With an influx of new students I have presented contact exercises. In each of the last two classes there was only one technique taught in each. Technique is a secondary expression that derives from feeling connection. Aikido is frustrating to learn because it is an energetic art – one must not only feel the internal movements but also the connection to the external other.
Therefore: contact exercises.
Gyaku-hanmi katate dori is the introductory contact exercise because it controls for the variables of distance (maai) and time (rate of approach). Beginning students need to become familiar with the proper grab, understanding pressure, maintaining contact, moving from an athletic stance (i.e., combative stance, lowered center, knees bent and feet fluid). These are primarily internal exercises – understand and command your own body before attempting to manipulate another’s.
Good grab – softly lowered knees, balance maintained, forward pressure but no over-commitment
Senior students are the ‘feeders’ of information to give context where they draw out the best responses from the new uke – revisit the post on testing and consider the concept of grace(fullness).
Start at the beginning: establish the grab. Ultimately uke is learning how to grasp a weaponized hand so the contact and control is important. Uke must learn to keep a full palm pressure and emphasize wrapping the lower three fingers around nage’s wrist – teach to grip a katana and de-emphasize the index-finger and thumb contact. Proper grip will facilitate uke feeling how to follow. Please remember that the martial purpose of all hand grabs is for nage to learn how to perform a strip – the effective and forceful extraction of the grabbed hand. The purpose for uke is to learn to seize and control a moving and weaponized hand. Therefore do not compromise or diminish the importance of learning and continuing to practice katatedori. A solid connection will allow both players to work balance and angles (feeling the ‘hara‘) with subtle changes in pressure, shifting weight, rotational movements at the point of contact – but all these lessons vanish as soon as uke slacks the grip.
Nage as feeder should move at a rate that encourages uke to keep contact (despite the fact that nage’s goal is to break it…). When nage moves uke’s constant contact should engender a ‘natural’ movement that keeps uke ‘free’ to respond to new stimuli. Most often we are overcoming a beginner’s reflexive ‘rootedness.’ As people are encouraged to grab firmly that often causes a reflexive tightening of major muscle groups. We are teaching and learning to isolate and concentrate specific muscle groups (Prana-bindu) without impeding the overall ability to move. This is not an easy skill.
As nage, the beginner must learn to surrender the point of contact to uke. That point – the axis of the encounter – becomes the ‘ball joint’ around which nage moves. The first order of learning as nage is to move freely around the grasped point. To accomplish this nage must release tension in all other points of his body while keeping a firm contact with uke’s initial grab. As nage progresses in skill one learns to ‘lead’ uke by their contact, but that is a higher skill. Nage must first learn how to move freely around a point of impingement (the axis of the encounter) because if nage cannot control his own body, learning to control another’s is futile.
So advanced self-control: as nage start from a distance then advance to place your hand in uke’s oncoming grasp. Once the point of contact is established – allow your hand to remain and then continue your advance in and past the grasp – your hand ‘floats’ whilst you perform irimi-tenkan. The goal is to continue to move, not disrupt uke’s intention and provide as little sensory information beyond the forced contact at the wrist. This exercise prioritizes timing and connection (kimusubi) over control (tanren).
Once these concepts are transmitted – then back to tanren control. From the initial grab explore the vertical plane without moving the horizontal axis of the encounter. (This should also be done morote-dori as a development exercise, but that is for a future post.) Using only the one point of contact to control the encounter, drive uke’s weight down. This will require a level of tension that carries from nage’s body through the connection into uke’s. It sounds far more mystical than it is in practice. Vague terms like ‘connection,’ ‘hara,’ ‘kimusubi,’ are short-hand labels, but the actual learning and effects are very pragmatic explorations of vectors of force, changes in muscular tension, shifting of balance and position relative to your partner: all of which must be experienced to develop and learn fully. Keep training!
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow is a good short-hand for what we should experience in moments of optimal performance. Moving-zen where the self dissolves. Aikido as an art aspires to the demonstration of effortless power – a visual presentation of flow. Resist teaching to the goal rather than to the logic of the necessary effects, otherwise empty choreography will result. This is a grave danger. First and foremost this is, and should remain, a martial art. Flow results from function and expert execution. Flow is not a goal per se but the consequence of dedicated practice.
