It
is interesting for me to see the different versions ( or what seem to
be) of techniques, for example i have been reading through a pdf file
sent to me on the 24 of April titled Early Tomiki Aikido part one.
When
reading about Ai gamae ate the balance break is created by a Hineri
action on Uke and Uke loses balance onto his toes, ( sometimes I get
students stepping forward at this point with their left foot, this
could be due to many reasons, for example me breaking balance to much,
or Ukes ability or understaning )
he then tries to recover and Tori assists him and takes advantage and enters with Ai
gamae ate.
More
recently, because of my study of Sotai Undo, after the initial balance
break, Tori continues moving Ukes arm in a circular motion ( keeping
the tension on Ukes arm) to bring the balance break over the outside of
Ukes right foot, creating a gaeshi balance break in Uke, and so the
feeling for Uke is compltely different. In the first example he has a
feeling of toppling forward and tries to recover, in the second he
starts to feel himself turning around, like in Ushiro and this makes
his back foot move behind his right foot ( where his weight is pinned,
and the leg made immovable), to try and recover , Tori enters and uses
this moment to apply Ai gamae ate.
In
some of the Yudansh classes we have been studying the shift or movement
of body weight from one leg to the other , and the timing in the
application of the technique. However on page 42 of the study Uke is
just bending forward and then bending backwards and there is no
movement of his feet. I guess this could be descibed as a more basic
form.
I
guess it could also be argued that it is one and the same, as the
continuing application of Kuzushi by Tori is taking advantage of Ukes
initial response to recover, but it doesnt feel the same to me ( of
coarse this is also to do with my ability at the moment).
I have also had it explained to me that case by case, is the appropriate attitude to have.
Of coarse these arguments can be applied to all techniques, which is why we are studying this at the moment.
In the last Yudansha class we did some study of Happo undo where,
at the last moment we closed the hip before moving on to the next
movement. I have been looking through some of the research and on Page
16, there is a series of fotos of Tomiki doing Tegatana Soho, the last
picture shows that he has a wide hip posture, when compared to page 17
and yamada is doing the same exercise there is a definite difference in
the angle of the hips, Yamadas hips are squarer to the front.
Was this just Yamadas version, or was it a natural development as time went by to develope more power from the hips?
Page
24, Exercise 10, KO Mawashi, when Tomiki turns there is no foot
adjustment, and when he is facing the opposite direction you can
clearly see this, again was this because it was considered just as one
continuos movement, or as his feet are turned out and his knees bent
and so sinking into the posture the balance is sufficient.
I
have seen examples where people start by moving the front foot
diagonally accross, so that by the time they have turned they are in a
stable posture, again was this a change in emphasise for the technique,
changing from a flowing smooth movement to two individually different
moves.
When we do Schich hon number 5 and 6, we tend rightly
or wrongly to turn on the spot on the balls of our feet. I seem to
remember that in the Sato DVD, he shows a lifting and turning of the
foot,followed by a definite weight shift before turning.
later on there are pictures from the JAA modern style which show this movement on the same line.
The last Yudansha class brought back some memories of when I
use to practice yoga and Kyokushinkai, many moons ago, however it made
me look up some info which you might be interested in.
the
first part is about the unification of breath and energy chanels ,
just like when we were practicing the eight direction tandoku undo (
sorry I cant remember the name of it ), when we glide forward for the
first movement and then slowly twist the hip to close the groin area (
without pulling back the forward shoulder ), and then bring up the
back leg , turn and advance into the next step.
All of this is done whilst breathing correctly, remaining relaxed and in one continuos
movement, completly focused.
With all of the above I am looking for and trying to feel connections
throughout the body from the root heal up through the knees hip waist
shoulders and out through the arm, at the same time trying to use and
feel smaller internal muscles at work, this helps me develop Aiki power
and at this moment in time in my training I see that these should all
be done as one flowing movement, without stopping.( also for me I need
to practice slowly like a Tai chi kind of exercise until I can feel all
of the correct movements and connections in the right order)
If we stop it only becomes an outward expression of physical movement,
individual exercises which although have benefit, can hinder the
development of Aiki.
secondly,
as mentioned above this is done relaxed as tensed muscles prohibit the
flow of energy, however, as I start these movements there is stored
energy in my body and as i take the fisrt step the energy is released
and should flow through the body, through the energy chanels where we
are able to use this on a cellular level as the whole body and mind
become one, after the first step is finishing I bring up the rear leg ,
again collecting energy ( which I have built up from the first step )
ready to turn and move into the second step, and so it goes on.
