Instead of a normal Thursday night Aikido class, Pike Peak Aikikai held a striking work-shop with Scott Welker, a beginner student at the dojo, leading the class. Scott is a very experienced Jeet Kune Do practitioner along with expertise in American Boxing, Filipino boxing and stick fighting, and some styles of Kung fu. He started us off by having us work on the basic boxer stance with the left-foot forward and the right foot aligned behind. The right leg powers the right-hand hook while the left hand is positioned for quick jabs. Scott talked about the three movements when engaged with an opponent; after, during, and before an attack. Many martial techniques occur after the opponent strikes and you respond with a counter or other movement. This is the most basic level. The next level of martial response is to move, counter, or strike simultaneously with the opponent's attack. This is a higher level of awareness and requires you to more "in tune" the rhythms and timing of your opponent. The highest level of martial response is to initiate your actions on your opponent's intention, before you opponent has the time or opportunity to attack. Scott did a good job of tying these concepts with ideas and techniques of Aikido.
We worked on a lot of different striking combinations and responses. Scott followed the practice of JKD of showing and doing many different techniques in the hope that a few will sink in. While I found the sparring with open-hand, knifes, and sticks to be enjoyable to watch, I learned the most from the different footwork, distancing, and stances that I plan to modify and expand into my own Aikido practice.
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