Aikido Bridge Friendship Seminar Day 2

The first class was taught by Doran Sensei. Doran Sensei started off by saying that he has changed his warm-up routine, instead of going through the stretches and other exercises common to most Aikido classes, Doran Sensei had us go through multiple tenkan and irimi movements through katatetori, kosatori, tsuki, and jodan tsuki (punch to the face). We didn't practice any "techniques" until an hour into the class but the point I believe Doran Sensei was making was that there is a lot of learning about the movement of Aikido through doing these exercises and not focusing on the throws or the technique. Doran Sensei showed how important it is to get in deep for the tenkan to avoid a counter-strike by uke to nage's face.

Ikeda Sensei taught the second session started with katatetori connection with nage's body or "musubi" with the whole body of uke. While demonstrating a strong shomenuchi kokyuho nage should move and concentrate on moving his or her own center instead of trying or focusing on moving uke. This especially comes into play when a smaller person is trying to move/throw a larger person. Martial Arts and Aikido in particular is about how a smaller person can overcome the power and strength advantages of a larger uke. We also practice a kosatori hijinage that illustrated his points of nage controlling one's own center to move a larger uke.

Tissier Sensei taught the third class after the lunch break. Tissier Sensei demonstrated a number of katatetori variations. While watching Tissier Sensei show the techniques and help with various pairings of uke/nage on the mat, I am always impressed with the technical preciseness of his techniques. When we were working on a shihonage, Tissier Sensei showed how nage can cut down across his or her body to throw uke even if uke stops the shihonage movement. I also noticed (and like) how Tissier Sensei, when showing a technique to the class or small group, will occasionally switch roles and have uke throw him. This is valuable to understand when and how techniques can be stopped.

A guest sensei from the Netherlands, Wilko Vriesman, taught the last class of the day. His focus was on A,B,C where A is the lower half of the body, B is the torso, and A is the head. Doing an Aikido technique, first focus on the moving and controlling your A and then when you need to move uke, open up B, while always keeping C aligned with A and B to keep nage's balance. This was a new way to visualize the relationships between the various points of the body that are important for a complete and powerful technique.