Each
movement becomes a link to the next and therefore should not ( in my
opinion ) be considered individually, unless of coarse you are trying
to practice a particular part to correct a fault.
As I said in my last email, the biggest impact on me was the concept /idea
of "mirroring". I haven't stopped playing with this since.
It applies to all Martial Arts and indeed Life itself. I believe it was an
accident and that you mentioned it just in passing, to explain a point???
(please correct me if I'm wrong)
We could run a whole seminar just on this topic. In randori for example,
what we try to do is break the mirror. In life, if our surroundings are
poor, we too go down. At the weekend my surroundings and the people I was
with were good and it made me feel much better. "
The cross and three body zones concepts are very good but difficult to
grasp. And you are right, we have to feel it. Speaking about it and
looking at pictures is not the same.
I'm working on moving backwards with my students at the moment. I believe
that there shouldn't be any difference in posture, stance, smoothness etc.
but in practise the students' movement is completely different. The three
body zones change when the direction changes. So when they practise
UshiroAte and HikiTaioshi, for example, they struggle with the backward
movement, because the zones collapse.
last yudansha session we worked on :
/Concepts
/
* /3 vertical axis/
* /3 body zones - keep connected/
* /concept of the cross - using the arms/shoulder in a correct way/
* /using movement in the bodyframe/
* /generating power from the hip zone/
* /blending tori/uke/
* /concept of go and ju/
We used some special exercises and also some techniques from the 17-hon
and koryu no kata (dai ichi, dai san and dai roku)
Unsoku and tandoku undo explained from a point of view of generating
power and body frame
Last weekend there was the usual yudansha training in the dojo. As we did already many times the "8" sotai dosa, it seems not many people understood very well the purpose of these exercises. It is without fully understanding very difficult to transfer the "hidden skill concept" in those exercises to the different facets of Tomiki Aikido ( randori, shiai, kata, goshin,.....). Last weekend we discussed verbally but also physically the skill of body shifting, inside turning movement and outside turning movement. There was the case of "hiki taoshi" starting movement. A very difficult movement, but somewhere came it out of nowhere : the skill used in sumi otoshi - how to use the body and not how to throw - was also the skill to develop a strong hiki taoshi. The trigger was that simple exercise from the sotai dosa and an open mind. Skill development needs an open mind and sometimes syllabus (for grading...) is a mental block for creative aikido.
How to be creative in your randori training? This was the topic of Shobukai's Randori Seminar with Tim Wolput. Despite the heavy snowfall about 15 competitors from the UK came to this seminar. Also some Belgians were present. Unfortunately the weather conditions were not positive and many local competitors were not capabel to drive to the dojo in Brasschaat. More info about this seminar later on.
Thanks for the weekend, as usual my time spent with you
was very worthwhile and enjoyable.
Your summary of the weekend is very accurate and
useful.
For the record there are four stages of
learning.
Stage 1.UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE.
We dont know what we dont know. Using the analogy of learning to
drive, this can be likened to a small child sitting behind the wheel of daddys
car while its parked in the driveway. Daddy, Im
driving!
Stage 2.CONSCIOUS
INCOMPETENCE.
We are acutely aware of what we dont know. To return to the driving
analogy, we take our very first driving lesson and within SECONDS of attempting
to control the car, we understand fully the lack of our ability. Instead of
being the star pupil who will send the car in a straight line at precisely 30
mph on the first attempt, we end up stalling at a busy road junction on the
wrong side of the road with other drivers hooting their horns just like
everyone else on their first lesson.
Stage 3.CONSCIOUS
COMPETENCE.
