Aikido as an attack art sounds oxymoronic. That is true only because many critics of Aikido have a moronic understanding of the art. (And one too few of us credibly counter.)
But how does that necessitate an attack art? The polemical turn of phrase is the difference between initiating the attack (that is, being the agressor) and controlling the encounter by means of (counter) attack.
Most empty hand arts will focus on SDA as the primary means of attack. What could be more direct than a solid jab and a swift kick to the nuts? Undeniably effective but not very subtle.
Derived from weapons-based techniques, Aikido is primarily an ABD art. We must create the illusion of an opening to induce the opponent’s attack. Attack by Draw baits a specific attack with a planned counter. Shizentai, the natural body posture, is an opening gambit presenting a false unpreparedness to induce the attack.
Even the kihon presentation of an extended hand and the dojo-conditioned response of uke grasping it, is an indication of the underpinning of the art as ABD (and PIA). In more advanced play, the extended hand is akin to a jab, to bait a counter, followed by a slip to shikaku and a finishing counter.
Consider the standard presentation of any technique in the dojo. The instructor will indicate the opening uke is to take. Often this will necessitate nage naming the attack or gesturing to the opening. This is a pedagogical tool that should be eschewed at higher levels of training and presentation. Instructors especially should cultivate presentations of self that close all other opportunities than the one line nage wants.
ABD is a confidence game. Many arts use ABD sparingly because it is a risky move that necessitates higher skill because we are responding second, and because an imperfect execution will lead a skilled opponent to counter.
PIA is the secondary form of attack Aikido exploits, and often as part of the technique set up by the initial ABD. A Progressive Indirect Attack is initiated with a false or fake strike to create an opening for a second strike. The “progressive” part is how the motion of the initial fake is also part of the beginning motion of the second attack. Therefore, your second attack should be half way to its target by the end of your fake. For example:
Yokomen (R) – insert atemi L, disengage, strike the attacker’s arm R rebound irmi-nage R.
Again, recognize that from a viewer’s perspective, the Aikidoist is responding to an attack and therefore is labeled a defensive art, but the truth is far more subtle – Aikido leads the opponent to the opening that the Aikidoist gave. This requires sang froid.
A typical (and usually valid) criticism of Aikido is that the curriculum lacks (and most dojos fail to present) the Single Direct Attack (SDA) as a credible attack. The SDA in Aikido is shomen, yokomen, tsuki and is simply uke’s initiating action. Because it is rarely presented as nage’s role, the SDA appears to have limited application and its credibility is questioned by other arts.
Rightfully so in most instances. But do not be blinded by historical limitations and tradition: Yokomen is a haymaker punch, shomen could be a downward dagger, or a straight blast punch (lines can be points, and points can be lines). Think and see the potential of the range of human motion, do not be limited to the lexical labels!
So practice uke’s roles with at least equal vim and vigor that you do nage’s role. What we often miss in training is that uke as “feeder” is perceived as a lesser role or worse a passive one. Uke is essentially training as the aggressor and therefore should be learning to be an effective one!
When it was introduced, Aikido was considered a “higher” art, meaning experienced martial artists only were admitted to learn augmenting skills that honed the base art (karate, kendo, etc.) which students brought with them as foundations. In short – Aikido presumed that the students were well grounded in the SDA arts. Therefore, to be a well-developed Aikidoist the foundations of SDA skills must be special taught (or cross-trained).
The goals of SDA are simple and effective: use a strike aimed at a specific target that travels the shortest path with sufficient leverage or power to do its intended job.
The irony is a SDA is more often used than all the other four ways of attack by other arts and it is usually the least emphasized in Aikido. Prioritize mastering SDA as uke during your daily training.
The last two forms are Attack by Combination (ABC) and Hand Imobilization Attack (HIA).
An Attack by Combination links two or more striking techniques executed in sequence. Think of a boxer’s combinations: jab, straight right; jab, left hook; low kick to straight blast; you should get the idea. ABC is rarely presented in Aikido as a method of attack, but is found when breaking down any flow pattern into its constituent atemi pauses. I have presented this in class and discussed a staccato phrasing. Although rarely explicated in the language of ABC, I would argue that all Aikido techniques are by necessity ABC, just “smoothed” out because the goal of Aikido is connected flow with kimusubi. But never forget – if and once the connection is broken by either player, then ABC must be deployed!