However, in order to experience a fluid continuity – a progression of discrete iterations presented sequentially – we will explore the basic numerical progression of Aikido’s kihon: Ikkyo through yonkyo (#1 to #4). The very prosaic numbering implies a sequence, each technique is the back up plan for the other in a logical chain.
Ikkyo to Nikkyo (#1 to #2)
First technique – ikkyo – is a primary move and has been discussed in earlier posts. But as a reminder, it is first and foremost an interception. The emphasis on the interception needs be the triceps brachii and humerus. Because the triceps are used primarily for extension of the elbow, controlling the joint above the elbow is the key to locking the upper body and controlling a long weapon. However, the second hand must maintain contact at the wrist (and often it is the wrist-to-wrist contact that appears primary to beginners), but the contact is required because the biceps facilitate elbow contraction – allowing uke to escape ikkyo. Wing Chun practitioners may recognize this as a lap sao exercise.[1]
As uke retracts from the wrist-to-wrist contact, nage needs follow the action and keep contact. Resist the idea of maintaining ikkyo by grasping uke’s hand or forearm – this is a flow exercise and uke is feeding nage the sensory information to follow and inform the action. By maintaining connection, nage will take nikkyo. Often nikkyo is demonstrated by nage ‘rolling’ his wrist around uke’s hand. This is a beginner’s error.
Note the positional relationship – it isn’t “kihon” [2]
When uke attempts to escape ikkyo, nage should slide his forearm toward uke while maintaining contact then with the back of the thumb acting as the trap (not a fook sao but rather silat #3) to capture uke’s thumb and then execute nikkyo. Nage’s arm pistons along the center line to execute the trap. Please note the hand controlling the humerus has never left uke’s triceps.
Nikkyo to Sankyo (#2 to #3)
Before nage can perfect the nikkyo lock – uke slides his thumb down nage’s chest to escape. Again, nage must forget the original goal of nikkyo and smoothly transition hands to snatch uke’s fleeing hand. This necessitates nage taking the hand that was controlling uke’s triceps, acting as the bracing hand in nikkyo, to then become the new control hand for sankyo.
Sankyo used to be a set up for atemi – not an end to itself
don’t leave fingers extended
Sankyo is a helical spiral. Starting with the small bones, nage must compress the fingers/metacarpal bones, then corkscrew them to lock the wrist, and once the hand/wrist lock is perfected, control the forearm bones to the elbow. Once the elbow is controlled then the shoulder and body can be controlled. It must be done sequentially because any failure to lock uke’s range of motion will allow a counter. As a training exercise by keeping your index finger extended it will show the direction your blade should flow – first bill sao to the eyes, then a quick rotation down to sever the femoral artery. If you are not properly targeting anatomy you aren’t doing a martial art. I would suggest however, that the proper lock in sankyo is a skeletal lock and not just a wrist lock – the original set up appears to have been a set up for a more devastating atemi (photo above) but then was debased into a wrist lock that may be painful to the uninitiated, but would not be a ‘master play’ since it will fail to immobilize the opponent’s full range of motion.
Elbow is free to move – beware!
Trained opponents will flow the elbow as a counter to this type of partial impingement. But when done properly, the helical lock will allow nage to control uke’s entire body and then by focusing on using uke’s elbow as a sword to cut down as if severing the leg in a fluid motion. Without the full body lock this sankyo is impossible to execute. In the photo below note that nage is ready to use uke’s arm as a sword – in this instance one-handed. Practice this! A swordsman will have the hand strength necessary to execute this technique – do not allow other’s to judge you by their own dismal standards and abilities. Should you need to, grasp uke with both hands as if in hasso and cut.
sword cut
Sankyo to Yonkyo (#3 to #4)
However, the flow sequence presumes uke drops his elbow before nage can perfect the lock. So, as uke drops the elbow and breaks nage’s grasp, once again nage must forget his original goal but continue to maintain contact with uke’s forearm in order to transition his hands to the yonkyo position.
This requires deft hand control and a fluid connection – uke must feel free to move so nage must hold firmly but, as was described to me, like holding a bird in your hands – you cannot let it go, but you do not want to crush it either. In the flow exercise we are exploring the contact is primary, but to execute the technique one needs to hit either the radial nerve (nerve impingement – pain control) or the flexor tendons (muscle control). Depending on the opponent’s size, strength, pain threshold, etc., nage must be adaptive in which manner yonkyo should be executed. But the terminal pin is typically done as shown below.