Having passed our driving test, we throw away the L plates and drive
off down the road to visit a friend and share our success.
Do you recall how tiring
even the shortest of journeys was? That is because we had to consciously think
about every action we took. Notice how new drivers always move at precisely 30
mph, put their handbrakes on at every traffic light and stop at every roundabout
or junction even when you can see for miles that there is nothing
coming!
Stage 4.UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE.
You have been driving for
years and, if youre a man you probably consider you have above average driving
skills and would make a pretty good rally driver.
On the other
hand...
How many times have you
expected the car in front to turn left because they had their left indicator
going then they turned right and you had to brake
quickly?
How many times have you
absent-mindedly found yourself half way to work on a Sunday morning when you
were actually meaning to go to the shops?
Stage 4 is comfortable,
efficient and natural. It is the area of instinctive reaction, I know what this
is Ive done this a thousand times before It
also carries some risk. So we return to Stage 1.
This class was based on the 8 sotai dosa and the relationship with the tandoku undo (tegatana dosa). Proper posture was an important item during the class. The focus on the proper posture was already mentioned during the previous yudansha class, and this is remembered by some of the participants. Those who already have some experience with the 8 sotai dosa can do the step to kakari geiko in the proper way. Some participants are still in the stage of learning the sequence. One participant asked the question about how to acquire skill.
First we have to explain : what is skill? Skill is an ability to choose and perform the right techniques or movements at the right time, successfully, regularly and with a minimum of effort. Skill has 3 components : Cognitive : involves thought processes - know and understand what you are doing Perceptual : involves interpretation of information Motor : involves movement - Psychomotor skill (doing) excellence requires the execution of precise, fluent and effective movement patterns which requires the combination or perceptual and motor skills In addition we have to take in considiration : Affective behaviour (feeling) : success depends on mental attitude and developing psychological skills to cope with stress
How to teach skill Verbal instructions Demonstration Video Diagrams Photo sequences
There are three stages to learning a new skill: Cognitive phase - Identification and development of the component parts of the skill - involves formation of a mental picture of the skill Associative phase - Linking the component parts into a smooth action - involves practicing the skill and using feedback to perfect the skill Autonomous phase - Developing the learned skill so that it becomes automatic - involves little or no conscious thought or attention whilst performing the skill The leaning of physical skills requires the relevant movements to be assembled, component by component, using feedback to shape and polish them into a smooth action. Rehearsal of the skill must be done regularly and correctly.
An example : the 8 sotai dosa
The results of the 8 skills of sotai dosa are : hineri gaeshi
The 8 skills are the result of the 5 basic handblade movements and the 3 foot movements Understanding and correct execution of the solo exercises of unsoku and tandoku undo is an important factor in acquiring skill. What are the faults in skill development?
Incorrect understanding of the movement Poor physical abilities Poor co-ordination of movement Incorrect application of power Lack of concentration
Conclusion of this class : Some participants are in the stage of understanding and are developping the sotai dosa skills to use in kakari geiko. Although bad habits comes to the surface when the kakari geiko turns into hikitate geiko or randori geiko.
19-20-21 November (with Yoshiomi Inoue) 18-19 December (with Tim Wolput) 21-23 January
This class was based upon the 8-sotai dosa. These 8 basic movements were practised and related to techniques from the basic-17 and Koryu-no-kata. Besides the simple technical aspect, a lot of attention was on the use and development of a soft power, generated by a relax movement of the body with a good posture.
Major problems are :
No understanding of the proper posture and movement. In most cases the bodyweight is too high, the body becomes unstable and this is compensated by making the body tensed. Movement is relying on too much muscular power. By doing this, the movements are becoming slow, which again is compensated by muscular power to apply a technique. Solution : introducing a proper breathing technique, visualization techniques.
