Worked on Kotagaeshi and fine tuning the technique in its details with Shihan. A few key points, to remember the movement pattern, Tenkan, Irimi, Tenkan. The first Tenkan is used to blend in with Uke and after the first Tenkan the two of your should be mirrored with your one hand sliding down their striking arm (from a ski) and capturing their hand. As you Tenkan and slide your hand down to their hand to grip their thumb with your fingers and place your thumb across their fingers you give a leading tug forward to continue their energy forwards before giving a whip to them to turn around. At this point their body is going to turn around towards you, preferably with one of their legs getting off the ground if you kept their arm low enough to the ground and didn't raise it back up. At this point you Irimi to the side, continuing along the "Dynamic" Circle that is connecting the two of you, so you should have the same distance between you as you did before the Irimi to the right side. As you Irimi your other arm should resemble the "Unbendable Arm" that we practice in Aikido and will come across to connect with and apply downward and over pressure to their gripped hand which you should now have locked up as far as it can go. As you bring the other hand to their hand you perform another Tenkan, and the other arm will press over their pinky and ring finger downward at the same time you Tenkan and direct them down to the ground before their foot (that's in the air unbalanced) can re-balance and thus drop them to the ground.
The biggest issue I had here at first was giving the guiding tug out and in the direction of their energy. I have a tendency to pull their arm to me as I do the first TEnkan. This is bad in that it opposes their energy and allows them to fight back. Once you start fighting with them the techniques become harder to do, sometimes impossible for inexperienced Aikidoka (sp). Another key point is keeping that arm in the same place once you whip them around. Don't raise it up and give them back their balance!! Make sure to keep their hand in the same point and pivot around it like it is the center of everything. As you Irimi the hand should stay put and all you will do next is Tenkan AROUND that point and at the same time that you apply more downward pressure from both hands towards their center. Pushing the hand over but not towards their forearm or center just torques them but won't necessarily bring them down and sets you up for a nasty whipping roundhouse from Uke. It's VERY VERY VERY important to remember that I must not start trying to torque their hand before I start the Irimi and final Tenkan. Also, I need to remember not to Irimi and Tenkan at the end until I have the Kotagaeshi grip fully in place.
On a side note, while working on this, if someone were to throw a jab and you can deflect it well, as they pull their arm back you just go into your final Tenkan on the technique and using their withdrawing energy you will put them down.
I still have a ways to go on solidifying this technique and saying that I can actually execute it when necessary. For now I will keep working on it and fix little things here and there until it works.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Kaitenage and Sumi-Otoshi (Corner Drop)
Kaitenage from a shomenuchi. This is a launching technique, in a matter of words, and is achieved by taking Uke's center and twisting their spine with the rotation of one of their arms across their back. In this form of it Uke comes in with a Shomenuchi which Nage deflects and captures with the initial deflecting hand. After deflecting the blow Uke's energy will continue through, but instead of allowing them to go straight past you you now have their striking arm which can be taken back around them and used as a lever to rotate over their head and contort their spine. This sends Uke into somewhat of a side Ukemi roll. The twisting of their spine prevents them from regaining their center and catching themselves from falling by instead moving their center out and away from their body as you step through them whilst contorting the arm across their back and over their neck. This gives the launch and sends Uke and his energy on his way. This technique was difficult for me because it's very timing dependent, rather than technique involved. You don't want to impede Uke's energy and give them something to resist, instead giving them that sense of opposition and then taking it away to allow them through. These are always more difficult techniques in my opinion.
Sumi-otoshi (Tsumiyotosh) from a Menut-suki strike. As the punch comes in you are blending in to their open side and slide one hand down along their arm past the elbow. Your back arm continues their punch past you whilst the other slides down their arm up to below their shoulder. At this point you redirect their energy by moving through them keeping your arms and energy extended through your point of contact at their upper arm. This results in the creating of a hole of space for them to fall into. They will have no balance and drawing them into this space will result in them going down. The whipping motion that results from drawing in their attack and you Tenkan around with them will draw them into the throw.
Sumi-otoshi (Tsumiyotosh) from a Menut-suki strike. As the punch comes in you are blending in to their open side and slide one hand down along their arm past the elbow. Your back arm continues their punch past you whilst the other slides down their arm up to below their shoulder. At this point you redirect their energy by moving through them keeping your arms and energy extended through your point of contact at their upper arm. This results in the creating of a hole of space for them to fall into. They will have no balance and drawing them into this space will result in them going down. The whipping motion that results from drawing in their attack and you Tenkan around with them will draw them into the throw.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Aikido Class in Tallahassee
Drove to pick up my brother from FSU today and stopped by my old dojo North Florida Aikido in Tallahassee for the Saturday class as well.
After a warmup we worked on the Tenkan exercise. In pairs you take turns where Uke grabs Nage's wrist (left grip to right wrist and vice versa). When Uke grabs on Nage performs a Tenkan. The key to remember is that you should extend your energy in to Uke's center and be "under their center". If done correctly Uke should feel that they are a bit lifted from the ground. At this point Nage can perform the Tenkan correctly. The contact point should be the pivot point of the Tenkan. As they turn your elbow should come up a little bit to help keep the wrist at the pivot point and help keep Uke from regaining their center. As Nage performs the Tenkan rotation Uke should move around the contact point to maintain their remaining balance. I had to relax my arm a bit more and stop pushing in to the technique and using my arm. By relaxing and not pressing so hard against Uke's grip I could get underneath Uke's center and Tenkan better than trying to muscle them around meas I pivoted.
Next we worked on Kokyo-ho with a same side grab to the wrist again. As Uke grabs onto Nage's wrist you draw your hand down to your center keeping the wrist out but in line with your center as they begin grabbing on. You should extend their arm all the way to the ground and scoop the ground as you bring your hand back up from dropping them to the ground. I had to do this a few times before I could remember that you should draw the hand down and bring them back up as you extend their arm away from their body to the side that their arm is on. This will stretch them out and your hand can then rotate out of their grip and grab their wrist. and press it up over their arm and into their back. The other arm should be wresting on their neck/head for control so they cant't stand back up. At this point your lead foot should be pointing towards where you are going to step next and you go through Uke and send them into a roll. It took me a few times to get this correct stance at the end. Another point to remember is as you turn them into the side roll their arm you captured should rotate their spine and torque it over their other arm which will off balance them and set them off in the roll. Stepping through with your center is important to remember as you turn their body.
Third was Shihonage where your gripped arm draws them down in to your center as they grab for it. Once you have them lined on your center line you move your lead foot to the side and turn 90' to effectively switch hamni stances. Then you connect their arm with yours as you connect to them. Touching hips gives another point of contact to control their center as you walk them to their point of unbalance and rotate their arm into Shihonage.
Next was Shihonage omote (to the front) where we step around the circle to their open side keeping the grabbed arm moving around in the circle to draw them along with you and off balance. As you feel them being drawn along with you then draw your arm into your center as if drawing a sword down in a swing. This should whip them around and allow for setting up next to them where you will draw your wrist to your center. IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN GOOD POSTURE AND KEEP YOUR HEAD UP AND NOT LOOKING AT THE GROUND OR TOO FOCUSED ON THE POINT OF CONTACT. Then you connect your arm to theirs and walk through their hip drawing them forward with you to stretch them out and apply Shihonage while they are off-balanced.
To demonstrate this principle behind the technique we did a simple shoulder grab where as Uke grabs the shoulder your movement along the circle should draw them along with you and whip them around to be standing almost identically next to you, it just naturally resolves that way when done correctly and in an actual situation. Remember not to try and tug them with your shoulder, but rather move your entire body and center around the circle as they grab.
After a warmup we worked on the Tenkan exercise. In pairs you take turns where Uke grabs Nage's wrist (left grip to right wrist and vice versa). When Uke grabs on Nage performs a Tenkan. The key to remember is that you should extend your energy in to Uke's center and be "under their center". If done correctly Uke should feel that they are a bit lifted from the ground. At this point Nage can perform the Tenkan correctly. The contact point should be the pivot point of the Tenkan. As they turn your elbow should come up a little bit to help keep the wrist at the pivot point and help keep Uke from regaining their center. As Nage performs the Tenkan rotation Uke should move around the contact point to maintain their remaining balance. I had to relax my arm a bit more and stop pushing in to the technique and using my arm. By relaxing and not pressing so hard against Uke's grip I could get underneath Uke's center and Tenkan better than trying to muscle them around meas I pivoted.
Next we worked on Kokyo-ho with a same side grab to the wrist again. As Uke grabs onto Nage's wrist you draw your hand down to your center keeping the wrist out but in line with your center as they begin grabbing on. You should extend their arm all the way to the ground and scoop the ground as you bring your hand back up from dropping them to the ground. I had to do this a few times before I could remember that you should draw the hand down and bring them back up as you extend their arm away from their body to the side that their arm is on. This will stretch them out and your hand can then rotate out of their grip and grab their wrist. and press it up over their arm and into their back. The other arm should be wresting on their neck/head for control so they cant't stand back up. At this point your lead foot should be pointing towards where you are going to step next and you go through Uke and send them into a roll. It took me a few times to get this correct stance at the end. Another point to remember is as you turn them into the side roll their arm you captured should rotate their spine and torque it over their other arm which will off balance them and set them off in the roll. Stepping through with your center is important to remember as you turn their body.
Third was Shihonage where your gripped arm draws them down in to your center as they grab for it. Once you have them lined on your center line you move your lead foot to the side and turn 90' to effectively switch hamni stances. Then you connect their arm with yours as you connect to them. Touching hips gives another point of contact to control their center as you walk them to their point of unbalance and rotate their arm into Shihonage.
Next was Shihonage omote (to the front) where we step around the circle to their open side keeping the grabbed arm moving around in the circle to draw them along with you and off balance. As you feel them being drawn along with you then draw your arm into your center as if drawing a sword down in a swing. This should whip them around and allow for setting up next to them where you will draw your wrist to your center. IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN GOOD POSTURE AND KEEP YOUR HEAD UP AND NOT LOOKING AT THE GROUND OR TOO FOCUSED ON THE POINT OF CONTACT. Then you connect your arm to theirs and walk through their hip drawing them forward with you to stretch them out and apply Shihonage while they are off-balanced.
