The Destroyer picked me as a partner yesterday. I have a “no rejection” policy so if anyone asks me to train I say “Yes” but, in this case, I wasn’t really happy. Since our first encounter last year, I have improved to the point that I am no longer particularly stressed about working with him. However, My left elbow is still aching from being torqued a couple of weeks ago and the Destroyer is one of those fellows who will ignore an injury and keep cranking. All that said, practice with him went better than I expected.
The next day I found out that three of the old guys (all around 6th dan) had been keeping an eye on me the day before and offered their sympathy with regard to my partner and heaped scorn on him. I actually felt bad for the guy. It turns out that his bad attitude has really cut a swath of negativity through the dojo and he doesn’t seem to have many friends. Sad. At any rate, a very good humored member of the trio invited me to train and I had an another fascinating adventure in Aikido.
While most of the details he pointed out were things that I know, at least in theory (need to concentrate to get right or have yet to incorporate in my normal movements), there were a couple of new gems that he threw my way. The gems were vicious “twists” on the shihonage osae (四方投げ押さえ: four direction throw pin).
There are two basic ways, that I know of, to finish shihonage. In one case nage releases their partner, actually throwing them away. Nage can also maintain their grip on uke’s wrist and take (smash) them all the way to the ground. In the latter case, if the grip is maintained, uke can be pinned on their back with their elbow above their head and the back of their hand pressed to the ground. The argument against this pin is that though uke is on their back and held down at the shoulder, their legs are both free and the back and side of nage’s head is exposed to a kick. Not only that, the arm that nage would naturally use to ward off such a kick is the one that performed the throw and is being used in the pin — it is unavailable for defense. To get around this, I have seen some nage use their knee to hold uke’s elbow down freeing up nage’s hands for defense (or pounding as the “grounding” is complete). The argument against that is as follows: as vicious as the knee pin is, to perform it nage needs to release uke’s wrist potentially leaving nage’s groin exposed.
Enter nasty variation one: After the throw, uke is on their back and their wrist trapped near their ear — as in the basic form of the pin. The variation is simply to lever uke’s hand “outward” (away from their ear) using their fingers as the lever and their wrist as the fulcrum. This means that uke’s wrist must remain fixed in place as their hand is manipulated. It does not take much levering to make uke tap.
Nasty variation two starts in the same way. Nage throws uke to the ground maintaining the shihonage grip. With uke on the ground held in the standard pin, nage pushes the elbow into uke’s face holding their head and arm down. Nage then releases ukes wrist and steps on their fingers with the opposite side foot. With uke’s fingers trapped beneath nage’s foot, nage’s knee then holds uke’s elbow down. Nage now has both hands free to repel kicks (or to pound), their position now faces down uke’s body so the side of their head is not exposed and uke’s hand is no longer available for a strike to the groin.
Heat and humidity are nature’s way of saying “go slowly”. Sensei may tell you to slow down every time you step on the mat but a muggy summer day can be more persuasive than your teacher. We got back from our family visit to Seattle, where the weather was pleasantly cool, and found that someone had left the sauna door open and Tokyo was drenched in jungle-like miasma. Everyone in the dojo seems to have responded by moving slower.
Recently, I worked with one of the mean old men of Honbu morning class. He told me, “You’re quite strong”. I thanked him believing that I had received an unexpected compliment. Actually, he meant it as constructive criticism. He went on to say that I tend to use about 70% muscle and 30% kokyu (呼吸: breath) and if I were to reverse that ratio my Aikido would improve dramatically. He said all that right after he had dislocated my elbow (re-do of an old injury) with a wicked nikyo ura (二教浦: second teaching, rear). For the rest of the class I couldn’t move that arm much at all. He said the techniques that I did on the injured side were much better since I was no longer using muscle. The healthy, happy side was all about cranking him back for being a dick very aggressive sempai (先輩: senior) and so it didn’t improve.
So, with sempai’s hint in mind and the sloppy heat draining all else, I have slowed down enough to focus on relaxing and using less muscle. Perhaps the theme of my training this summer will be: less muscle more kokyu.
The Mad Danes were here for three weeks or so but have gone home leaving tussled ukes and amused smiles in their wake. The laughter and abuse from Selene, pounding and high falls from Johnny and Thomas made their visit wonderful fun. While Lene was recovering from a bout of “too much coffee”, Johnny and Thomas visited Cosmic center after a class and we did some fast randori. Another good friend, Patrice, commented after watching the randori training that they looked like vikings! 
