, Internet and the ability to show things and you know anybody who's spent time in the martial arts should understand that there are good and bad variants of that anything I'm sure I could show you. Give me enough time I'll find a terrible school and every style and I can find a great one in every style. Does it bother you when people trash Aikido?
John Araujo:
Absolutely not.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay. I had a feeling that you would say that.
John Araujo:
Absolutely not because I trash Aikido. I trash it in a good way and in a bad way. Because there is really you know, and I talked to Andrew about this and I told him I will keep my tone and my language and my nice peaceful loving. At a certain level that we can, I beep anything out. Aikido, you know, there's a lot of schools in the area that I want to say in a 50 mile radius of me that need improvement. Nice way to say it. I wouldn't mind helping these people out. I wouldn't even come. I wouldn't even mind training with them and just working with them even privately, even if they didn't want to.
You know many more people to know. Yeah, they don't want people to know absolutely come lock the doors. Nobody needs to know anything. I've even given rent to people and had them start their own Aikido dojos because nobody else would back them. And I'm like, these guys are awesome. One guy in tension Aikido that I won't name that you've probably seen on YouTube everywhere.
He's got a great haircut just like ours. And I said absolutely. Go for it. Ruffle whatever feathers you have. You're amazing. You're strong. You know you're doing you know, he's talking about you having a good background, strong background and Aikido and other martial arts. And he did it and he's on his own. I don't think and I don't mind. I don't mind helping people. I didn't get the help. I didn't get the help. I just did it on my own.
I rented this ragged old space that was probably almost 2000 square feet. That was in a mill rundown mill. I'm on the fourth floor, I walked up the stairs, there was no light, except in that spa. And it was pigeons flying around that I had to kind of dodge. And like, maybe my karate is going to work here and my Aikido movement. And you know what, Jeremy, I was paying 100 bucks a month.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, brilliant. So, unrelated, but a question. Cause I have a theory. How many posts in the middle of the room were there?
John Araujo:
Oh, there were like six .
Jeremy Lesniak:
Every martial arts school has, has a few posts in the most annoying places. And somehow every school I train at, almost every school I train at. High rank is usually like right next to the post. They get pushed to the corner. I don't know why, but it always happens.
John Araujo:
Yeah, that's why I didn't get any help. So you know, I don't mind helping somebody if they seek it out. Even the other Dojo, even the other Aikido schools if they want to steal some technique or what? Yeah, absolutely. You're not stealing. Go ahead, videotape it. I don't mind.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What do you do, and what do they do that have two different names? I mean, you're defining it, you're using, you know, kind of an adjective tension, Aikido, you know, it's a flavor. But at the macro level, should it be something different?
John Araujo:
If they're not teaching, then it's a good question. If so, I want to make it as peaceful as I can. If those are the schools, I don't doubt these skills. I'm just dealing with being street smart. And Street, self defense in the real world. If those people are not teaching true Budo and are not welcoming students to questions and giving them answers that they need to hear, not what you want to tell them. They should not call it Aikido. It's just me, I mean, be happy with what you do, and train hard and earn your ranks. Because nowadays, you can go. I want a blue belt and this so I want a black belt for 25 bucks.
Okay. I'm a black belt, and I can teach. But I've seen those videos where some of these guys come to these dojos and say, “Okay, let's roll”. And you don't want to roll, what would you get your rank for? I went to a small village in China and I, and I got this rank out of, you know, Dr. Kim. And you know, they're embarrassing him on YouTube. But, man, you gotta be true to your students and people coming in because you're open to the public. And people see that, you know, if I had back in the day, the internet, and I saw what Aikido was like, today, I wouldn't do Aikido. I would not do Aikido, I'd be doing something else.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So yeah, the impact of the internet on martial arts and what people train how they train. It has been nothing short of astounding. And it's forced, I think a lot of people to take a step back and recognize that their why wasn't reflected in. There have been a lot of people I mean, I'm thinking of some of the folks that we've had on the show specifically coming out of the karate world who have said, “you can make it work, but you gotta do some things a little bit differently”. we got to go back kind of in the same way that you're talking about. And so you've got these different flavors, you know, sport, karate, and traditional application based karate and everything in but we've got to be honest, kind of as you're saying, we've got to be honest about what you're doing and why you're doing it and not snowball under students.