To demonstrate this principle behind the technique we did a simple shoulder grab where as Uke grabs the shoulder your movement along the circle should draw them along with you and whip them around to be standing almost identically next to you, it just naturally resolves that way when done correctly and in an actual situation. Remember not to try and tug them with your shoulder, but rather move your entire body and center around the circle as they grab.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Some Aikido before the Holidays
Spent a bit more time training with the newer students today but learned just as much from helping them as doing it myself. Of course nothing beats doing the technique yourself but it was a nice change of pace.
Worked on a straight punch Menutsuki to the face and blending it with the Nage's same hand as Uke's punching hand. Once the attack is blended in the other arm comes around and wraps around their upper forearm and twists down and you bring your elbow up and over their arm and lock their elbow inside the armpit. As you do this you apply a tenkan to "corkscrew" them do to the ground and you turn with their energy.
Next technique was a push. As Uke goes to push Nage they blend the same as with the punch, same hand deflecting to turn Uke's back to Nage as the attack is blended. This allows Nage to apply Kotagaeshi, first stepping backwards with one Tenkan to blend the strike and the second backwards Tenkan step to turn and apply the Kotagaeshi. THe important thing I tried to stress to myself was to keep the hand that is captured at your belt line so that you do not give their energy back.
Randori went ok. I got a little tied up from Sensei and froze and wasn't able to break the grip because I focused too much on the hold and not on affecting his center by throwing a distracting atemi or what not. I need to be a bit more confident in randori and try to direct the flow of things better, rather than sittign back when the attacks come to me. Even with the newer students if I do not pay attention I will get smacked in the face by them, haha!!
Worked on a straight punch Menutsuki to the face and blending it with the Nage's same hand as Uke's punching hand. Once the attack is blended in the other arm comes around and wraps around their upper forearm and twists down and you bring your elbow up and over their arm and lock their elbow inside the armpit. As you do this you apply a tenkan to "corkscrew" them do to the ground and you turn with their energy.
Next technique was a push. As Uke goes to push Nage they blend the same as with the punch, same hand deflecting to turn Uke's back to Nage as the attack is blended. This allows Nage to apply Kotagaeshi, first stepping backwards with one Tenkan to blend the strike and the second backwards Tenkan step to turn and apply the Kotagaeshi. THe important thing I tried to stress to myself was to keep the hand that is captured at your belt line so that you do not give their energy back.
Randori went ok. I got a little tied up from Sensei and froze and wasn't able to break the grip because I focused too much on the hold and not on affecting his center by throwing a distracting atemi or what not. I need to be a bit more confident in randori and try to direct the flow of things better, rather than sittign back when the attacks come to me. Even with the newer students if I do not pay attention I will get smacked in the face by them, haha!!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Blending, Nikyo and Randori
Worked on ukemi rolls and picking up knives while rolling
Worked on a one handed grab into a nikyo and allowing the energy from Uke to flow into the grasp so that you can use this to apply the Nikyo
Worked on Yokoman Nikyo making sure to focus on keeping their captured hand on your upper chest near the collarbone.
Did blind randori where you have to feel out the situation and react to Uke's energy.
Then we did randori
Technique Transitions Lesson
Worked on warmup with break falls and redirection
Did transition technique from a shomen to Ikkyo where you step across their body instead of t he side. One arm catches Ukes attack under the elbow the other slides up their forearm lifting the strike away and off setting them. After stepping through for the ikkyo you slide the hand from the elbow down and pull their arm back around to you creating a circle and then the free hand locks it into nikkyo by placing the hand on your chest, the other resting on their elbow and turning the wrist in that 3rd dimension towards their center. Then the hand on their elbow comes back and under their arm as you switch the grip from Nikkyo to Sankyo and turn into their center to lift them up. After that you grab their elbow near a nerve with yyour free hand and turn their elbow in and place in under your armpit and apply Gokyu to finish the technique swap sequence.
Did transition technique from a shomen to Ikkyo where you step across their body instead of t he side. One arm catches Ukes attack under the elbow the other slides up their forearm lifting the strike away and off setting them. After stepping through for the ikkyo you slide the hand from the elbow down and pull their arm back around to you creating a circle and then the free hand locks it into nikkyo by placing the hand on your chest, the other resting on their elbow and turning the wrist in that 3rd dimension towards their center. Then the hand on their elbow comes back and under their arm as you switch the grip from Nikkyo to Sankyo and turn into their center to lift them up. After that you grab their elbow near a nerve with yyour free hand and turn their elbow in and place in under your armpit and apply Gokyu to finish the technique swap sequence.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Punching (Atemi Strike) Reversals
Worked on a roundhouse attack into a Sankyo. The roundhouse comes and your arm closest to the punch comes up and carries the roundhouse up to deflect the attack and then you pass under the arm and Sankyo. Can also appply a two finger lock into the "bow and arrow" and pin them that way.
Did a one arm grab behind the back into a Kokyu-ho throw. As they pull you around and go to punch your closest arm goes over their grabbing arm and you use that connection to draw their arm down and your other arm grabs the back of their neck and brings their head to your shoulder. As you step behind then and Tenkan you draw then around you and then with the arm that was used to move their grabbing arm you bring this up and across their head and you step through them to perform the toss.
Last technique was from a one arm grab from behind. As soon as they grab you spin around and the closer arm locks their hand between your arm and grabs ont oyour other arm whilst you bring them down to the ground.
Randori clock style and then in a line with two attackers.
Did a one arm grab behind the back into a Kokyu-ho throw. As they pull you around and go to punch your closest arm goes over their grabbing arm and you use that connection to draw their arm down and your other arm grabs the back of their neck and brings their head to your shoulder. As you step behind then and Tenkan you draw then around you and then with the arm that was used to move their grabbing arm you bring this up and across their head and you step through them to perform the toss.
Last technique was from a one arm grab from behind. As soon as they grab you spin around and the closer arm locks their hand between your arm and grabs ont oyour other arm whilst you bring them down to the ground.
Randori clock style and then in a line with two attackers.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Some Basics and Applications
Went over the Tenkan and Irimi form for the new students and as a review for everyone. Went over the first half of the Ukemi kata up to the kneeling position.
Worked on being grabbed one hand or two and bringing your hands in to your center and turning them palm up to break Uke's grip and apply Kotagaeish from a one handed grab where the grabbed hand feeds their hand to your open hand. When both arms are grabbed you bring them both together and up with palms facing up breaking the grip and the lower hand grabs their hand on your upper hand and Kotageish can be applied. Instead of trying to fight against them to bring your hands together you should feel where their energy is going and work with that. If they are pushing into you then draw you hands backwards a bit, even stepping back slightly to draw them in and give yourself some slack to move with. If they are grabbing and pulling towards themselves you can use this energy and movement to draw their hands towards them which will give you some slack and room to move their hands for Kotagaeish.
Next we worked on Ski(Menutsuki) Kotagaeish. I tried to focus on sliding past them and allowing the punch to pass whilst sliding the hand down the arm to their fist and giving a bit of a push with their energy to throw them off balance and allow for spinning them around into Kotagaeish without setting yourself up for a mean roundhouse as they whip around.
Randori as well was done with our number circle setup and only using Ski (straight punch) or Shomen strikes. I was fine with keeping my breathing even here but did not apply too many techniques to avoid. Mostly just used Tenkans and Irimi's to pass through their attacks. This randori exercise is exciting because everyone is standing around you somewhat harmlessly and then if their number is called you have to remember where the attack is coming from and evade it.
Worked on being grabbed one hand or two and bringing your hands in to your center and turning them palm up to break Uke's grip and apply Kotagaeish from a one handed grab where the grabbed hand feeds their hand to your open hand. When both arms are grabbed you bring them both together and up with palms facing up breaking the grip and the lower hand grabs their hand on your upper hand and Kotageish can be applied. Instead of trying to fight against them to bring your hands together you should feel where their energy is going and work with that. If they are pushing into you then draw you hands backwards a bit, even stepping back slightly to draw them in and give yourself some slack to move with. If they are grabbing and pulling towards themselves you can use this energy and movement to draw their hands towards them which will give you some slack and room to move their hands for Kotagaeish.
Next we worked on Ski(Menutsuki) Kotagaeish. I tried to focus on sliding past them and allowing the punch to pass whilst sliding the hand down the arm to their fist and giving a bit of a push with their energy to throw them off balance and allow for spinning them around into Kotagaeish without setting yourself up for a mean roundhouse as they whip around.
Randori as well was done with our number circle setup and only using Ski (straight punch) or Shomen strikes. I was fine with keeping my breathing even here but did not apply too many techniques to avoid. Mostly just used Tenkans and Irimi's to pass through their attacks. This randori exercise is exciting because everyone is standing around you somewhat harmlessly and then if their number is called you have to remember where the attack is coming from and evade it.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Halloween Aikido
Worked on some more halloween "themed" techniques today.
Worked on rolls with two possible new students. While they were shown how to do a proper roll we practiced our front rolls, back rolls, front to back rolls and rolls with Tonto's.
The first technique we worked on was a knife strike Shomen style with a blade that played the Psycho knife theme music. While the knife attack comes from the Shomen we deflect it to the side of us and bringing the blade down and across their leg pass it into a Sankyo lock. This is important to remember keeping the blade away from your body and passing it across theirs. If you don't emphasize this you would end up still getting cut and possibly worse if their blade comes loose at you.
Zombie grab with a weave defense. As the attacker comes to grab with both hands your hand weaves between theirs and knocks one down and then feeds the upper hand into the other for a Nikyo or Sankyo. This was really cool as Josh Sensei showed this technique. As the grab comes in from Uke, Nage steps back a bit to draw in the attack whilst the right hand comes across and knocks their left hand down whilst "weaving" over to the right hand and drawing this into a Sankyo lock and a shot to the ribs whilst passing under them. For Nikyo the hand is simply drawn into the shoulder where the pressure for Nikyo is them applied to their locked up wrist.
Grab from behind to pull them into the dark abyss (one hand wraps body other goes around mouth). Nage strikes with an elbow to the stomach and grabs their hand from the mouth to put them into a Sankyo. This one was the classical helpless character is grabbed from the darkness and dragged away. When Uke grabs around the body and is going to cover the mouth Nage turns and delivers an elbow to the gut which should loosen Uke's grip a bit. During this window, depending on which way you turn, one of their hands should be lower than the other and near your hands. This is the arm that is grabbed and continues with the turn you are doing to lock in the Sankyo. It is important to drop your center when you feel the grab and not to resist and tighten up. When you elbow them you will naturally turn your body one way, this is the direction you should continue turning in when you apply Sankyo.