Staccato means that each point on the line of flow suddenly becomes a series of SDA each with its own target. Proper targeting people, always.
And the final form of attack – Hand Immobilization (HIA) which is the sine qua non of Aikido. As I have argued above, the SDA in Aikido is under-emphasized because nage’s techniques are intended to find culmination in HIA. These trapping skills in Aikido are presented as the primary goal, whereas in most other arts, trapping skills are follow up to SDA and I ABC.
A critical difference in an close-range or empty hand focused art is that HIA in those arts are often a means to remove an interposing hand to land a strike. For example, some classic HIA would be:
Pak Sao, Biu Gee (finger Jab)
Lop Sao, Back fist (this is a standard drill)
Double Pak Sao, Straight Blast
Aikido’s emphasis is slightly different insofar as the trap (historically) resulted in an elbow break, a wrist snap, shoulder dislocate, or neck break. The point was to take a weapon-bearing samurai off the field. So the HIA are executed on the distal parts of the body first, then work toward the core. The brute bunkai of Aikido is not emphasized, but the budo remains vestigial, ready for invigorated deployment as necessary.
Augment your understanding of the potential of the art by expanding what HIA means – we need not limit ourselves to upper body limbs alone:
Stepping on the foot to prevent a retreat (and as a force multiplier)
Tying up the neck to throw a punch or a knee (irimi nage plus)
Using the language of other arts is a means to re-cast and re-present how we understand our own art. Sclerotic understanding is our enemy! Never stop questioning, never stop exploring.
In a self defense scenario, reaction time is one of the most important types of speed to cultivate. In traditional Japanese arts, iaijutsu is an example of a quick draw response system, now become an ossified art.[1] The Drawpoint method of deploying a knife is a modern cognate alive with potential.
Drawpoint is Comtech’s refinement of Pekiti Tersia Kali. Master Keating has done the hard thinking for us by distilling a traditional system to a modern context. While there is no substitute for hands-on instruction and training:
The most distinctive feature of the system is its simplicity: draw and point.
The draw in Drawpoint refers to producing the knife quickly from a sheath. For this to be done effectively the right kind of knife and sheath must be used. When the system was developed in the early 90’s very few came with a great sheath system to carry them. This is why the Drawpoint method was initially focused on using the Gryphon M-10; a relatively small sized fixed blade with a secure kydex sheath. The sheath firmly held the knife in place while allowing for an immediate drawstroke without needing to unsnap or otherwise free the knife handle.
Equipment should never become a mere fetish, but the complementary pairing is available:
The draw is a quick response to an assailant. The fixed blade is open carry in a sheath (Oregon Knife Up law) with the blade pointed to the rear. Once you establish a master grip on the handle the knife is quickly presented in a edge-in (the “pakal”) grip. There are two primary grips, forward and reverse. Then there are two blade orientations, edge in and edge out. Together these are the 4 edges of the blade. The edge-in grip is dictated by the logic of the system. As Master Keating will readily admit, the grip is not a panacea, the grip is dictated by the logic of the system which is a close quarters extreme protection scenario. It is not a duel or a contest of styles. Drawpoint is a trained response to a surprise and violent assault.[2]
The primary reason for the edge-in grip is self-protection. Meaning the blade is held so that in a close-quarter fight where you use the live hand to check an opponent’s cut, an edge-out presentation has a greater chance to cut your actively intercepting hand. The system reduces the chance to self-cut. The secondary reason for the edge-in presentation is the capture.
The basic drills for the reverse grip:
Rolling pick
Similar to chain punching (Lin Wan Kuen), a rolling pick trains the initiating response – draw, extend, flick to point, pick, return. The counter is a stop hit press down and counter pick.
Because you draw the knife in reverse grip, your counter strike is like a punch, knife butt leads, necessitating a “flicking” action to deploy the point. Developing this skill requires a good number of repetitions to get the mechanics down. Your target is the bridge of your opponents nose, between the eyes. The pick requires accuracy more than force because as your opponent turns to avoid the knife point, they will present an eye.