John Araujo:
I wish now that you said to sport karate, you know, I did shotokan and then we went into some sparring with other groups and trained at other shorter con schools and they didn't do things like we did. So, I wish Aikido had... You have sports Aikido. If you know traditional Aikido like Judo, you have your Judo, you have your sports judo, and you have each street Judo like, BJJ. You have your sports BJJ and you have your kickboxing, MMA, BJJ. Right. What do you want to do? So, you know, yeah, that's another option people would have if they wanted to do that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And all it would take is practitioners or, really we can make the same generalization about any martial art. We're talking about I primarily today, but if people were just willing to go to other places to cross, to hang out with others to absolutely to just kind of break those barriers a little bit. So it becomes a lot harder to hide things when you've got more examples.
John Araujo:
I agree. Here's one example, the traditional Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Japan, the world's biggest organization. So you have the family to us, you have a family. So you've seen those shoes, which is the person that runs the organization, you have his son, who now runs to school. If you see all his demos, on every single demonstration from five, six years ago, to updates now, they're all the same, nothing has changed. It's like clockwork.
So I think they want to keep this originality, I guess, in the family to keep going this way. But I think and you know, I'm not Japanese, I'm not part of that family. But I think Aikido has to be revamped. Aikido has to change, has to evolve. And I'm involved in all that you have to evolve. Can't stay the same all the time. Sometimes change is good. Change is better. Better yourself, make it make it better, few make it make it more practical.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I think I think that could happen. And I think it would take a movie, I think it would take someone on the order of like whoever [00:57:13-00:57:15] of Aikido today is, know that that's the person?
John Araujo:
Yeah. Let's gow, Jeremy. I'm ready. Let's rock and roll. Awesome.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I don't quite have the money to put together that kind of a movie. If I did. I would love to, because that'd be a heck of a lot of fun. You know, I think a lot of us, you know, you've only got a couple years on me. I remember the first time I saw above the law.
We all had this moment, when we saw go at that time period, you know, to watch it now for the first time doesn't have the same impact. But then it was mind blowing. Because we hadn't seen anybody move in that way at that time.
John Araujo:
There's very few schools that are teaching that kind of Aikido, I'm not going to even mention tension, IQ, that kind of type of Aikido, very few schools. I'm one of them. And there's like a handful of schools and it's too bad because people want to seek out Aikido maybe because of that. And they go seek out this kid on the go. That was horrible.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It wouldn't surprise me if you know if we take a step back and look at it to say nationally, regionally, that there are probably more schools than we know about like that. Because as you said, the broader Aikido community doesn't want to associate.
John Araujo:
Yep, exactly. They don't. I think it's not in their comfort zone because of what they've been doing all the years off, of that soft stuff. We have most martial arts, because I've trained a few. We have to choreograph a lot of the techniques to know where I'm going, how I'm falling.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You gotta start somewhere.
John Araujo:
Yeah, before something breaks, it snaps. Even for beginners, I have to start them off somewhere. Most Aikido schools don't do strikes, they do come strikes to show [00:5914-00:59:16]. But strikes jab, kind of punch, front kick, blocks, stuff that they might actually say. Yes, roundhouse kicks, back kicks.
Mostly 99% of Aikido schools. Unless it's schools like mine, don't teach [00:59:37-00:59:39]. They don't teach that. And it's in Aikido but they don't teach it because maybe their instructors didn't know about it. They were never taught. So it's tough. Aikido is a tough thing if you're seeking that out. If you're seeking to do Budo Aikido.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, what's coming next? You know, what's going on with you and martial arts over the next few years?
John Araujo:
Hopefully it gets bigger and expands. Yeah, looking forward to that, bringing some new students in. I know COVID. Since COVID, a lot of schools kind of like, had to change things. And believe it or not, I didn't change much. We only close when we are mandated to close through the state. So what happened was the kids, I had the kids only come back when the schools were operating. And they were allowed to go back to the schools in the gymnasium.