Worked on Zombie style randori where the only attack was a double grab the the throat or collar (kinda like zombies walking around during an apocalypse!!). This was a nice spin on a randori session and was still very exhilarating even though everyone was doing the same attack. It was no less beneficial and education for me to practice staying calm and evading attackers. Keeping them from surrounding you is very important and trying to line up the Uke's so they can't all get at you is important and I need to work on that some more.
Worked on rolls with two possible new students. While they were shown how to do a proper roll we practiced our front rolls, back rolls, front to back rolls and rolls with Tonto's.
The first technique we worked on was a knife strike Shomen style with a blade that played the Psycho knife theme music. While the knife attack comes from the Shomen we deflect it to the side of us and bringing the blade down and across their leg pass it into a Sankyo lock. This is important to remember keeping the blade away from your body and passing it across theirs. If you don't emphasize this you would end up still getting cut and possibly worse if their blade comes loose at you.
Zombie grab with a weave defense. As the attacker comes to grab with both hands your hand weaves between theirs and knocks one down and then feeds the upper hand into the other for a Nikyo or Sankyo. This was really cool as Josh Sensei showed this technique. As the grab comes in from Uke, Nage steps back a bit to draw in the attack whilst the right hand comes across and knocks their left hand down whilst "weaving" over to the right hand and drawing this into a Sankyo lock and a shot to the ribs whilst passing under them. For Nikyo the hand is simply drawn into the shoulder where the pressure for Nikyo is them applied to their locked up wrist.
Grab from behind to pull them into the dark abyss (one hand wraps body other goes around mouth). Nage strikes with an elbow to the stomach and grabs their hand from the mouth to put them into a Sankyo. This one was the classical helpless character is grabbed from the darkness and dragged away. When Uke grabs around the body and is going to cover the mouth Nage turns and delivers an elbow to the gut which should loosen Uke's grip a bit. During this window, depending on which way you turn, one of their hands should be lower than the other and near your hands. This is the arm that is grabbed and continues with the turn you are doing to lock in the Sankyo. It is important to drop your center when you feel the grab and not to resist and tighten up. When you elbow them you will naturally turn your body one way, this is the direction you should continue turning in when you apply Sankyo.
Worked on Zombie style randori where the only attack was a double grab the the throat or collar (kinda like zombies walking around during an apocalypse!!). This was a nice spin on a randori session and was still very exhilarating even though everyone was doing the same attack. It was no less beneficial and education for me to practice staying calm and evading attackers. Keeping them from surrounding you is very important and trying to line up the Uke's so they can't all get at you is important and I need to work on that some more.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Some New Exercises
Worked on rowing exercise (Funekogi Undo), corkscrew exercise and then applying that to technique. The "corkscrew" exercise is applying an Ikkyo Undo motion with a 360 rotation and ending as if you had Uke's arm and used it to pin them down. The rowing exercise is an extension of the arms from the center power source, and should not just be you throwing your arms out. they should stay connected and drawing from your center to keep you balanced throughout the entire motion. We worked on this a lot at NFA as well and I think it is a great exercise for helping to feel that extension from your body's core and not just using your arms and excess power.
Did the mirroring technique into a throw where you setup your arm like a roll and extend through their elbow making sure to keep your center lined up on them and focused in the direction in which you are throwing them. This seems simple but it can be difficult to remember to setup that curved arm under theirs and extend through their arm to get them to roll rather than just bounce step out of it. Keeping everything lined up with your body is key to executing this correctly.
Did the mirroring technique into a throw where you setup your arm like a roll and extend through their elbow making sure to keep your center lined up on them and focused in the direction in which you are throwing them. This seems simple but it can be difficult to remember to setup that curved arm under theirs and extend through their arm to get them to roll rather than just bounce step out of it. Keeping everything lined up with your body is key to executing this correctly.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Aikido Demo/Open House
Today was our Open House Demonstration. I'd love to write about all the great things we did today but unfortunately you will just have to come and watch one to see to get the details :-D Overall it was a lot of fun. All of the students and myself got to showcase some techniques we enjoy and thought would be fun for the crowd, and then Sensei's Mike and Josh demonstrated some more upper level techniques while still giving us some time to show a few other techniques.
Reminder to myself to perform a technique all the way through to completion, and not leave it half way done. Bad habit that I am still trying to break. Other than that the demo was great!!
Reminder to myself to perform a technique all the way through to completion, and not leave it half way done. Bad habit that I am still trying to break. Other than that the demo was great!!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Parrying and Projections
Worked on break falls again at the lesson. I feel more confident with the break falls now, but have to remember to make that slap out very important and once I slap retracting my arm back to my center.
Worked on projection throws and taking the big step forward to project themselves. This is effective in taking a roll when Uke performs a Kokyoho or other breath throw to Uke that has a lot of power and push behind it. If Uke tries to do a shallow roll they will hit the ground long before they can set up for a roll. Taking the big step and projecting the arms out into the Ukemi helps to deal with the speed at which you can be thrown. We practiced this being throw from a Kumiyotosh. Again the roll shouldn't be such a wide stretching of the arms out like I have learned initially when I started Aikido. The arms should be coming from the center, like the motion of the rowing exercise and then forming that "unbendable curve" for the roll. This also helps to get set up for a roll much easier than trying to form that huge circle.
Did carryover and parrying technique:
Cutting down a yoko strike I need to remember to keep my fingers out and extended feeding my energy outwards and not pointed in towards myself. Keeping the fingers extended is key and took me awhile to figure out and remember. When done correctly their arm with swing around and set themselves up for many possibilities. In this case I was able to cut down the strike and either apply a Kotagaeish, Sankyo or Shihonage.
Worked on projection throws and taking the big step forward to project themselves. This is effective in taking a roll when Uke performs a Kokyoho or other breath throw to Uke that has a lot of power and push behind it. If Uke tries to do a shallow roll they will hit the ground long before they can set up for a roll. Taking the big step and projecting the arms out into the Ukemi helps to deal with the speed at which you can be thrown. We practiced this being throw from a Kumiyotosh. Again the roll shouldn't be such a wide stretching of the arms out like I have learned initially when I started Aikido. The arms should be coming from the center, like the motion of the rowing exercise and then forming that "unbendable curve" for the roll. This also helps to get set up for a roll much easier than trying to form that huge circle.
Did carryover and parrying technique:
Cutting down a yoko strike I need to remember to keep my fingers out and extended feeding my energy outwards and not pointed in towards myself. Keeping the fingers extended is key and took me awhile to figure out and remember. When done correctly their arm with swing around and set themselves up for many possibilities. In this case I was able to cut down the strike and either apply a Kotagaeish, Sankyo or Shihonage.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Demo Practice
Went over demo ideas tonight.
Went over ideas for the demo, and which techniques the students and instructors were interested in explaining to the audience. It is turning out to be a great demo and will be a great experience for the audience and participants.
Then worked on the carry over drills with Uke performing different punches and strikes while Nage blended or carried over their attack.
Went over ideas for the demo, and which techniques the students and instructors were interested in explaining to the audience. It is turning out to be a great demo and will be a great experience for the audience and participants.
Then worked on the carry over drills with Uke performing different punches and strikes while Nage blended or carried over their attack.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
More Break Falls and Stick Defense
Worked on break falls and a few different Ukemi's:
Did some more breakfalls starting from a static position where I flip myself over the lock making sure my head goes over the arm and not around it. Then we did some more motional breakfalls where Sensei would apply some force to my wrist or arm depending on the lock and I would continue over into a breakfall. I tried to work on breathing in before and breathing out as I slapped the map in the breakfall. We worked on doing Kotagaeish and Shihonage into breakfalls, as well as some body launches where you are flipped over Nage's body into a breakfall.
Then we worked on some unorthodox rolls where the left foot is forward as you go over the right shoulder, and vice versa for the other side. It's essentially the same as a regular roll but you have to make sure to get some launch outwards to get past your knee and not collide it into your chest.
The last roll Sensei showed me was from seiza (sitting on legs) and called it the "elevation roll". I had to push up from the legs but eventually all the force should be coming from the top section of the foot into the mat and, almost like a diving board, launch your body up and outwards into a roll. It helps to keep the hands in at the center and do a rowing motion with the arms out from your center as you go into an Ukemi roll.
Short stick work, represents a club or small blunt weapon that could be used. We did a basic striking drill, striking high rotating the wrist to strike again the other way, and repeating a few times, then repeating this drill low. The high drill is focused on striking at their temple, while the low is aiming at Uke's knee. This drill was good for getting a fluid flow with the sticks and not getting stuck up with using them.
Stick defense done:
Worked on defending a Yokomen strike with a Geiko Irimi (backwards step) then as the strike misses and they wind up for another strike you Irimi in and execute an atemi to their chin/throat which pushes their face back and breaks their center as well as extends their arm out allowing for a big Tenkan with the striking hand which comes down to their armed hand and leads them around before performing a second tenkan to bring the stick across their face and allow for the finish. Another important thing I had to get was to use the inner arm (non-striking one) to blend the strike and get it "off-line" so that at the very least the strike won't connect with your face!! Again, I have trouble with being aggressive with my atemi's during a technique and had to get comfortable with the strike to Sensei's face so that it was controlled and didn't accidentally hit too hard. Once I started to get used to throwing the atemi into the technique it helped with unbalancing Uke and making the technique much more effective.
The other technique was again from a yokomen strike but with a mirrored movement allowing Nage to cut down their striking hand and deliver a disrupting atemi to their face. Once the atemi hits and the attack is cut down it is drawn to Nage's hands and can be locked in shihonage. But wait!! They have a stick in their hand which you can use to your advantage. How nice of them to have brought you such a useful tool!! When performing Omote I had to remember to step out and across Uke standing in my horse stance. Sensei pointed out to me several times until it took to memory. For Ura stepping next to them to perform the lock behind them was the key motion to remember here setting up for the takedown. The lock can be established at their wrist, palm facing down, can be bent in towards their elbow to pop the stick loose and use it to wench in between their elbow and wrist and torque them down. As they go down Sensei pointed out that placing a knee on their ribs helps with the lock until they tap out.
