Testing for shodan requires demonstrating weapon take-away techniques against tanto, jo, and bokken. Simplify the phrasing and the concept we are discussing is disarms. Here is the secret: all empty hand techniques in Aikido are disarms. You have been doing nothing but disarms since your first ikkyo omote. Aikido is not an unarmed art. IContinue reading “SWORD TAKE-AWAY: Tachidori”
Author Archives: protectivearts
LOGIC CHAINS – Ikkyo to Kotegaeshi
The flow of any given technique can be broken into constituent elements that are linked in logic chain: an if-then series based on the openings and opportunities. Another way to understand the logic of a technique is to ask – what if this doesn’t work? What is the backup plan? As an example – hereContinue reading “LOGIC CHAINS – Ikkyo to Kotegaeshi”
KIHON – Hanmi Handachi Shiho Nage and Uchi Kaiten Nage
Kihon waza are the developmental base forms and they show the correct way to train in order to allow for proper developmental growth in the art. Normative words demand definition: what is a “correct” way to train and what is “proper” development? I recall hearing a shihan once quip, “Aikido works. Yours doesn’t.” A pithy summationContinue reading “KIHON – Hanmi Handachi Shiho Nage and Uchi Kaiten Nage”
Protective Arts 