Note that the position will lead to a belly down position and uke could pull his arm back toward his own center – thereby starting the sequence over: nage can counter the escape with ikkyo. And thus the sequence begins anew.
ouroboros
Do not mistake this as a kaeshiwaza or henkawaza training – primarily it is a flow exercise to keep nage and uke connected. It is a sensitivity drill which should also teaches reference points – to allow both uke and nage sense when kaeshi– or henka-waza is possible. For that too implies an ouroboros regenerative cycle: kaeshi forces henka leading to kaeshi …
[I did not demonstrate in class, but one could also move from yonkyo to gokyo and gokyo to rokyo and then rokyo back to ikkyo.]
_________________________
[1] For Wing Chun terminology see >here< which is also copied below to ensure that the content is available
Bil Sao
From a front stance, Bil Sao (finger thrusting arm) thrusts straight out from your center. Bil Sao in application is applied directly out of your center or central-line and is used for filling space, creating an angle of deflection, attacking, or simultaneous deflection and attack.
Bong Sao
Bong Sao (raised elbow arm) from a front stance. Open your fist and move the palm, facing up, into the center. Stop when your wrist is in your center-line, then raise the elbow up to the level of the shoulder; the palm and forearm will rotate out. This hand position creates an angle of deflection and can be used to fill upper and middle zones. In addition, bong sao is an intricate part of the kan sao and quan sao positions.
Fook Sao
Fook Sao (hooking hand arm) extends from the center with the hand curled down and the fingertips together, similar to a bird’s beak. Focus more on your elbow moving in toward the center than on your hand going out. With the position of the wrist and the forearm, Fook Sao creates a tunnel for redirection and deflection.
Fut Sao
Fut Sao (outward palm arm) sweeps directly out from the center of the body. The nature of fut sao is to rise outward and upward. To show complete range of movement of the fut sao hand position, we are going to start with the tan sao position. Fut sao can also be applied to the side, as seen in the 4th section of the sil lum tao. This use of the fut sao is for deflection and attack.
Gum Sao
Gum Sao (jamming arm) is a strike-like jamming motion applied at an angle, which is great for stopping rising attacks like kicks and upper cuts. The work area of the hand is the side of the palm.
Huen Sao
Open your hand and rotate your palm in a circular motion inward at the wrist, completing a circle. In our forms, huen sao (circling hand arm) rotates inward. This rotation of the wrist can move your positioning to the inside out or the outside in. In application, the key is to keep contact with the limb that you are moving around and keeping the rotation in your central-line.
Jut Sao
Jut Sao (snapping arm) is performed with the hand extended out in the center-line. The fingers are pointed downward, with the folded thumb knuckle pointing up. The wrist then snaps down. This is not a physical move. It is a Qi strike or deflection. When practicing, picture your hand as a puppet with someone tugging down on your string. In application, this is a simple movement done in a small range up and down or side to side.
Kan Sao
This hand position is a combination of tan sao (high) and fut sao (low). Tan sao should rise out and fut sao should sweep out of the center simultaneously. This combination can be used to fill space in multiple zones. In addition, pak sao can be used in substitution for tan sao in the high position.
Lan Sao
In a front stance, the arm moves inward. The wrist will stop in the center. Remember that the arm does not form a complete 90º angle so that the hand position does not collapse. Lan sao, as in all Wing Chun hand positions, has multiple uses. The Wing Chun practitioner fills space and creates an angle of deflection that in addition can be used as a stripping motion.
Lop Sao
This is not a grab. It is a thumbless contact grip used to feel and redirect movement. The elbow should remain relaxed and down.
Pak Sao
Pak Sao comes directly out of the center of the body. It is used to fill space and create an angle of deflection. In practice exercises, the contact point is on the side of the palm, below the little finger. In application, the contact may vary from the side of the palm to the lower mid-point of the lateral side of the forearm.
Quan Sao
This hand position is a combination of tan sao (high) and bong sao (low). This combination can be used to fill space in multiple zones. In addition, pak sao can be used in substitution for tan sao in the high position.
Tan Sao
From your side, open your palm and move it up and out of your center as if it is moving on an invisible track up a mountain. Your elbow should be a fist-and-a-half away from the body. Placing your fist on your chest and extending your thumb will give you this representation.
