What do you think of Aikido?

[Punchdrunk]

This stuff is very interesting, don't worry about going on too long yoriki I'm hearing things about Aikido I've never even heard hints of.

[yoriki816]

Kensai,

 

We do not practice any sort of ki exercises in class, it seems that the more martial pre-war aikido doesn't really focus on the completely internal practices such as that. I might be interested in learning it, but that would have to be in addition to, rather than in place of my weekly practice.

 

Punchdrunk,

 

Thanks for the encouragement, and by all means feel free to ask questions and make comments on anything I might say that seems strange to you.

[Kensai]

Thanks Yoriki, just some more questions.

 

Do you have any solo kata?

 

Do you build up your knowledge around the basic movements of Aikido?

 

Ikkyo

 

Nikkyo

 

Sankyo

 

Yonkyo

 

Shiho-nage

 

Kokyu-Nage

 

Kote Gashi

 

Kaiten-Nage

 

Tenchi-nage.

 

Yours in Aiki.

[yoriki816]

Kensai~

 

Yoseikan does has some solo kata, most of which are weapon or karate based. We practice the Heian series of Karate kata from Shotokan along with some original kata of Mochizuki's design. We do some solo knife, sword and bo kata as well.

 

Most of the kata we do are paired however, both aikido kata and weapon forms. I particularly enjoy the kenjutsu forms as well as the series of sword vs staff forms we do as well. Trying to defend oneself from a man swinginh something six feet long with nothing but a bokken will teach you a lot about proper tai sabaki and distancing.

 

And yes we do base a large amount of our training off of the techniques you listed although the names are quite different and the methodology of execution is a bit different. If I'm not getting my terminology wrong we test on ikkyo, nikkyo, sankyo, gokyo, and kote gaeshi all at yellow belt. I don't know what the Aikikai technique called yonkyo is so I'm not sure about it. Iriminage and a limited form of shiho nage are taught at orange belt along with a score of other techniques.

 

The actual techniques themselves are a little different as well. Iriminage for example is done by stepping with the outside foot rather than the inside foot as it is taught in Aikikai. This particular difference causes a lot of confusion for the few former Aikikai practicioners we have in class. I believe the modification was made to avoid accidentaly throwing uke into your knee, but I am not sure on that one. Both techniques seem to work equally well. Shiho nage is also a bit different because the circle you take uke's arm in is horizontal rather than vertical, with emphasis placed on bridging his arm with yours allowing for tighter control. It's not as hard a fall from this method most of the time, but much harder to counter if your timing is less than perfect.

 

Now for a question for you. What is kaiten nage? Can't say that I've heard of that one.

[Kensai]

Kaiten nage - Rotary throw. Technique where the attacker is thrown forward with pressure applied on the head or neck while his arm is raised over the head.

 

http://www.aikidofaq.com/video/tissier5.mov

 

This is a link to a movie of Kaiten Nage.

 

Yours in Aiki.

[Metal Man]

Well since I also study Aikido I might as well join the discussion.

 

I study Nihon Goshin Aikido, not a very known style. Its more of a hard style which incorporates karate, judo and juijitsu into the art. If you want a brief history read this http://aikidoinc.com/history.asp.

[Patrick]

Welcome Metal Man.

[yoriki816]

Kensai,

 

I watched the video and we do indeed have a throw like that one. I'm not so sure it has a name because it is usually considered to be a failed or extremely high level application of a much more basic technique called Kata Ha Gaeshi which involves putting uke into what essentially is a chicken wing lock with tori doing a pivoting drop much like in the video to execute the throw. Lots of us end up in a position very similar to the tenshin nage in the video when doing the technique versus an uke who resists by straightening his arm before we can get it bent. Excellent video by the way. I enjoyed it.

 

 

 

Metal Man,

 

I was very suprised by the name of your style, considering the Grandmaster of the style I sudy came to the U.S. as part of a Nihon Jujitsu Tour of North America. The description of the belnding of karate, jujitsu and aikido you describe applies to our art as well. I have pontificated about Yoseikan quite a bit on this topic if you care to look back some of it may ring a bell. It seems our two disciplines have a lot in common. Welcome to the topic, may your stay be long and informative.

[Kensai]

HURRAY AN AIKIDO LEAGUE!

 

Thats 3 of us now!

 

I have heard of Nihon Goshin Aikido and it sounds a very powerful style. Both you and Yoriki systems are very different to the one that I study. If you want to have a look here is the link:

 

http://www.kifedgb.force9.co.uk/contents.html

 

Yours in Aiki.

[yoriki816]

Kensai,

 

An Aikido League. I must admit I like the sounds of that. I haven't had the opportunity to look at the URL you posted yet, but have every intention of doing so as soon as I can. I really liked the video clip and intend to spend some time perusing the other clips if there are others to see. I always get a kick out of watching upper level instructors and students practice aikikai and other softer styles of aikido. It's all made to look so very easy. I of course, no better but the effect is the same.

 

My instructor does a good bit of travel with his job, and as a result will sometimes drop into another aikido dojo to workout if that is agreeable with the instructor. I'm quite sure he has done this with an Aikikai dojo on more than one occasion, because he always brings back some goodies to show the rest of us. I learned tenshi nage

 

On a side note, I've noticed that you mention that you hope to learn Judo also. I will go ahead and tell you that once you get a handle on the basics of the nage waza, that they can be combined with aiki blending principles to develop some very powerful aikijudo techniques. My aikijudo isn't so good with the koshi waza (hip throws) but the ashi waza are coming along nicely as a result of some personal time spent researching the best ways to draw uke into compromised kuzushi. The two styles really do work well together resulting in big hang time for uke with little effort on tori's part.

 

Since I've gone on at length again I'll let that be that.