Did some more breakfalls starting from a static position where I flip myself over the lock making sure my head goes over the arm and not around it. Then we did some more motional breakfalls where Sensei would apply some force to my wrist or arm depending on the lock and I would continue over into a breakfall. I tried to work on breathing in before and breathing out as I slapped the map in the breakfall. We worked on doing Kotagaeish and Shihonage into breakfalls, as well as some body launches where you are flipped over Nage's body into a breakfall.
Then we worked on some unorthodox rolls where the left foot is forward as you go over the right shoulder, and vice versa for the other side. It's essentially the same as a regular roll but you have to make sure to get some launch outwards to get past your knee and not collide it into your chest.
The last roll Sensei showed me was from seiza (sitting on legs) and called it the "elevation roll". I had to push up from the legs but eventually all the force should be coming from the top section of the foot into the mat and, almost like a diving board, launch your body up and outwards into a roll. It helps to keep the hands in at the center and do a rowing motion with the arms out from your center as you go into an Ukemi roll.
Short stick work, represents a club or small blunt weapon that could be used. We did a basic striking drill, striking high rotating the wrist to strike again the other way, and repeating a few times, then repeating this drill low. The high drill is focused on striking at their temple, while the low is aiming at Uke's knee. This drill was good for getting a fluid flow with the sticks and not getting stuck up with using them.
Stick defense done:
Worked on defending a Yokomen strike with a Geiko Irimi (backwards step) then as the strike misses and they wind up for another strike you Irimi in and execute an atemi to their chin/throat which pushes their face back and breaks their center as well as extends their arm out allowing for a big Tenkan with the striking hand which comes down to their armed hand and leads them around before performing a second tenkan to bring the stick across their face and allow for the finish. Another important thing I had to get was to use the inner arm (non-striking one) to blend the strike and get it "off-line" so that at the very least the strike won't connect with your face!! Again, I have trouble with being aggressive with my atemi's during a technique and had to get comfortable with the strike to Sensei's face so that it was controlled and didn't accidentally hit too hard. Once I started to get used to throwing the atemi into the technique it helped with unbalancing Uke and making the technique much more effective.
The other technique was again from a yokomen strike but with a mirrored movement allowing Nage to cut down their striking hand and deliver a disrupting atemi to their face. Once the atemi hits and the attack is cut down it is drawn to Nage's hands and can be locked in shihonage. But wait!! They have a stick in their hand which you can use to your advantage. How nice of them to have brought you such a useful tool!! When performing Omote I had to remember to step out and across Uke standing in my horse stance. Sensei pointed out to me several times until it took to memory. For Ura stepping next to them to perform the lock behind them was the key motion to remember here setting up for the takedown. The lock can be established at their wrist, palm facing down, can be bent in towards their elbow to pop the stick loose and use it to wench in between their elbow and wrist and torque them down. As they go down Sensei pointed out that placing a knee on their ribs helps with the lock until they tap out.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Working the Grab (Katata Katate etc)
Worked a katatadori (one hand grab) to the lapel when your opposite hand blends their grab past you and you lock up a few of their fingers with your other hand and point them back over their forearm into their center. I had a bit of trouble actually locking their hand because I was not grabbing at a few fingers, rather the whole group of fingers which doesn't give you much leverage. The important thing to remember was to lock those fingers and bend them back over their arm and not to the side and away from their body where it has minimal effect.
One thing I noticed when working some of these techniques is that there's a lot of strength being exerted against me when being Uke. What I've had emphasized to me at my past dojo's and here as well by Sensei is that your arms should not be tensed, straightened, and exerting a lot of strength. They are merely, and I use this in the best way I can describe it, acting as points of connection between Nage and Uke. Your arms give you two points of contact that you should try to establish when feeling Uke's energy being directed at you. This allows you to place that "table" there for Uke to sense and then move it away as suddenly as you place it there. I interpreted this, after seeing it over and over, as a way of preventing Uke from feeling your center and overtaking you by getting a "hold of your strength", and allows you to unbalance them and allow their energy to flow unimpeded to the ground. Another thing I've been told in the past is that you should not immediately grab onto Uke, because that locks you into a battle and doesn't allow you time for counters, feeling Uke's energy and other things. Once your GRAB onto Uke's arm, which you may not always be able to do in a real combat situation anyways, you have committed to whatever you are doing and leave little room for adjustment if you have not taken Uke's center correctly. As Sensei Mike has said, merely placing your weight on their arm is enough to bring them down without all the torquing and "muscling" of Uke to the ground. Not to say that you don't NEED to ever grab onto them, but more or less to feel things out rather than locking into one situation too early.
Worked a katatadori to shirt with a following roundhouse punch. As the roundhouse comes you put your arm out to catch their blow but not resist it, and work that folding motion we practiced to redirect it past your head and out across their body, tying them up in themselves. As their punch is blended they are in a very unbalanced position and you can proceed to take their center. I cannot remember the lock we finished with...
Next was a katatedori (double grab to shirt) where Nage reaches out with one arm to knock Uke's head up, and as the arm goes forward (ex. the right arm) the left leg slides back so that you are standing with your striking arm shoulder pointing at them while the other hand holds their arm on your shirt. Then you slide your striking arm down their trapped arm and tenkan back allowing you to apply Nikyo to them. It's important when you grab the hand with your hand that you keep it pressed to your body when you "bow" down with them to effectively keep the Nikyo. The other hand goes to the elbow to make sure it bends and allows you to turn their wrist into their center. I noticed that if you don't bend their arm down to their center it really has no effect and you end up having to use a lot of power to try and bring them down unnecessarily. It helped me to remember to keep their trapped hand locked to your chest near the bend between your torso and shoulder. This keeps their arm elevated and allows it to be higher than their body for more control and pressure.
One thing I noticed when working some of these techniques is that there's a lot of strength being exerted against me when being Uke. What I've had emphasized to me at my past dojo's and here as well by Sensei is that your arms should not be tensed, straightened, and exerting a lot of strength. They are merely, and I use this in the best way I can describe it, acting as points of connection between Nage and Uke. Your arms give you two points of contact that you should try to establish when feeling Uke's energy being directed at you. This allows you to place that "table" there for Uke to sense and then move it away as suddenly as you place it there. I interpreted this, after seeing it over and over, as a way of preventing Uke from feeling your center and overtaking you by getting a "hold of your strength", and allows you to unbalance them and allow their energy to flow unimpeded to the ground. Another thing I've been told in the past is that you should not immediately grab onto Uke, because that locks you into a battle and doesn't allow you time for counters, feeling Uke's energy and other things. Once your GRAB onto Uke's arm, which you may not always be able to do in a real combat situation anyways, you have committed to whatever you are doing and leave little room for adjustment if you have not taken Uke's center correctly. As Sensei Mike has said, merely placing your weight on their arm is enough to bring them down without all the torquing and "muscling" of Uke to the ground. Not to say that you don't NEED to ever grab onto them, but more or less to feel things out rather than locking into one situation too early.
Worked three styles of Randori:
One with hands tucked into belt while the rest of the students attacked you, and you practice using your Tenkan's and Irimi's to get past them. This was very interesting because you couldn't use your arms to deflect or redirect their attacks. Rather, you had to move around the mat and move the others into a position that they all crash into one another and can't all get to you at once. This allows you to deal with only one enemy at a time rather than all of them at once. This was a great exercise for training Irimi and Tenkan application in randori.
Second part was keeping your eyes closed, Sensei would grab us with one or two hands, to the wrist, shirt, a double arm grab around the upper body etc. and we would react with feeling only to get them in a lock or throw. This was something I've never done before and really worked your senses and feeling what Uke is giving you and how to accept the attack and react to it. I ended up countering with Sankyo a few times, not purposely, but because that's what the attack and defense flowed into for me. Basically, that was what felt the most natural to apply in that situation and for the most part, I felt pretty good about it afterwards.
Last part was our more traditional Randori with multiple attackers coming at you. This is always fun and takes the breath out of you if you don't stay relaxed and remember to breath as you evade and execute your techniques against the attackers.
Overall a great class lots of fun!!!
Review of grab names:
Kata Dori = Shoulder grab
Ryokata Dori = Both Shoulders
Eri Dori = Lapel(collar)
Katate Dori = Single wrist same side (i.e. your left hand to their right wrist)
Ryote Dori = both wrists grabbed
Morote Dori = one wrist grabbed with both hands
Kosa Dori = Single wrist grabbed cross hand (i.e. your left hand to their left wrist)
Review of grab names:
Kata Dori = Shoulder grab
Ryokata Dori = Both Shoulders
Eri Dori = Lapel(collar)
Katate Dori = Single wrist same side (i.e. your left hand to their right wrist)
Ryote Dori = both wrists grabbed
Morote Dori = one wrist grabbed with both hands
Kosa Dori = Single wrist grabbed cross hand (i.e. your left hand to their left wrist)
Saturday, September 29, 2012
1st Aikido Lesson with Sensei
Today I had my first Aikido lesson with Sensei Mike. We worked on break falls, working on keeping the back leg straight, the front leg in and slapping the mat with the free arm before your legs hit the mat. After a few practice falls we did a Kotagaeshi into a break fall. The thing to keep in mind was that you are flipping yourself over the hand that Nage is controlling. Lots of fun!!