The adults called me after a week and said, since a listen. I'm like, Okay, what do you mean? Well, I moved my family at home, but what do you want me to do? I got the kids, I got the wife, we got to train. I said, Alright, let's take the house. And somebody asks, you go to a family member's house and you stand. And we just trained, we trained the whole time. I'm not a zoom person, I can't teach zoom.
To just kind of keep my dojo open and running. I just, you know, it's a totally different way of teaching zoom than hands on. I love the physical, I don't mind getting punched in the face, and I punch you in the throat. I love that. You know, it's kind of rare, this type of Aikido but I like it. I don't mind getting beat up, even now.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, I love it. Can still be done with love. Actually, I did it in, in interview earlier today and we were talking about the difference between me striking you with a lot of force with the intent that we both get better versus I could strike you with half the force with mal intent. And it's, it's a whole different experience. And, and most of us who've been training a while, know what it's like to get rocked in the face, by someone who wasn't trying to harm you, but was trying to challenge you.
John Araujo:
Absolutely.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And it doesn't hurt as much. Absolutely. As someone who is trying to hurt you.
John Araujo:
Absolutely. I agree. Hundred percent, but I was hoping I could be truthful and open up. I'm glad because I think this is the place to do it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I think you've changed, I think you will have changed some opinions and likely open some minds to it. And I suspect there will be some people who want to follow up with you and maybe learn more about your school. You know, we've got a pretty strong reach in New England. So if people want to get a hold of you, how would they do that?
John Araujo:
They can go online aikidoofbristolcounty.com. Or they can call 508-542-9437. Email me, call me. Send a bird with a note on his leg to my dojo, whatever however you want to do it. You know, we're open to anyone that's willing to train and just be open minded and to self defense that we're doing the aikido style with.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So we're going to wrap up what are your final words to the people listening?
John Araujo:
Be happy, train hard. Make it work. Be happy with what you're doing. You can cross train, I I believe in that. Pick one art that you love and continue doing it as a life choice because I do this. It's my life. I don't just do it as a hobby. And yeah, get better at it. Keep training. Absolutely. Be happy.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Back in the intro. I mentioned that this episode was gonna potentially make you think differently about something and here we are in the outro you've listened to the episode. I'm going to be surprised if anybody's opinion of Aikido is the same. Even if you are familiar with John, even if you're familiar with the same understanding of Aikido that he has, the way he spoke of it, the passion. I just have a completely different perspective. And I think it's important to say that I still don't think anything ill of Aikido has any flavor. I am as passionate in supporting everyone in how they train and why they train regardless of what those things are.
But the fun part for me is the ability to look at things in a different way. Oh, but we do this. Oh, cool. I love having my mind blown. And I've got a feeling that came through, maybe not. But I was sitting here going, Oh, that's pretty cool. I want to thank Shihan for coming on the show. So much fun. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for being so passionate. And thank you for being willing to dig and find stuff that maybe goes against the grain.
Go check out the show notes. You've got some of them in your podcast player, but the full list because podcast players don't list everything is whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. And if you come shortly after release, 734 will be on the homepage. If it's not just searching for it. Lots of good stuff over there. You can sign up for the newsletter while you're there. We don't talk about this often, but there's a place where you can tip us if you would rather do that instead of buying something that's an option through PayPal.
But if you want to support us in other ways, you know you've got so many ways. We try to make it easy. We've got the Patreon, patreon.com/whistlekick, got books you can buy on Amazon stuff you can buy at whistlekick.com there's just a lot going on over there. You can even have me come in and teach a seminar at your school. I do some stuff kind of differently a little bit against the grain too, but in a really fun and complimentary way to what you're already doing and what your students are already doing.
If you know something that we should have on the show, or a topic we should look at on a Thursday episode, I hope you'll write to Jeremy@whistlekick.com or social media is @whistlekick. And you can find us on pretty much any platform you could imagine. We've come to the end. So until next time, train hard, smile and have a great day.