- katatetori kokyunage tenkan
- katatetori kokyunage irimi (or kokyu-ho)
- munetsuki kokyunage irimi to the inside with one hand cutting at the outstretched tsuki hand and the other reaching around the head and then turning the hips to throw uke, we practiced with a three different times
- We finished class with jo work, starting with first step in jo kata #1 and then moving to the complete kata
After I got home tonight and I was browsing my blog feed, I read the following post (An Open Letter to My Students) by George Ledyard Sensei regarding the poor turn-out of beginner students at a recent seminar at his dojo but he quickly expands on his reflections about Aikido and if the Art will continue into the future. I too worry about where Aikido will be in 20 or 30 years, long after all of O'Sensei's original students have passed away and many of the second generation of shinhan and sensei have also passed or are retired from active teaching. How can we increase not just the quantity of students (our numbers at Pike Peak Aikido are slightly down) but how to emphasize that the nature of a traditional budo practice in a dojo is more than a nice exercise time at the gym.
I try to bring to my own teaching a martial awareness that other instructors at Pikes Peak also do in their own way and methods. I don't lecturing about budo or the deeper reasons why I practice Aikido but maybe I should start doing that; especially in the beginner classes. As I prepare for the fall Colorado College Aikido Basic classes, I want to start attracting the type of students who prioritize and appreciate what Aikido can bring.
It may have been presumptuous of me, but in a comment I made to Ledyard Sensei's post I said I would be very interested in listening and discussing with other senior instructors at this year's summer camp about the future of Aikido and how to increase the importance of Aikido to the beginner and new students.
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