After spending some time on break falls we moved on to weapon defense and technique. We worked on some open hand technique defense against the Jo. When Uke performs a Menutsuki strike with the Jo Nage can blend with the attack and Tenkan around the strike while keeping the outside forearm in contact with the Jo and allowing the strike and energy of the attack to flow past. This can be done both on the left and right side depending on your stance when the attack comes. We also applied this to Irimi and stepping past the strike and ending up on the blind side on Uke as their energy goes forward. Next we worked on disarming a Shomen Jo strike. Sensei pointed out how useful it can be to give a bit of a hop Irimi as the strike comes down by jumping around to their open side and having your arm nearest them blending with the strike as you sweep it upwards to let it pass. As this is occurring you are turning your body to face them and should end up in the space near their open side. As you turn your outer arm delivers an Atemi to their nose or face as a distraction. The other arm should be in contact with the jo and grab onto it lower to the end. The striking hand should come down and grab the jo in between Uke's hands thus establishing a mirrored grasp on the Jo that resembles Uke's. You grip will give you more leverage of the Jo and allow you to pull the Jo up into their center causing Uke's grip to break and opening up a strike to the groin. The next strike is one to the side of the head/temple and going past their head to the backside. At this point Nage switches his grasp of the Jo hand closest to Uke and then brings the Jo in to hook behind Uke's knee and draw them to the ground.A finishing strike from the butt of the Jo can then be delivered to the throat or face. Its important when doing the Tenkan and Irimi to enter in and remember the strike to the face of the Uke to disrupt them and allow for the weapon steal. Another variation from the Shomen strike was blending with the strike and performing a Tenkan to end in the same stance as Uke with a more controlled grasp of the Jo. Then stepping through the Jo and pulling the top part of the Jo to the ground you can launch Uke into an Ukemi.
Next we did some more Jo work with a Yokomen strike. By flowing with the rotation of their strike and drawing it in to the ground, the same technique can be applied to Uke once redirecting the energy of the strike into the ground and establishing the mirrored grab on the Jo. The rest is the same as the Shomen defense.
Worked some Bokken defense similar to the Jo defense except instead of a groin strike it is a slash up their center then a step back with the final slice to the neck. The beginning starts out the same as with the Jo, the side step to Uke's open side and the Atemi strike to their face. Instead of grabbing onto the lower part of the Bokken, which would undoubtedly result in the loss of several fingers, you place your palm on the back end of the Bokken to keep the blade grounded until the next step. After the strike to the nose/face this hand ends on the handle of the Bokken. After these hand positions have been established the handle hand draws the sword up to their face, which bends their hands against the joints causing their grip to break, and the palm on the back side of the sword pushes the blade in towards their body as the handle hand draws the sword up across Uke's center. You can either deliver a strike to Uke's chin with the butt end of the handle or deliver a more devastating counter by running the blade up Uke's body as your other hand draws the sword up and out of Uke's grasp.
After doing these and several other techniques with weapons, we did them open handed, showing how the weapon techniques can be applied to open-handed situations as well. Overall, it was a great lesson and I have a few things to work on with break falls on my own time now. Excited for the next lesson to continue working on more Aikido principles and techniques...
After spending some time on break falls we moved on to weapon defense and technique. We worked on some open hand technique defense against the Jo. When Uke performs a Menutsuki strike with the Jo Nage can blend with the attack and Tenkan around the strike while keeping the outside forearm in contact with the Jo and allowing the strike and energy of the attack to flow past. This can be done both on the left and right side depending on your stance when the attack comes. We also applied this to Irimi and stepping past the strike and ending up on the blind side on Uke as their energy goes forward. Next we worked on disarming a Shomen Jo strike. Sensei pointed out how useful it can be to give a bit of a hop Irimi as the strike comes down by jumping around to their open side and having your arm nearest them blending with the strike as you sweep it upwards to let it pass. As this is occurring you are turning your body to face them and should end up in the space near their open side. As you turn your outer arm delivers an Atemi to their nose or face as a distraction. The other arm should be in contact with the jo and grab onto it lower to the end. The striking hand should come down and grab the jo in between Uke's hands thus establishing a mirrored grasp on the Jo that resembles Uke's. You grip will give you more leverage of the Jo and allow you to pull the Jo up into their center causing Uke's grip to break and opening up a strike to the groin. The next strike is one to the side of the head/temple and going past their head to the backside. At this point Nage switches his grasp of the Jo hand closest to Uke and then brings the Jo in to hook behind Uke's knee and draw them to the ground.A finishing strike from the butt of the Jo can then be delivered to the throat or face. Its important when doing the Tenkan and Irimi to enter in and remember the strike to the face of the Uke to disrupt them and allow for the weapon steal. Another variation from the Shomen strike was blending with the strike and performing a Tenkan to end in the same stance as Uke with a more controlled grasp of the Jo. Then stepping through the Jo and pulling the top part of the Jo to the ground you can launch Uke into an Ukemi.
Next we did some more Jo work with a Yokomen strike. By flowing with the rotation of their strike and drawing it in to the ground, the same technique can be applied to Uke once redirecting the energy of the strike into the ground and establishing the mirrored grab on the Jo. The rest is the same as the Shomen defense.
Worked some Bokken defense similar to the Jo defense except instead of a groin strike it is a slash up their center then a step back with the final slice to the neck. The beginning starts out the same as with the Jo, the side step to Uke's open side and the Atemi strike to their face. Instead of grabbing onto the lower part of the Bokken, which would undoubtedly result in the loss of several fingers, you place your palm on the back end of the Bokken to keep the blade grounded until the next step. After the strike to the nose/face this hand ends on the handle of the Bokken. After these hand positions have been established the handle hand draws the sword up to their face, which bends their hands against the joints causing their grip to break, and the palm on the back side of the sword pushes the blade in towards their body as the handle hand draws the sword up across Uke's center. You can either deliver a strike to Uke's chin with the butt end of the handle or deliver a more devastating counter by running the blade up Uke's body as your other hand draws the sword up and out of Uke's grasp.
After doing these and several other techniques with weapons, we did them open handed, showing how the weapon techniques can be applied to open-handed situations as well. Overall, it was a great lesson and I have a few things to work on with break falls on my own time now. Excited for the next lesson to continue working on more Aikido principles and techniques...
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Yellow Belt Test
Today we tested for yellow belt. There were two students
going for their rank and two students who accompanied and assisted us in a
great test! Unfortunately Sensei Josh couldn't make it for a
personal emergency which we all hope turned out alright.
We started out
with the wrist stretches, Nikyo, Sankyo, Kubitori, Kotagaeshi, and Gokyo.
Then we did Ukemi's forwards, backwards, over swinging blades (wooden of
course :-D) and a drill of jumping, ducking and rolling. Along with doing
Ukemi rolls, Sensei added in two Tonto's (wooden knife) for us to grab by the
handle as we did our rolls.
We moved onto the
Tenkan and Irimi kata's, which i have gone over in-depth in previous posts.
Tenkan kata consists of doing 5 Tenkans down the length of the man and
then 5 back. The Irimi kata involves doing 5 Irimi's down the length of
the mat and the na Tenkan which sets up Aikidoka in left hanmi (stance) and
ready to do 5 Irimi's down the mat.
Next, we moved on
to "Hamihandashi" (8-directions) which I have gone a bit in depth
with earlier. Its a sequence of strikes in each of 8 directions,
forwards, backwards, left (from original direction) and then right. The second
half is to the diagonal corners.
Lastly in the
warm-up was the Ukemi kata. This consisted of laying on your back and
doing 3 break-fall slaps whilst laying on our back. Then we repeat the
same whilst sitting up and rolling back doing 3 slap outs to the back, right
and left side. Next we repeat from a crouching position, three back left
and right. Then the same from standing. Finally, we do front break
falls, where you kick your feet back and land on the forearms and turn the head
to the side.
We moved on to the four techniques we were supposed to know for the yellow belt test:
Shomenuchi Sankyo - When working on Shomenuchi Sankyo I was alright on slipping past the attack and remembering the strike to the ribs as you slip under their arm. Grabbing onto the muscle of the thumb of the hand was a point I forgot to do the first few times. It's important to slide the hand down and begin the Sankyo hold before going under Uke's arm. Keeping the arm elevated and turned in towards their center is key to locking in the Sankyo and keeping Uke on their toes, literally!!
Yokomenuchi Kokyuho - Performing this technique I think I did decent on drawing the attack from Uke down and I Tenkan with them, but was not direct enough when moving the arm through their head to stretch them out. When doing the Tenkan with Uke it's key to draw their attack out and not turn into them so that they can just wrap you up with a grab.
Katate-dori Shihonage - Which this technique I tried applying the technique Josh went over with us by rotating my hands and wrists in to my center and breaking the grip enough to allow me to get the lock on them. Again, it's important when rotating with the arm, either in omote or ura, to keep the elbow propped out and to run the arm along your back. When finishing the lock I was keeping Uke's palm facing upwards and this didn't completed the lock and gave me trouble finishing the technique. Once this was pointed out I corrected it and kept Uke's palm facing down and across their back which allowed me to take them down more effectively.
Menutsuki Kotogaeshi - This technique is one of my favorites. We did a lot of work on this at my old dojo with keeping a big circle and even applying an elbow to their kidney as you spin with their energy around them. One thing Sensei Mike pointed out to me was that I wasn't holding onto Uke's hand properly and thus was having a hard time bringing them down. It's important to keep their energy low to the ground and when doing a Tenkan around to finish the lock you must, again, remember not to step to shallow otherwise Uke will whip around and smack you one in the jaw. Following around that "Aikido circle" will allow you to wring out Uke and apply the lock directed at their center and bringing them down.
After the four techniques we practiced weapons defense:
We had Sensei strike at us with a Bokken and Jo whilst we evaded and countered his strikes to the best of our abilities. This was very exciting as a few exclamations were added with the strikes for intensity!! We did our best to counter the Shomen, Yokomen and Ski strikes and evade them with Tenkans or Irimi's. This was more spur of the moment self defense training so there isn't much to go over other than keep an open mind, stay relaxed and let Uke do the work whilst you redirect their energy and break their center.
Next we did unarmed self-defense where we had Sensei Mike call out an attack for Uke to execute and Nage had to evade or perform a defense technique if possible. Again, this was a spur of the moment deal so other than trying to remain calm, relaxed and focused there's not much to say. We had Shomen strikes, grabs from behind, shirt grabs and an some attacks from Sensei as well.
Finally we moved on to Randori..... Usually we take only several minutes to defend ourselves from multiple attackers but this was not a regular Randori. We went on for at least 5 minutes each where we had one or two strikers coming at us and constantly attacking whilst we evaded and countered them. I myself was quite exhausted from this but tried to remain as calm as I could, remember to breath in and out and take big steps when moving around the mat, and not taking many small staggered steps. I learned this stepping pattern from a seminar in Panama City a year ago with a Sensei from Kansas.
The test was a lot of fun and a great learning session.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Last Review Before Yellow Belt (6th Kyu) Exam
Today we had class with Josh Sensei, who helped us to go over our Aikido belt yellow exam.
