Closing Skills as described in an earlier post challenges the idea that Aikido is a defensive art. Aikido is not a defensive art because you cannot prevail by defending. Rather we use ABD to place the aggressor in a disadvantageous position – we draw the attack so as to be ahead of the aggressor’s OODA loop. What weContinue reading “ENTRIES”
Category Archives: Class Notes
RYOTEDORI – KIHON
At first glance ryotedori is an inane attack. Two hands on two hands: Who does that?[1] Contextually I have presented it as an means of controlling an opponent’s un-drawn sword. Uke approaches the pin nage’s hands to his hips to prevent deployment. Nage learns weapon-retention and countering. This post is a focused exploration but review the broaderContinue reading “RYOTEDORI – KIHON”
CLOSING SKILLS
The following is a re-post from the Art of Manliness: Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote that a people “that shortens its weapons lengthens its boundaries.” By this he meant that men who were capable of fighting fiercely at close quarters also possessed the essential courage, the thumos, that ultimately won battles, turned the tide of war — protectedContinue reading “CLOSING SKILLS”
Protective Arts 