Bob is a great feedback tool with enough resistance to force you to retain your grip while you hit the eye. Aim small miss small.
Both players get equal training time and play both the offense and defense simultaneously. Once a training pace is established, the players can introduce the traps. The trap is a response to an induced flinch in the assailant. A flinch is a non-trained “reflexive” response.
We are training with the goal to condition our reflexive response to draw and point and to exploit the ‘reflexive’ responses in others.
Inducing a flinch response is ABD – Drawpoint exploits this by using the blade in capture method – as the hands come up to defend the eyes, the scissor action of the blade-in grip captures the opponent’s hand.
Cover and Slash
In reverse grip, Player A strikes yokomen (angle 6), do (slash), gyaku-yokomen (angle 7), do, yokomen, repeat. Player B’s counter pattern intercepts the yokomen, executes an upward slash to the bicepts/tricepts and counters gyaku-yokomen, then pivots to intercept the gyaku-yokomen to again upward slash and counter yokomen.
Review the pattern: this is a variation on a thrusting triangle tap drill. In the thrusting triangle both players stab 5, 6, 7 while the live hand [3] stops each thrust in time. Where the thrusting triangle uses the point exclusively, Cover and Slash uses both the edge and point.
Da Vinci Vitruvian doce pares
Connect points with lines and see that the lines define points. When you connect the thrusting points with a contouring cut the power of the drill emerges.
Counter for Counter
For the second day of training, we ended with a counter for counter drill which I present with an Aikido-vocabulary gloss:
Player A attacks yokomen (angle 1) – Player B chases the strike and forces the strike to the belt line (cut back of hand)
Player B counter-attacks with chudan tsuki (stab to the bladder) – Player A wings (bong sao) to intercept the thrust, cuts up and strikes with the butt of the knife to the face.
Player B stop hits the butt – Player A flips the blade to pick the eye.
Player B roof blocks (draw cut defense) and strikes yokomen to start the sequence again.
Processing this information, I have to translate to Aikido in order to work on it in class: I hide the drill. While I did break it down in segments to show the stops, Aikido plays only the line. The entire drill is a ki-no-nagare flow from gyaku-hanmi to ai-hanmi katate dori ikkyo. The kali breaks the flowing line to its constituent target points, and adds the slightly unfamiliar rhythm. At first chasing the yokomen hand (follow from the outside line rather that intercept on the inner), but in ki-no-nagare, even that is gyaku-hanmi katate dori tenkan to feed back to ai-hanmi. The lines are universal. Connect the points in the kali and you have contouring, de-emphasize the bunkai targeting, emphasize the connected energetic flow and we are back to Aikido.
Any use of the knife in reverse grip is the same line as an elbow strike.
Think on these connections.
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10/12/19 – 10/13/19 Keating Hellbows and Drawpoint Method Seminar
Brian Chilton’s Notes and Observations
Hubud Lubud is the foundational exercise. One must know Hubud to progress.
Angles of Attack –
Inosanto/LaCoste Angles – these vary from school to school but the first 5 are
relevant here.
For Keating, there are three ranges to practice – Long,
medium, short. Each range will slightly
alter Hubud Lubud.
Long range
(Panantukan boxing range) – Assume right hand attack.
Uke uses an Angle 5 punch.
Nage raises her left hand as if to take a drink
from a cup and parries the strike with her palm.
Her right hand comes up into the Ʌ created by the connection of her left-handed parry and his Angle 5 attack. Notice she will need to shift her center to face the training wall for her to escape his check hand.
She raises her right hand into the Ʌ and cuts
down onto his right forearm, allowing her to trap his right arm with her right
palm.
She removes her right palm and replaces it
with her left palm.
She is now Uke and punches Angle 5 with her
right hand and the drill repeats.
Medium range
– the attack becomes and Angle 1.
Keating assumes the attack is like a hammer-fist and is crashing down
onto Nage. As a result, Nage must
receive this energy differently. See
below.
Uke attacks with his/her right using an Angle 1
attack
Nage raises his left hand as if to feel his
forehead with the back of his left hand.