We went over the Tenkan kata which starts in right Hanmi. You perform a Tenkan and then rotate your stance to be facing forwards, now standing in left Hanmi. Repeat until you've done 6 Tenkans. Turn around and then 6 more Tenkans the other way.
Then we went over the Irimi kata starting in right Hanmi. You perform an Irimi switching which side you start on, doing 6 in one direction then 6 in the other.
Next we went over the Ukemi kata. You start on your back and do three basic breakfalls while slapping the mat. The next step is to perform the breakfall roll while sitting up. The third part is performed from a crouching position standing on your toes. The last is done from standing. Each of these is done going backwards, to your left and to your right. The left and right is done kicking out the leg tha tyou will be rolling back onto.
Next was the 8-direction technique which is done with any strike in the North Direction, turning around and striking with the left arm South, switch to right and strike yo your open side and then rotate and attack behind you with the right arm. Then you go to the diagonal directions. All of this is done alternating the striking hand, right ,left, right, left, etc.
Then we went over the four techniques that we will be doing on the test.
When going over Shomenuchi Sankyo we went over how important it is to blend their arm with Uke's attack and as they slide down Uke's arm it is key to grab onto the thumb muscle when applying the Sankyo lock.
Yokomenuchi Kokyuho is a "breath throw" where the strike is blended by Nage who steps out and away from Uke's strike which is drawn into Nage. When Nage has drawn in Uke's strike the captured arm is stretched down against Nage's center and the other arm goes through their face and forces then off balance.
Third was Katate-dori Shihonage. The key thing to remember is to maintain that closeness when twisting the arm along the back. Josh showed us a trick when practicing statically that the hands and arms are bent in towards ones center as if holding a large balloon, as well as rotating the wrists with the Kokyo motion. This draws in Uke and causes movement which can then be used to execute the Shihonage lock. Another pointer to remember was when twisting the arm and wrist their hand should be palm down when it reaches their shoulder to aid in drawing them down. If their hand is palm up when you finish the rotation there will not be enough leverage to bring them down.
Lastly was Menutsuki Kotogaeshi, which again involves a mid section straight punch. As the punch is delivered from Uke, which should be going through Nage, not stopping right at their stomach. This would be a bad attack from Uke and doesn't help Nage learn the technique correctly. Nage blends with a Tenkan with their strike and draws their past with the adjacent arm and brings their arm downwards a bit to extend their shoulder and draw them off balance. As the Uke swings around Nage then apply's the lock and then Tenkan around the other way, making sure not to line themselves up with Uke's other arm as they whip them around. This lock needs to be applied with the intent of going through their center and not out and away from Uke's body. If done improperly like this Nage will just be setting themselves up for the punch coming from Uke's other hand. If the lock IS applied to their center it will finish them off and drop their center to the ground.
We went over the Tenkan kata which starts in right Hanmi. You perform a Tenkan and then rotate your stance to be facing forwards, now standing in left Hanmi. Repeat until you've done 6 Tenkans. Turn around and then 6 more Tenkans the other way.
Then we went over the Irimi kata starting in right Hanmi. You perform an Irimi switching which side you start on, doing 6 in one direction then 6 in the other.
Next we went over the Ukemi kata. You start on your back and do three basic breakfalls while slapping the mat. The next step is to perform the breakfall roll while sitting up. The third part is performed from a crouching position standing on your toes. The last is done from standing. Each of these is done going backwards, to your left and to your right. The left and right is done kicking out the leg tha tyou will be rolling back onto.
Next was the 8-direction technique which is done with any strike in the North Direction, turning around and striking with the left arm South, switch to right and strike yo your open side and then rotate and attack behind you with the right arm. Then you go to the diagonal directions. All of this is done alternating the striking hand, right ,left, right, left, etc.
Then we went over the four techniques that we will be doing on the test.
When going over Shomenuchi Sankyo we went over how important it is to blend their arm with Uke's attack and as they slide down Uke's arm it is key to grab onto the thumb muscle when applying the Sankyo lock.
Yokomenuchi Kokyuho is a "breath throw" where the strike is blended by Nage who steps out and away from Uke's strike which is drawn into Nage. When Nage has drawn in Uke's strike the captured arm is stretched down against Nage's center and the other arm goes through their face and forces then off balance.
Third was Katate-dori Shihonage. The key thing to remember is to maintain that closeness when twisting the arm along the back. Josh showed us a trick when practicing statically that the hands and arms are bent in towards ones center as if holding a large balloon, as well as rotating the wrists with the Kokyo motion. This draws in Uke and causes movement which can then be used to execute the Shihonage lock. Another pointer to remember was when twisting the arm and wrist their hand should be palm down when it reaches their shoulder to aid in drawing them down. If their hand is palm up when you finish the rotation there will not be enough leverage to bring them down.
Lastly was Menutsuki Kotogaeshi, which again involves a mid section straight punch. As the punch is delivered from Uke, which should be going through Nage, not stopping right at their stomach. This would be a bad attack from Uke and doesn't help Nage learn the technique correctly. Nage blends with a Tenkan with their strike and draws their past with the adjacent arm and brings their arm downwards a bit to extend their shoulder and draw them off balance. As the Uke swings around Nage then apply's the lock and then Tenkan around the other way, making sure not to line themselves up with Uke's other arm as they whip them around. This lock needs to be applied with the intent of going through their center and not out and away from Uke's body. If done improperly like this Nage will just be setting themselves up for the punch coming from Uke's other hand. If the lock IS applied to their center it will finish them off and drop their center to the ground.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Aikido Testing Recap
The last two classes we spent reviewing for the Yellow Belt test coming up at the end of September. Last class we went over Shomenuchi Sankyo, Menutsuki Shihonage and Kotagaeish. Before that we reviewed the Irimi and tenkan kata's which incolved doing several (5 in this case) irimi's to one side and several back to the starting position. The same applies for the tenkan kata with doing tenkan's one way and back. Afterwards we applied these principles to the "8-ways" form technique where you do several strikes in one of the 8 cardinal directions, until you have attacked in all 8. It's hard to explain in words, you just have to experience it.
Next we practiced the ukemi kata, which involved breakfall forms. Straigh backwards breakfalls, from standing and kneeling, then to the left and right side. Finally we did forward breakfalls which somewhat resemble a pushup and somewhat of a wave with the body. I really enjoy the breakfall practice as we did not go over breakfalls too much at the last two schools I attended (NFA was still missing some of their practice materials for breakfall training that was lost in the old dojo incident).
Lastly, we went over two the above mentioned techniques. With Shomenuchi Sankyo, Nage blends with Uke's Shomenuchi. As they allow Uke's energy to pass by them, remaining in constant contact with the arm, Nage slides his hands down to Uke's hand and grasps it like one would a sword hilt. This form allows for applying the Sankyo grip to Uke's captured hand and immobilize them.
The other was Menutsuki (straight punch) Shihonage where Nage allows Uke's strike to pass by them whilst delivering a distracting blow to the nose before performing a Tenkan on Uke's open side and capturing their striking hand. Again, the hands are placed on Uke's hand as if holding a sword hilt and when performing the turning motion that completes the 4 point lock that is Shihonage it is important to remember that and they turn around Uke to keep in constant contact with their arm. There should be a sliding/dragging feeling with their arm as it goes across your back when performing the Tenkan. This keeps them from regaining control and balance of their arm and center and allows for you to lock up and capture their center and immobilize them.
Another variation on the Menusuki was applying Kotagaeish. The same blending is done as in the Shihonage technique but once their strike is captured with one hand it is redirected towards their backside as Nage then steps across and performs another Tenkan whilst placing the other hand on their captured hand to apply the Kotagaeish. Uke must be careful to not step to close to Uke and allow them to whip around and roundhouse punch Nage in the face. This is why the second Tenkan is applied along the outer curve of their circle and then draws them down to their back side weakness and places them in the hole created by their instability.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In today's class we worked on Yokomenuchi Shihonage with an emphasis on the way in which Nage captures Uke's strike. Being mindful of not letting their hand collide with Nage's leg, which could result in deep wounds if they were striking with a knife or other weapon. Similar to the Menutsuki defense, Nage delivers a disrupting blow to the nose or face to stun Uke whilst performing a Tenkan to go with the motion of Uke's Yoko strike. Rather than hindering the strike Nage should turn to allow the strike to continue and flow into their grasp whilst moving along the "circle" that they have created with one another. Staying on the circle allows the hand to be redirected down and away from Nage's body. Then the arm is locked into the Shihonage which Nage, again, being mindful of keeping their arm connected to theirs and slides it along their back as the lock is applied.
The other technique worked on today was Katate-dori (one handed same side grab) Shihonage. When Uke goes to grab Nage's arm there is a slight drawing motion to cause Uke to follow and as they grab on Nage rotates his arm and, as if holding a short sword, rotates their arm on top of Uke's and cuts down on their wrist whilst capturing its energy and grasping it like a sword hilt. The rest follows as was explained for the other Shihonage techniques, keeping constant contact and sliding their arm along the back as your turn it into the lock.
The last thing worked on was a free formed single attack defense. Sensei calls out an attack for Uke to perform against Nage and they defend or evade as best they can. Attacks such as "front kick", "straight punch", "grab and strike to face" were called and Nage would defend or apply a lock to the attack as best fit the situation.
Next we practiced the ukemi kata, which involved breakfall forms. Straigh backwards breakfalls, from standing and kneeling, then to the left and right side. Finally we did forward breakfalls which somewhat resemble a pushup and somewhat of a wave with the body. I really enjoy the breakfall practice as we did not go over breakfalls too much at the last two schools I attended (NFA was still missing some of their practice materials for breakfall training that was lost in the old dojo incident).
Lastly, we went over two the above mentioned techniques. With Shomenuchi Sankyo, Nage blends with Uke's Shomenuchi. As they allow Uke's energy to pass by them, remaining in constant contact with the arm, Nage slides his hands down to Uke's hand and grasps it like one would a sword hilt. This form allows for applying the Sankyo grip to Uke's captured hand and immobilize them.