No understanding of the role of tori and uke. In many cases the roles of tori and uke are expierenced as attacker and defender, the defender likes to win by a throw or joint technique. The attacker likes to win by using muscular power or by intercepting (often too soon) the technique or movement of tori. This produces a contra-productive result on the evolution of the aikidoka. The idea of cooperative training is not understood in some cases and cooperative training is associated with jumping before the actual movement becomes effective, or with passive movements. Passive movements are movements without the intention to do an action. Interception of the technique too soon by uke is frequently done by studying an isolated movement or technique. An example is a 17-hon kata technique were uke knows exactly what is happening. He is frequently thinking this is randori, and he uses the corset of limiting the movement of tori to win his randori. The feedback of this situation is a negative one. Solution : again here we have to work on posture and also on the ability to feel what is going on during the movement. You only can give feedback when you feel what is going on, the more understanding you have, the more feedback you can give.
Referee and randori Some referee training and randori at the end of the seminar. This will be repeated next seminar.
15-16-17 October 19-20-21 November (with Yoshiomi Inoue) 18-19 December (with Tim Wolput)
Teruo Fujiwara "The time when I studied under Tomiki-shihan in 1956-1958 is called 'the age of Judo Exercise'. The main ways of moving the body and hands were picked from Aiki skills, then simplified and abstracted and organized as the exercise forms. These forms are 'Judo Exercise'. The plan of making 'Judo Exercise' is that by doing them repeatedly, we can learn Aiki as if we learned hundreds of thousands of skills which can benefit our bodies in a positive fashion. 'Judo Exercise' is the valuable legacy of Tomiki-sensei.
Tomiki-sensei wrote in the pamphlet Judo Exercise (published as the text of regular subject physical education in April 1957) that he made 'Judo Exercise' as the way to practice Aiki, which couldn't be a sport, and that when practicing aikido, we must study for correctness and beauty, rather than strength. That is why our time is called 'the age of Judo Exercise'.
I could study the beauty of Aiki following Tomiki-sensei without hesitating but there were many students interested in the strength of Aiki. It may be natural for young men who would like to study martial arts. Tomiki-sensei said that they must satisfy their desire for strength by practicing the other skills in 'Judo Exercise' but they didn't always follow his suggestion.
In 1958, Aikido Club which was previously not an official club (in early times, Aikido Club was a part of Judo Club. Tomiki-sensei was also the shihan of Judo Club) was granted official status in the Department of Sport and Physical education at Waseda University. As a condition of becoming an official club, Aikido Club was required to practice as a competitive sport. There is no doubt Tomiki-sensei was considering how to develop aikido into a competitive sport as the ultimate goal, yet, he did not expect the situation to become an urgent matter. It was this requirement that forced Tomiki aikido to step into 'the age of sport: Randori'.
Today Sport Aikido is moving toward completion step by step. However, the skill level of Sport Aikido is not the same as our 'age of Judo Exercise'. While we must accept that wrong forms will happen in sport, Randori, 'Judo Exercise' is useful as the model for checking and correcting them. I think that such a correction will bring sport Randori higher, with beauty and grace. For the beginner, 'Judo Exercise' is the proper guidance of skills. I think it is necessary that beginners learn to perform the correct postures and beautiful movements by training in 'Judo Exercise. This method will help them avoid incorrect forms in future Randori practice."
There will be a seminar with Inoue sensei 19th November - 22nd November 2010 in the Shobukai dojo Antwerp/Belgium
He also gave already some comment on the book : Tegatana
The Judo Taiso introduced by Tomiki-sensei is useful for
defense from various attack being used by other martial arts including Judo
techniques. I am sure that the book will be subscribed by not only Tomiki
Aikido-ka but also other budo-ka.
When we have a seminar we are learning many interesting things. The problem is to incorporate them into training. The use of tegatana is explained with the help of tandoku undo tegatana dosa or 7-hon-no-kuzushi. How to transfer knowledge into skill is an important item in our training. We are using an adaptation of the tabata-protocol (kind of intervaltraining). Keep the movements very simple and usefull for your randori or goshin-training. Please find here some examples of standard kuzushi movements. If you reach the level you can perform standard-randori training, at that moment you can start to improve your own strategies or techniques.
In kakari geiko we can use the training of different ways of kuzushi. During a trainingweekend for children we explored the 8 sotai renshu. The traininggoal was to use them in kakari geiko.
This is an rather old article about physics in aikido.
