Yoko Okamoto returned to Portland Aikikai for a workshop. This was the first visit to the new location after a four-year gap. It was not a publicized seminar so she was able to concentrate on Portland Aikikai students.
Okamoto sensei is much in demand and we are fortunate to have a familial connection to enjoy her undivided attention.
The highest expression of Aikido’s art is the connection between the players and the movement around the axis of the encounter. Okamoto sensei focused and drew upon exercises to develop that sensitivity and understanding of the art.
To develop that sensitivity, Okamoto sensei worked from gyaku hanmi katate dori and specifically on moving around the axis of the encounter without disturbing uke’s initial grab.
The point is that without information uke has no reason to change the connection. Uke should grab with sincere intention and nage must move around the point so as not to create a secondary action in uke and thereby create a cascade of reaction-action-reaction.
Hence a quiet connection but one where both players maintain their respective intentions. Therefore, once uke grabs (and properly with the lower three fingers primarily) and if the grasp is opened as a result of movement, then uke re-grabbing is a fiction. Uke needs to move with continuity through the engagement, not stop, grab and snatch again. Smooth engagement. Progressive training is the focus. Start from static and build slowly: slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Superior position is nage’s intent and Okamoto sensei demonstrated this at first by controlling uke’s elbow. Starting from compression, Okamoto sensei’s demonstration and explanation is less polemic, but the function is what I call bone locking.
The second presentation was extension – a leading action. By extending uke’s elbow, uke’s balance is taken forward.
The techniques that follow from each of the entries are genuinely far less important than the means of gaining the position that makes a technique possible.
First principles!
Proper position is necessary for any and every technique that follows. That is the key take-away from the workshop.
Virtūs et Honos
Protective Arts 
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