The other was Menutsuki (straight punch) Shihonage where Nage allows Uke's strike to pass by them whilst delivering a distracting blow to the nose before performing a Tenkan on Uke's open side and capturing their striking hand. Again, the hands are placed on Uke's hand as if holding a sword hilt and when performing the turning motion that completes the 4 point lock that is Shihonage it is important to remember that and they turn around Uke to keep in constant contact with their arm. There should be a sliding/dragging feeling with their arm as it goes across your back when performing the Tenkan. This keeps them from regaining control and balance of their arm and center and allows for you to lock up and capture their center and immobilize them.
Another variation on the Menusuki was applying Kotagaeish. The same blending is done as in the Shihonage technique but once their strike is captured with one hand it is redirected towards their backside as Nage then steps across and performs another Tenkan whilst placing the other hand on their captured hand to apply the Kotagaeish. Uke must be careful to not step to close to Uke and allow them to whip around and roundhouse punch Nage in the face. This is why the second Tenkan is applied along the outer curve of their circle and then draws them down to their back side weakness and places them in the hole created by their instability.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In today's class we worked on Yokomenuchi Shihonage with an emphasis on the way in which Nage captures Uke's strike. Being mindful of not letting their hand collide with Nage's leg, which could result in deep wounds if they were striking with a knife or other weapon. Similar to the Menutsuki defense, Nage delivers a disrupting blow to the nose or face to stun Uke whilst performing a Tenkan to go with the motion of Uke's Yoko strike. Rather than hindering the strike Nage should turn to allow the strike to continue and flow into their grasp whilst moving along the "circle" that they have created with one another. Staying on the circle allows the hand to be redirected down and away from Nage's body. Then the arm is locked into the Shihonage which Nage, again, being mindful of keeping their arm connected to theirs and slides it along their back as the lock is applied.
The other technique worked on today was Katate-dori (one handed same side grab) Shihonage. When Uke goes to grab Nage's arm there is a slight drawing motion to cause Uke to follow and as they grab on Nage rotates his arm and, as if holding a short sword, rotates their arm on top of Uke's and cuts down on their wrist whilst capturing its energy and grasping it like a sword hilt. The rest follows as was explained for the other Shihonage techniques, keeping constant contact and sliding their arm along the back as your turn it into the lock.
The last thing worked on was a free formed single attack defense. Sensei calls out an attack for Uke to perform against Nage and they defend or evade as best they can. Attacks such as "front kick", "straight punch", "grab and strike to face" were called and Nage would defend or apply a lock to the attack as best fit the situation.
Red Phoenix Continued, Blending Attacks
Since the last time I posted I have learned a few new insights into my Aikido. We worked on training exercises where the attacker, from a shomen strike, has their attack blended by nage where the arm is extended to meet the inside of their attack as once a connection is made the other arm enters and redirects their attack past you whilst the initial contacted arm withdraws to allow safe passing of the attack. This was also applied to kick defense where the kick is deflected by bringing the arm down to brush against the kick and allow it to slide past you. This is difficult at first as you may tried to block the kick rather than blend with it. It is important to remember to keep your hands up and sweep down a full motion to brush the leg and not just hit it and take the force of the attack.
We also worked on some aiki-jujitsu techniques with a bit more "grappling" involved in the defense. One involved having been pushed and taking a back roll as the attacker approaches. When they go to kick you lean back with your foot going into their groin or knee which brings them down and you wrap their legs up with your before twisting up and effectively incapacitating their leg.
Another technique involved being grabbed by the shoulder and being pulled into a punch. To avoid this as you are pulled your arms go up and the one near their punch begins to blend it away and you bring them through the rest of the technique. The main skill here is reacting and bringing up your arms to protect your head and allow you to carry-over their punch.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Red Phoenix Aikido Beginnings
I moved back down to South Florida and am now training at the Red Phoenix Aikido dojo. Although they are not an ASU dojo like North Florida Aikikai the head Sensei and senior student Josh are very fun to work with and very knowledgeable.
In the last few weeks we have worked on some Nikyo and Sankyo techniques from Yokomenuchi (strike to the temple) and Menutsuki (forward strike) strikes. At the last class we worked on some multiple attacker focused techniques. This was demonstrated from being grabbed to show how difficult it can be to escape from and disarm your attackers when they are trying to grab you. When grabbed we trained on not focusing on the hand (which is a distraction) and focused on the actual conflict (the person and their center that is attacking you). By accepting the grab and extending out to their body by, striking at the throat, nose or even eyes they can be deterred long enough to grab the loosened grip off and establish a Nikyo hold on the Uke.
We also practiced this from being held into a wall by the Uke. When being lifted up we would lift one knee to protect the vulnerable stomach and groin areas and then strike out at the Uke's throat or face and then bring that hand down one of the grasping hands and turn out their grip and introduce them to the wall face first. It is important to not get caught up on the actual hand and to remain relaxed, calm and feel the energy that Uke is giving. If Nage resists the energy and fights with the grip then they will surely be harmed in a real conflict.
Another technique was having a moving attacker come in with a Katadori grab (one handed grab). As the Uke reaches in for the shoulder Nage takes a long step back to mimic the speed at which the Uke is moving at to draw them into a chase to grab on and as the connection is made Nage secures the hand and again strikes at the face or throat of Uke to disorient and draw their hand down with a sword cut into a nice break fall as Nage draws them down and turns into their arm to flow with their energy.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Aikido of Palm Beach County
I am back in South Florida after graduating from FSU. I searched for a close school with a similar style to the ASU Aikido dojo up in Tallahassee. There's a dojo in Boca Raton, which my former Dojo recommended me to, with head Sensei Randall who is very experienced in Aikido and assistant Sensei Murat who is equally skilled. They have a very different schedule than the North Florida Aikikai dojo. Monday's they do weapons classes, Tuesdays Aikido technique and randori practice. Thursday and Saturdays are more advanced skills classes.
Over the Month and a half I've been here we worked on the first five Bokken Kata's and their similarities between open-handed techniques. Techniques such as Shihonage draw from this sword form most obviously. When an attack is presented and Shihonage is applicable the drawing motion of Uke's attack into Nages hands as they tenkan around resembles a sword strike ending with the blade at Nages power center (near their center). From there the elbow props up their captured arm as they either step through or around Uke (omote or ura) and finish the technique.
I have enjoyed the month and a half spent here and learned many new things that cannot be expressed in writing. Having trained with new people has been a fun experience and shown me that there are many things I have to learn in my aikido. I realize that I still have much to learn with staying relaxed while executing self defense techniques and not allowing my center to be taken from the attacker.
Over the Month and a half I've been here we worked on the first five Bokken Kata's and their similarities between open-handed techniques. Techniques such as Shihonage draw from this sword form most obviously. When an attack is presented and Shihonage is applicable the drawing motion of Uke's attack into Nages hands as they tenkan around resembles a sword strike ending with the blade at Nages power center (near their center). From there the elbow props up their captured arm as they either step through or around Uke (omote or ura) and finish the technique.
I have enjoyed the month and a half spent here and learned many new things that cannot be expressed in writing. Having trained with new people has been a fun experience and shown me that there are many things I have to learn in my aikido. I realize that I still have much to learn with staying relaxed while executing self defense techniques and not allowing my center to be taken from the attacker.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Aikido with Система (Systema)
Mike Sensei taught a class with a reflection of some principles he learned at the Systema seminar in Orlando last weekend. From what I picked up they focused a lot on finding openings and striking. We incorporated this into our class today and, while executing the technique, went over the different openings there are on your attacker.
We practiced Menutsuki Kotagaeshi and as we blended with the strike and Tenkan around Uke, the first strike was an elbow to their kidneys before bringing them around to a Kotogaeshi lock and directing your center through them and into the ground.
Another technique was Shomenuchi Ikkyo, but rather than completing the Ikkyo lock as Nage blends past Uke we went over the low kick that presents itself to the side of their knee, the elbow to the kidney and of course the potential to complete the technique with an Ikkyo lock, or 3 palms up lock.
We practiced Menutsuki Kotagaeshi and as we blended with the strike and Tenkan around Uke, the first strike was an elbow to their kidneys before bringing them around to a Kotogaeshi lock and directing your center through them and into the ground.
Another technique was Shomenuchi Ikkyo, but rather than completing the Ikkyo lock as Nage blends past Uke we went over the low kick that presents itself to the side of their knee, the elbow to the kidney and of course the potential to complete the technique with an Ikkyo lock, or 3 palms up lock.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Jo Kata and Connection
Today Rich Sensei lead the class and started off with some Atemi practice. We got some practice on striking two phonebooks in order to work on our Shomenuchi, Yokomenuchi and Menutski strikes. We are working on giving honest attacks and not being "sacrificial lambs" as the Sensei's call it!! This will help us all to have better practices as both Uke and Nage. When we all train genuinely we all learn correctly and avoid bad habits.
Rich Sensei was at the Saotome Sensei Seminar with Mike Machie and myself last weekend. He went over some of the principles and techniques that were shown at the seminar to pass some of it on to the other students. We went over the seemingly "magical" connection principles that Saotome Sensei went over. (We also had a special guest student from Russia who was here for a month and practiced with us) We spent time going over the one finger connection idea where you push down on their hand which is set like a waiter holding a tray of dishes. When they push down on their hand they mimic this "wave" motion I mentioned earlier (or pulses) to draw in their energy. This establishes a connection with their energy and if done correctly you can actually raise their hand up just by pulling your own finger up into the air. I liken it to an analogy Tracy Sensei gave us. Whilst doing Shomenuchi Ikkyo (a favorite of mine) your connection with their arm for a momentary time is like placing a stable table in from of someone and just as they go to lean down on it you pull it away and they crash down. You pulse this energy or resistance to their own energy and just as their mind begins to think their is opposition and continue to force through, you pull that "table" away, as you Tenkan around behind them and the Ikkyo lock takes over as you spiral them to the ground.
Afterwards we worked on Jo technique and Kata 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJqElAyzcck
I really enjoy doing Jo Kata's with Rich Sensei. It seems like such a simple or humble weapon and can be many household items such as a broom, mop, or walking stick. We worked on water shedding, which is the blending (not blocking) movement in which their strike is NOT resisted but redirected along the stick and past your body. We worked on the rest of the kata and were reminded that whenever you strike with the Jo you have to twist the staff in your forward hand.