Thomas (a chiropractor/chief instructor) even fixed my neck and shoulder after I twisted it (short boring story –don’t ask). I look forward to seeing them next year!
Taking their place in my narrow little world is a friend from Ise who has come to live as an Uchi Deshi for a month or so. Ueda Shihan, my sensei, asked me to look after him while he is in Tokyo. The poor guy is from Ise (the sticks) and this is his first time in Tokyo. He is intimidated by the place, the people and Honbu itself. Considering the fact that he is training four times a day (starting from 6:30 with Doshu) and doing uchi-deshi style drudge work (on his first day he announced that he just finished cleaning the toilets and could train now), he is doing pretty darn well. I loaned him my bike which made him nearly ecstatic as it enormously extended the range of places he can eat.
I’ll be heading back to the US for a week or so and hope to catch up with Aikido buddies there too. I probably will only be forgiven one trip to a dojo so where and when to go are going to be issues. I’d like to drop by Dave’s place and pay a visit to the PSA but can’t be sure that my free time will match up with their class time. At any rate, I want to show of my new skirt!
Happy rolling!
e.
The cobbled walk, moat and fortified gates of the Nippon Budokan give the place an appropriately martial feel. The view of the moat in front of what used to be a gate into the old Edo castle is slightly obscured by cherry trees. It is too late in the year for blossoms but the large trees add a bit of much needed shade. Today, the Budokan was the site of the 47th All Japan Aikido Demonstration organized by the Aikikai.
I volunteered to work instead of demonstrating and was assigned to “patrol” the 2nd and third floor. My Team (Mayumi and Tim Buerger) patrolled the 2nd and third floors. This meant that we had a lot of opportunities to chat with visitors, watch the demo and take pictures. Aside from having to wear a tie in the heat it didn’t really feel like work. At any rate, we saw some excellent Aikido, got a “free lunch” and were able to enjoy encouraging people to remove their clothes in slightly less public places (believe me, this counts a public service!). After the event, we walked through the Budokan cleaning up and then went for drinks with visiting luminaries. Pictures follow… Please note, I have promised two rather famous sensei that I would self-censor a few incriminating images (Bank number for “donations” at the end of this post ).
The moat protecting the budokan
The Outer Gate
The Inner gate
Above the entrance
The main arena had five large mats for the demonstrations.
Kudo Shihan of Tokushima -- my first sensei in Japan.
Kobayashi sensei does ikyo
Inagaki sensei demonstrated buki tori waza -- energetic buki tori waza ...
I love this iriminage!
Yokota-sensei lead the Honbu Ippan (General) Demonstrations
Morning class regulars
Kokoro Does Irimi nage
Ray does irimi nage
Ray finishes shihonage
Tada sensei does yonkyo
Tada sensei leading
Doshu and Waka-sensei do kotegaeshi (before)
Doshu and Waka-sensei do kotegaeshi (after)
Doshu and Suzuki sensei
A few pictures in the crowd …
Morning class friends
Kadi (Congrats on your 1st kyu!)
The Buergers and Fujimaki sensei
Afterward …
Ueda sensei and the Mieken Aikidokai came for the Enbukai!
Kokoro and friends
Doshu and the some of the women of morning class
Kanpai!
Osawa Sensei and the Saito girls
I have grown wary of old men with unusually good posture and confidence that takes more than just years to acquire. They knock you off balance with subtle shifts, they bind your arms or wrists with gentle but devastating twists and they enthusiastically remind you where the mat is. One such fellow took an hour out of his sunny Saturday to show me and another victim the joys of old school irimi nage (入り身投げ: body entering throw). He demonstrated a very reasonable evolution of this throw before it gelled into common modern variations.
The primordial version started with a hard entry to the side. Nage extended two “unbendable arms”, one blocked uke’s same side arm and the other struck uke in the kidney. The block, punch and entry were all one swift motion with power driven from the hips. The punching fist could then reach up, grab uke’s collar pulling them back and down. In time with the pull, nage would step through (again powering all motion from the hip) with the leg closest to uke and planting it at about uke’s third point. All the while hammering uke’s face with the blocking arm. All this together was intended to smash uke down on top of nage’s bent knee, possibly breaking their back but certainly inflicting severe injury — so much for fuzzy wuzzy Aikido.