Old timers at Portland Aikikai will remember Mike Cavalle teaching the
southern Belle “Oh My” response.
*This response is dangerous as the inside
of the wrist is exposed to a knife attack.
An alternative response is blocking out
with the backside of the left arm as if one had a shield.
From here, the drill is identical to Long range
where Nage raises his right hand into the Ʌ and cuts down. See steps 4-6 in Long range except change the
final attack to an Angle 1.
Short range
is grappling range or Dumog = elbows range.
The attack is an Angle 1 Elbow attack.
Uke attacks with his right elbow using an Angle
1 attack
Nage can receive or meet the attack like in
Medium range with the Oh My technique. It is imperative to cup Uke’s
elbow. If possible, meet the attack at
the pinnacle as if it were a sword at the peak of its arc. This will cause Nage to be under the elbow
and Nage will gain superior leverage.
But this is a drill so once the elbow is cupped, perform the rest of
Hubud like Long and Medium ranges.
Nage’s right hand comes up into the Ʌ
created by the connection of the left-handed cupping to the Angle 1 elbow.
Nage’s
cut is now just above Uke’s elbow but the remainder of the drill is the
same. Nage will become uke and deliver
and Angle 1 elbow.
**An Alternative response and the one Keating showed was to receive Uke’s right Angle 1
elbow with your own LEFT Angle 1 elbow.
Nage becomes Uke immediately and with his left Angle 1 elbow. The drill would become a left, right, left,
right circular, alternative elbow drill.
Other insights
around Hubud Lubud – Hubud is Heaven Six. Hubud Lubud combinations are
infinitesimal. Hubud Lubud allows for
maximum reps in a very short period of time.
Hubud Lubud is Yin and Yang in motion.
Swithching sides
in Hubud Lubud – Keating went off in the only way James Keating can
about being able to do everything from both sides. We have a right side and a left side. Switching sides smoothly in Hubud Lubud is
challenging for many. Keating’s solution
is to utilize the “Wiping Down method”.
Too many of today’s students will not have seen the Karate
Kid from the 80s. Make it a homework
assignment because the Wax on, Wax off, Paint the Fence and Sand the Deck
motions are great teaching aids.
Keating’s wiping motion is “Sand the Deck” from the Karate Kid. It is a circular outside in, clockwise
motion.
For switching in Hubud Lubud, Nage receives whatever angle
of attack and “wipes down” – a circular outside in, from 12 o’clock to 6
o’clock motion. Nage will do this twice
and then attack as Uke.
Uke attacks Angle 1 with right hand.
Nage wipes with left hand in and outside in,
clockwise motion, 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock.
Uke attacks again with the left hand from Angle
1.
Nage wipes again but with the right hand doing
so in an outside in, down, clockwise motion.
NOW, NAGE becomes Uke and attacks with the left
hand Angle 1. The switch has occurred
and Hubud Lubud continues.
5 Part Elbow
Shields – this kata is a series of movements to allow one to study
movement from an elbow perspective.
Keating’s Elbow Shields can be broken down into horizontal,
vertical and circular. All of his
shields have a strike attached to them.
The shields are performed from the same side for all versions. They can be, and should be, done from both
sides.
Horizontal – The movement is palm
parallel to the ground, the elbow is also parallel to the ground and travels
from the shoulder to sternum. The strike
is then a back fist the nose.
Vertical – From the back fist, drop your elbow straight down deep into the hip and explode up with a punch that finishes palm down (your punch from the hip begins palm up). Raise the right arm to shield the side of your head.
Bring the shield around the head and strike
down at an angle 1 on the nose with a monkey paw strike.
Circular – From the previous strike, drop
the right elbow down and rotate the elbow across the front of the chest. The right thumb is pointing to the
right. Extend and strike with a back
fist. Then, rotate the elbow out and above your right hear and strike
down. These moves encompass the shield
of paiyon and roofing actions.
Elbow Drills –
Horizontal drill – Uke throws a right handed
punch like a hook. Nage, with his left
hand, parries the strike into his right, horizontal elbow. Uke throws from the other side and Nage, with
his right hand, parries the strike into his left horizontal elbow.