Rich Sensei was at the Saotome Sensei Seminar with Mike Machie and myself last weekend. He went over some of the principles and techniques that were shown at the seminar to pass some of it on to the other students. We went over the seemingly "magical" connection principles that Saotome Sensei went over. (We also had a special guest student from Russia who was here for a month and practiced with us) We spent time going over the one finger connection idea where you push down on their hand which is set like a waiter holding a tray of dishes. When they push down on their hand they mimic this "wave" motion I mentioned earlier (or pulses) to draw in their energy. This establishes a connection with their energy and if done correctly you can actually raise their hand up just by pulling your own finger up into the air. I liken it to an analogy Tracy Sensei gave us. Whilst doing Shomenuchi Ikkyo (a favorite of mine) your connection with their arm for a momentary time is like placing a stable table in from of someone and just as they go to lean down on it you pull it away and they crash down. You pulse this energy or resistance to their own energy and just as their mind begins to think their is opposition and continue to force through, you pull that "table" away, as you Tenkan around behind them and the Ikkyo lock takes over as you spiral them to the ground.
Afterwards we worked on Jo technique and Kata 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJqElAyzcck
I really enjoy doing Jo Kata's with Rich Sensei. It seems like such a simple or humble weapon and can be many household items such as a broom, mop, or walking stick. We worked on water shedding, which is the blending (not blocking) movement in which their strike is NOT resisted but redirected along the stick and past your body. We worked on the rest of the kata and were reminded that whenever you strike with the Jo you have to twist the staff in your forward hand.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Shomen'uchi Ikkyo, Nikyo, Sankyo Variations
Today Tracy Sensei lead the class. We worked on variations of Shomenuchi Ikkyo and changing the grip from Ikkyo to Nikyo and sankyo.
We worked on Shomenuchi Ikkyo initially and focused on entering their circle and planted our leading foot behind the attacker. Once this has been accomplished and their space has been entered, Ikkyo Undo captures the Uke's energy with one hand under the elbow to control the arm and assist in capturing their energy and center.
After working a bit on Ikkyo grip, we moved onto "Shomenuchi Nikyo", which was utilized in "Ura" (around the backside or closed side), where once the attacker is brought to the ground the Nage should be in control of their arm with his trailing hand having slid down their arm towards the wrist to maintain control of the arm. This downward redirection should never be released at this point or they may stand up on you. Nage should now be in their solid stable "horse stance" from which the leading hand now rotates to Nikyo grip and draws the arm up to the inner shoulder and chest area, maintaining this hand above the Uke's shoulder is key. This allows the application of Nikyo and then stepping behind Uke, Nage can continue to rotate around their backside and pin them.
Finally, we worked on Shomenuchi Sankyo, which was done "Omote" (front or open side). The technique continues from capturing their arm at the open side and stretching them out as you take a step backwards and slide your hand down to their fingers and capture them. After obtaining this grip you push into them as if punching them (analogy given by Mark Sensei) which pushes them onto their back hand. Once there the grip can be switched to sankyo and then they are drawn out and finished with a slice to the back of the neck with the open hand thus stretching them out. Then Nage switches stance with the inner foot being under their shoulder allowing for the Sankyo pin.
We worked on Shomenuchi Ikkyo initially and focused on entering their circle and planted our leading foot behind the attacker. Once this has been accomplished and their space has been entered, Ikkyo Undo captures the Uke's energy with one hand under the elbow to control the arm and assist in capturing their energy and center.
After working a bit on Ikkyo grip, we moved onto "Shomenuchi Nikyo", which was utilized in "Ura" (around the backside or closed side), where once the attacker is brought to the ground the Nage should be in control of their arm with his trailing hand having slid down their arm towards the wrist to maintain control of the arm. This downward redirection should never be released at this point or they may stand up on you. Nage should now be in their solid stable "horse stance" from which the leading hand now rotates to Nikyo grip and draws the arm up to the inner shoulder and chest area, maintaining this hand above the Uke's shoulder is key. This allows the application of Nikyo and then stepping behind Uke, Nage can continue to rotate around their backside and pin them.
Finally, we worked on Shomenuchi Sankyo, which was done "Omote" (front or open side). The technique continues from capturing their arm at the open side and stretching them out as you take a step backwards and slide your hand down to their fingers and capture them. After obtaining this grip you push into them as if punching them (analogy given by Mark Sensei) which pushes them onto their back hand. Once there the grip can be switched to sankyo and then they are drawn out and finished with a slice to the back of the neck with the open hand thus stretching them out. Then Nage switches stance with the inner foot being under their shoulder allowing for the Sankyo pin.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Saotome Sensei Seminar at Shindai Aikikai (Orlando)
A few things discussed:
Before I go on trying to explain what I thought I understood at this seminar from the man who trained under Morehei Ueshiba (Aikido Founder) here is a video of each:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxxb2ctulEs&feature=related O' Sensei
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mDv85KPpKI Saotome Sensei
Comparing Aikido to Chess:
The rules of chess are easy to learn, the application of these rules to "win" the game by placing the opponent in chess takes many years of study to discover new ways to achieve this goal. It is similar to Aikido in that the different "techniques" and locks of Aikido: Shihonage, Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankyo, Yonkyo, Kotegaeshi etc are the "rules" of Aikido and what can be used. The actual application of these to the uke's Atemi's (Attack): Shomanuchi, Yokomanuchi etc are what can take countless years of training to "master" and then re-learn when new things are discovered in the application of Kokyo (Spiraling Motion) and capturing of ones center.
Another comparison made was that the connection principles taught by Saotome are like the theory and principles of physics. These are the "basic" (I use basic very loosely, since it may be basic to Saotome Sensei, but it is very difficult to actually master this :-P) ideals and principles one must grasp to appropriately solve physics problems, and conversely apply techniques to the opponents in order to capture their energy, center and so forth.
There were a lot of people using extraneous arm power and not maintaining a relaxed focus with their center being the power source as we are so often drilled about at North Florida Aikikai (NFA). I am sure I was a perpetrator of this method as well but made a conscious effort most of the time to keep my arms relaxed, connected to my center and use my hips and core to move and redirect the attackers energy.
Some things I realized with assistance from Masura and Fasen sensei (as well as others on the mat) during practice was that there is a sort of bounce (or wave) in the techniques shown by Saotome that "invites" the attacker in drawing their energy to you and allowing it to be redirected without hindering it. One technique involved preventing your body being lifted by pointing your fingers down and placing your mind and focus at your finger tips to stream your intention and the attackers energy into the ground. Another example was the moving of 4 or 5 people anchored together. Trying to move the arm and not the entire group proved futile. Rather, accepting in their energy and "inviting" it in allows for a kokyo (as in all techniques and principles I have seen) to draw out any slack and allow for them to be moved to the outside of their box of stability. (This was explained to me by my fellow student Mike from what a former student at NFA student, doing his doctorate, had told him (Muy Thai was his name I believe). The box outlines where their feet are positioned the back heel being one corner and the front foots toes being a diagonal corner. Connecting these two in a triangle constructs a box (or rectangle). Moving their center outside of this box instantly results in their loss of balance. It's true, try it out!!
Meridith's Nidan test was quite an astonishing sight to see. Her and Melissa maintained constant Mai'i (presence) and focus on one another, never breaking their gaze from one another. She executed, in my humble and inexperienced opinion, beautiful and amazing big circle aikido from shoriwaza and standing. Her bokken and jo kata were very fluid, and executed more as one motion, then steps one, two, three etc. as we have been told to eventually graduate to in class. The randori part of the test was amazing to observe as multiple weapon opponents were thrown in the air by this small woman (in comparion to her much larger male attackers).
All in all the Saotome seminar was an amazing experience and quite an eye opener to the intricacies of aikido that I have yet to experience or understand.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Recap of Aikido "Understanding" thus far from North Florida Aikikai (Tallahassee)
Initial Note: All outlooks on principles and understandings of Aikido are only my own at the current time of the post and are not to be taken as correct or incorrect, just my own at the time. They will absolutely change as time goes on and I come to understand something differently and will be interpreted in my own understanding in order to post something of value for myself.
Working with a fellow student at NFA I was told about using a wave motion starting from about the elbow region, maintaining relaxed and lowered shoulders to allow the lower half of the arm to resemble that of an ocean wave drawing onto the shores and then cactching the opponent on the "receding tide" part of the wave effectively drawing in their attack and allowing you to relax your arms to your center as the opponent continues past you into an ukemi roll and you move on to the next attacker.
We spent a lot of time on Tuesday's class going over uke's giving a "genuine" attack in the form of a Shomen strike. The sensei's said a lot of our attacks as Uke were lacking in energy, mine especially. I have been trying to understand how to give a good attack to Nage but have not picked up on it too well. Tuesday's practice with Mark Sensei really helped me to develop a better understanding of delivering a "energy-full" yet controlled attack.
From my exam for 6th Kyu I proven a general understanding of the following techniques at my testing level:
Working with a fellow student at NFA I was told about using a wave motion starting from about the elbow region, maintaining relaxed and lowered shoulders to allow the lower half of the arm to resemble that of an ocean wave drawing onto the shores and then cactching the opponent on the "receding tide" part of the wave effectively drawing in their attack and allowing you to relax your arms to your center as the opponent continues past you into an ukemi roll and you move on to the next attacker.
We spent a lot of time on Tuesday's class going over uke's giving a "genuine" attack in the form of a Shomen strike. The sensei's said a lot of our attacks as Uke were lacking in energy, mine especially. I have been trying to understand how to give a good attack to Nage but have not picked up on it too well. Tuesday's practice with Mark Sensei really helped me to develop a better understanding of delivering a "energy-full" yet controlled attack.
From my exam for 6th Kyu I proven a general understanding of the following techniques at my testing level:
- Tenkan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s77tJ6XGiNg
- Shomenuchi ikkyo and irimenage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgoM_xrveO4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pth5aX0nIzs - Menuetsuki kotegaeshi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB01hhonf8Q
- Katate dori shihonage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfuwPVOfGZ8
- Yokomenuchi shihonage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5BYCtOWhBM
- Kokyu tanden ho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sSSQ7VJIJw
(ura means to perform the technique to their back side, omote means to the front side)
The pronunciation of each "attack" follows the form of uke's attack followed by nage's reaction to uke's attack: such as Shomenuchi ikkyo. Uke focuses on giving a "genuine" and "honest" Shomen strike while nage reacts with an ikkyo (first technique).
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