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.
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