The next stage of the evolution of the throw, as described by the very hard-minded gentleman, was softening the kidney punch. The entry was very similar though perhaps a bit deeper, entering all the way behind uke. If entering to uke’s left then nage’s left arm would be blocking and their right arm would, instead of punching the kidney, would slide up uke’s spine and gently shove uke forward. At which point, nage would cut down and around with the arm that was blocking (left in this case) and as uke came around nage could smash them in the face and break their back as before. Eliminating the kidney punch didn’t so much make it a softer technique, it just made it rounder. However, it paved the way for the irimi nage as it is now most often practiced, i.e. as something other than a way to maim or kill an enemy. Simply by not dropping uke across one’s knee, this becomes a very vigorous, hard irimi nage and not too far out of the normal seen in most Aikido dojo today.
This may not necessarily have been the actual historical evolution of the technique but each step has both the feel of martial validity (I needed extra ibuprofen after that one) and the progression also makes sense. At any rate, it might be worth doing a few irimi nage and noticing where a kidney punch could fit or where it can be modified into a hip throw. Have fun!
Filed under: Aikido | Tags: Aikido, Cosmic Center, Honbu, Testing, 合気道, 審査, 本部道場
A group of Honbu Dojo regulars rent out the #1 Dojo at the Shinjuku-Ku Cosmic center on irregular Saturdays. Usually the training focuses on items required on tests that are rarely or never covered in classes at Honbu itself. The classic example is multiple attacker randori. It is required above black belt but it is simply not taught! So, Cosmic Center is where these extras can be tacked on.
The mat opens at 9:00 though no-one shows up until around 9:30. This gives plenty of time to take both morning classes on the Honbu 3rd floor and then haul ass (10 minutes by bicycle) to the Cosmic Center for additional training. The group has the mat until noon so there is plenty of time to abuse oneself on those Saturdays when it is reserved. Since it is not reserved every Saturday, the problem of “when” is a toughie. Almost all pre-test weekends will be reserved and almost all post-test weekends will not. So, if you are interested in going but are not sure if it is open, ask around, the news is spread mostly by word-of-mouth.
The cost is 1,000 yen but if you are preparing for a test, the additional practice and attention to test related details that sempai (5th dan senpai) provide are extremely helpful. Also, they have a wealth of experience actually taking tests at Honbu so if you are concerned about etiquette or practices that might differ from your home dojo, these are the people to ask.
To everyone testing: Good luck, stay relaxed and try to keep your feet from going numb while waiting for your turn!
Happy rolling!
e.
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Last year, I bought a new hakama at a hole-in-the-wall shop introduced to me by one of my sempai at Honbu. I didn’t catch the name of the place and didn’t really have a feeling for where it was. So, I gave his work a thumbs-up review but couldn’t really direct any business to him because I had no idea where his shop was. That has changed.
At the Honbu Dojo Kagami Birakishiki, Mr. Shirakawa staked out the corner that turns from the main road up to the dojo and passed out leaflets for his shop. I took one, tucked it into my little packet of Aikido related papers and forgot about it.
It may seem soon but considering how much training I have been doing it is not so surprising that I found three small holes in the knee of my hakama. My efforts to repair the small holes resulted in one large hole after some energetic suwari waza. So, I decided to call in an expert to patch it properly (we don’t a have a sewing machine and even if we did, I don’t know if I could drive it). Megumi found the leaflet and made an appointment for me.
On the day of our appointment, Mr. Shirakawa asked me to call ahead about a half hour early. I did and followed his instructions to get there. He is now in a new, larger (by a smidge) location that is much easier to find. He patched my Hakama for free and did a lovely job of it. His excellent work on the first hakama and his repair added up to salesmanship that I can’t resist. I ordered another dogi (how decadent!) and new hakama. I promised that I would send work his way and this post is my effort to do just that.
If you are in Tokyo and want a hand tailored hakama or dogi stop by Shirakawaya (please call a bit in advance). He also sells bokuto, iaito, jo and other buki but I have no experience with those and can not speak for their quality.