Vertical drill – Uke throws a straight
right-handed punch or jab. Nage, with his left hand, parries the strike into an
ascending, right, vertical elbow. Repeat
from the other side.
Hammer and Anvil drill – this is a flow drill
that gives both players the chance to block elbow strikes and to hit using the
hammer and anvil. Hammer and anvil is
placing one hand behind a target and hitting the target with the elbow (or
fist) from the opposite hand. The target
for this drill is the bicep.
Start – Uke places the left hand behind Nage’s
right tricep. Uke delivers an Angle 1
elbow strike straight down on Nage’s bicep (softly, don’t kill your
partner).
After delivering the strike, Uke with the right
hand delivers a back fist to Nage’s face.
Nage’s right arm was just hit. With the left hand, block Uke’s strike to the
face.
This creates and X, like Hubud, reach under and
grab Uke’s right tricep just above the elbow with the right hand.
Pull the tricep toward you. Put the left hand behind Uke’s tricep and
strike down with your right elbow.
Other elbow Drills
-One person just feeds and blocks, the other does hammer and
anvil.
-One person covers, the other hubuds and hammer and anvils
with strike. It’s a walk up the arm –
horizontal elbow and strike.
-Incorporate wipes down to an elbow, explore different
patterns and strikes.
Entry – Salute
System – Larry Hartzell
Uke punches with right hand.
Nage parries with the left and steps left off
the line to the outside while giving a salute with the right hand (elbow
shield).
Nage now turns to the right and gives a salute
with the left hand. This vertical elbow
strike Uke on the way up. On the way
down, it clears Uke’s right arm and opens Uke’s center line.
Nage can now hit again with the right elbow.
This is just and entry – a road map. There are many combinations one can use
here. Explore all options. Left and right side.
Cover and Slash
– Icepick (reverse) grip vs Hammer (standard) grip.
One Player in standard grip feeds the 6 and 7 attacks. The motion follows a “U” pattern. At the top of each side of the “U”, this
player pokes. The finger nails are
always toward the sky.
The other player in reverse grip will be covering and slashing. CRITICAL – this player must start and finish at the bottom of the U after every repetition.
Assuming Player one is feeding right handed 6’s and 7’s,
Player 2 will check the hand and slash the forearm or Player 2 will check the
forearm and slash the hand.
-Player two to remove knife and try with Elbows.
Random Stick Play
– Exploring Elbow Disarm opportunites – there are many.
Each Player with a stick – Angle 1 attack, Angle 2
attack, – then number 3 elbow shield to disarm. – Step back.
*This next section begins blending the Draw Point method with
elbow knowledge. Elbows motions are the
same as reverse knife grip.*
Reverse Knife Play Drills – 4 corners introduction – Box Drill. The X’s represent targets to strike with the knife in reverse grip.
-When the strikes are
high, the checking hand fingers needs to be high-to-the-sky
-When attacks are
low, the checking hand fingers are down to the ground.
-Explore this with high-line
hubud and low -ine Hubud.
Rotary Knife – this
is like hitting a punching bag but one hand is checking and the other has the
knife in reverse grip. The knife flicks
out at the other player’s eyes. Use eye
protection.
Using a stick allows for Punho (butt-end of the stick) practice. The stick goes under the arm and the rotary motion causes the sick to go back and forth under the arm. If it comes out, the range is medium range. It should stay under for short range.
Reverse-grip knife – Keating teaches the blade edge should be toward you as this creates a way to trap between your forearm and the blade. It also prevents one from cutting themselves in upper and downward slash motions.
Palasut Drill
– Reverse against Standard grip. Same U
shape as Cover and Slash drill.
Uke in standard grip, delivers an Angle 1
attack.
Nage in reverse grip, intercepts and passes Uke to
the right side and lifts Uke’s knife arm (lift the arm above the elbow on the
tricep side.
Nage attacks the Uke’s kidney.
Uke must step back to escape
Punyo Sumbrad on YouTube as well.
____________________________
[1] Ossified insofar as the form takes precedence over substance and legally you can carry a knife every day, but not a katana.