Tie Sao
Tie Sao extends out from the center of the body, around the level of your waist, and then rises up to the level of your nose. Your fingertips should be together, similar to the fook sao hand position. This is one of the few long bridging techniques in the Wing Chun system. Moving an extended arm such as gum sao to a raised arm position like tie sao would be an example of long bridging.
Tut Sao
Tut Sao works off of a contact point. By sliding down one’s arm, you will take the bridge right to the opponent.
Wu Sao
Wu Sao, or the rear hand, is the protecting or covering hand in attack or defense.
[2] I recall Chiba Sensei telling the story that O’Sensei changed his positional stance because a judoka once nearly swept his lead leg when doing nikkyo in this manner. New information informing technique and execution. This single photo serves to admonish the astute: the moment you think you know something coincides with the moment you cease to learn. Find out how to make it work – not why it won’t.
George Orwell advised against using any metaphor you were used to seeing in print – so rather than ‘like moths to a flame,’ Orwell suggested, ‘like bluebottles to a dead cat.’ His contention was that reflexive writing betrays non-critical evaluation: Poor habits of thinking when critical and sober reflection is required.
So it is with any art. As we grow in experience, certain phrases, patterns and movements become automatic – reflexive. Sometimes this is the goal: we seek to ingrain a patterned response because it is faster than a deliberative one. The reminder I take from Orwell is that training for a proper reflexive response is dramatically different from training reflexively. Shoshin – beginner’s mind is an admonishment to question constantly, to not allow what you know to blind you to the possibility there is more there than you think.[1]
Makiotoshi 巻き落とし, meaning “twist down” is an essential concept – and once understood as a concept rather than as an isolated technique – its power will manifest.
In our dojo, the most obvious exemplar of makiotoshi is the jo technique wherein a yokomen strike is received in a cross block and then the jyo is snapped down. If you need a reminder >here< but the hand that needs attention is the back hand. The back hand drives the response and makes the conical entry that provides the energy for the technique.
Then look at the empty hand presentation. Perform the action off the Okamoto-style stop-hit: stay on the line and receive uke’s strike. The back hand will receive like the bokken – while the front hand threatens uke’s trachea. This is a developmental exercise not a technical expression yet. We stop the strike only to develop the timing of the capture. The next step will be a makiotoshi snap of the back hand down to feed uke’s hand to the front hand at the low line: a set up for shihonage.
This is putting an energetic response into play. Rather than rely on kimusubi (i.e., the ushiro-tenkan absorbing action of yokomen-uchi shihonage) we are ‘snatching’ the attack to sharply feed the opponent’s hand to the low line where your free hand closes the trap and the hips drive the action. But it must start with the hand.
Just like with the jyo, bokken, whatever the weapon – the weapon must move first on the attack: weapon, hand, body, feet. The empty hand variant should match the weapon sequencing.
When confronting a blade held in reverse grip, the makiotoshi movement becomes a quick strip disarm.
At its essence, the base physiology, the movement is nothing more than turning a door-knob. It should be that ‘natural’ when you recognize that you have been training this motion since you were a toddler. You can parse it more, refine, it and study it (and you should) but in its essence makiotoshi is nothing more than rotating your forearm clockwise – initiating with the shyuto and terminating at your elbow. Change the plane – with elbow and forearm perpendicular to the earth or raise it parallel, the motion does not change, just the positional relationship.
Once you recognize the movement, then study the converse rotation. The counter clockwise rotation is the jodan uke(upward) and uchi uke block inkarate.
Clockwise – inward – rotation is used to capture.[2]
Counter clockwise – outward – rotation is used to deflect.
Start to see the universal motions. They are universal because the human range of motion is delimited by physiology. These motions are ubiquitous, you just need to see them with a beginner’s mind. The patterns of motion can be as wondrous and common as diamonds falling like rain.
_________________________________
[1] Chiba sensei explained shoshin:
The character sho means first or beginning. The character shin means mind, spirit or attitude. The two together have been translated as “beginner’s mind” and indicate the mind (spirit or attitude) of a complete beginner when starting Budo training. This is marked by modesty, meekness, sincerity, purity and a thirst to seek the path.
[2] If you need a traditional Aikido presentation watch O’Sensei >here< at about 3:52 and study how his hands move in the shin-kokyu exercise
Protective Arts 