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白川屋 〒169−0051 東京都新宿区西早稲田3−31−9 第二桂木ビル７０３ |
Shirakawaya Dai 2 Katsuragi Biru 703 Nishi Waseda 3-31-9 Shinjuku-ku Tokyo-To JAPAN 169-0051 |
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TEL 03-3207-7662 FAX 03-3207-7657 |
It has been a couple of weeks since I attended a seminar with Tada Sensei and I am still mulling over what he presented. The technical end was practical and I can see immediately how I WANT to learn his Aikido. Though it may have been the philosophical and spiritual portion of the presentation that held the most important element of what he was teaching, it was also where I lagged behind.
On the practical, physical level, the focus of Tada Sensei’s presentation was footwork. Most of the time moving (mostly, he lectured) was spent doing footwork drills unfamiliar to most of the attendees. The first couple were fairly simple with movements that most aikidoka would recognize if not know the names for. But the drills became more and more complex. Even with his deshi, familiar with the choreography, sprinkled throughout the crowd, it was as hard for the uninitiated to follow as any new dance step. There were many collisions, apologies and stomped toes. Actually, it was frustrating.
My frustration was not of the, “Oh it’s too hard, I don’t get it” variety. It was clear from about the second set of steps that I was not going to be able to retain much. My frustration had more to do with wondering where I could find someone from whom I could study this stuff. My interest was due to the way Tada Sensei’s deshi moved. That Sensei would be tremendous was no surprise but the smooth almost effortless gliding movements of his college-student deshi was a clear indicator to me that these drills are powerful learning and teaching tools. They seem aimed at training spontaneous and martially valid movement especially well geared for jiyu-waza and randori.
On the philosophical level Sensei told us that the following concepts were the most important in Japanese Budo. This is where I have to fall back on reporting as my understanding is limited.
Knowledge and real experience regarding the movement of the spirit:
| 心 → 対象 集中、統一、三昧 乗る |
Spirit —> Target Focus, Unity, Absorption To be in harmony with (or so claims the dictionary, I have always read it differently |
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| 心 ← 対象
傾注、囚われ、執着 |
Spirit <— Target Concentration, Capture, Attachment Opening |
Sensei left us with some light cleaning and me with a desire to delve further into his teachings.
This morning, Ninomiya sensei grabbed me and shoved a sword in my hand. He said his knees hurt too much and that I should act as uke for a fellow (a fifth dan, gentle giant) he was teaching. After a few throws of various sorts, Ninomiya sensei pointed out a flaw in the guy’s kotegaeshi pin (小手返し押さえ). This was about when I should have run and hid.
Unless he moves very slowly, Ninomiya Sensei’s Aikido is so subtle it usually does not register on me until I’m writhing in pain. The transition from, “That’s interesting” to “Holy shit I’m dying!” seems effortless, for him. This is how it was with kotegaeshi. The throw itself was mundane though extremely compelling — even without the bonus leg amputation/radical vasectomy that would have occurred had I not been using a training sword. However, the source of my joy was his variation of the kotegaeshi pin.
Until now I have only seen two basic variations of the kotegaeshi pin. The first, the “right way”, starts with uke on their back, nage holding one of uke’s wrists and hand (throw just completed). Uke’s slightly bent arm is corkscrewed up and around until uke rolls over on their stomach. The corkscrew part is the key. By applying the webbed part of the hand (that did the throw) between thumb and forefinger, to the inside of uke’s bent elbow, nage can rotate the elbow about uke’s head. The hand holding uke’s wrist lifts up while nage slides their body around uke’s head. The combined effect of lifting wrist and turning elbow encourage uke to want to move.
The “wrong way”, is less gentle. Uke’s arm is locked and pressure is applied against the joint as nage slides around uke’s head. In theory this works but if uke is stronger than nage this will turn into a wrestling match.
Then there is Ninomiya sensei’s way. He folds uke’s elbow so their hand is near their face, lifts their elbow up and then applies body weight to the back side of their arm (between the elbow and armpit). Doesn’t sound like much does it? When your back is arching and you are trying to lift up on your toes to prevent arm dislocation — then tell me it’s not much. The fact that I was also rolling on top of the sword certainly added to my discomfort but it was the wicked elbow/shoulder lock that got my attention.
It also got the attention of Nishino sensei who stopped by to watch and experiment. After Ninomiya sensei left, Nishino sensei continued to play. He explained to me that this variation was really just an extreme example of the “right way”. He then went on to show me how all three can be further supplemented by kicking uke in the head (stepping through rather than around their head).
Good training. These guys are awesome!