[3] The Live Hand is the non-weapon hand and is used to interpose and defend against your opponent’s weapon hand. Review Pete Kautz’s summary on training the live hand.
Saturday morning practice at 0830 – it’s not for snowflakes.
Shomen-uchi was the attack which of course could be a punch to the face. Don’t get stuck in linguistic ruts that occlude your ability to see the similarities.
The warm up was suwariwaza with the basic dexterity familiarization: ikkyo, nikkyo, sankyo, yonkyo in a linked (kanren) flow sequence. From there we added a few variations and refinements (henka): nikkyo with a Mulligan-sensei “snake” application, nikkyo using the head as the driver; sankyo done on the vertical axis rather than the horizontal plane; and yonkyo done with both the ligament press and the nerve press.
Moving to standing work through discrete responses: ikkyo, flow under kokyu nage, leading to the sequence of ikkyo – (chin strike) kokyu nage – (hip snap supported strike) udekime nage – (uke protects elbow so) shihonage. This is a set based upon chain-logic and proper targeting. Hit each break or strike with emphasis to find the stopping points that are the nodes in a ki-no-nagare presentation. Ki-no-nagare hides the budo, emphasizing the theatrical elegance to the detriment of a deeper understanding.
Deeper understanding: Shomen – irimi nage direct
The kihon presentation is ai-hanmi front hand intercept (R/R, L/L), allowing the back hand control of the neck.
Aikido uses this two hand pattern as a blending – the lead hand finds the oncoming strike, sticks to it so as to allow the nage’s body to enter, the back hand to control uke’s neck, then for nage to pivot snappily to blend parallel to uke (or Yamada-sensei style simply keep driving forward). Both presentations only represent a portion of the possibilities of the encounter.
Weaponize the lead hand, or simply use a bill-sao approach and irimi-nage direct is a one-hand response. The intercepting hand receives, redirects and thrusts (throws) all in one beat. This is a dagger response to the outside line.
Kokyu-ho is the inverse of irimi-nage done on a shallow approach. Irimi-nage is a closing (nage’s hands come from the outside to the center) whereas kokyu-ho is an opening (nage’s hands come from the center to extension). The shallow approach means nage’s body position is in front of uke’s lead hip whereas in irimi-nage, nage is behind uke’s lead leg. Stop thinking of these as discrete techniques.
Uke strikes sincerely and nage manages to slip past, then irmi-nage is a viable response. However, if the stike is less committed, or if nage is late and cannot slip past, then controlling uke’s weapon is imperative. Therefore, kokyu-ho.
Kokyu-ho with sword is a cut-counter-cut. Kokyu-ho with a jo is an arm-bar neck-throw (break). Empty-handed its all about how nage presents his shyuto. Both are possible when you are on uke’s outside line.
The inside line response is tenchi-nage.
From shomen-uchi, the kihon presentation is RvR/LvL lead hand cross-block, hand transition to clear the line (i.e., back hand then clears uke’s strike hand) and strike. The strike is done with the shyuto to represent an umbrella shield to counter-yokomen.
find the notch
However, the more direct approach is closer to a prayer entry where nage receives the strike with the forward hand (LvR/RvL) and the back hand thrusts to the suprasternal notch. With a dagger this is a straight thrust. Empty handed, your back hand is a spear-hand strike followed by a press straight down fingers behind the sternum. Attack the weak points and exploit human frailty.
Related to the suprasternal notch press is attacking the brachial nerve plexus behind the clavicle
where to find the plexus
Enter irimi-nage and slip fully behind to move from a rear naked choke to come under both arms as if for a full Nelson. You must still control uke’s head (so place yours against it to isolate range of motion), but your hands now move from the back of uke’s neck to grasp both clavicles and dig your fingers into the brachial plexus on each side simultaneously.
Full Nelson (Mandela)
Call them what you will – variations, applications, tricks – they are the pragmatic foundations that back-up your skills – this is how it works when you don’t have a complicit uke with dojo conditioning.
These applications are easy to understand when you have weapons in your hand. The form does not change when you do not have a weapon – you must make your hands into weapons. No that isn’t a metaphor.
Protective Arts 