Protective Arts

LEVELS OF TRAINING

Traditional pedagogical transmission reinforces hierarchical structure:

Shoden (初傳, beginning teachings)

Chuden (中傳, intermediate)

Okuden (奥傳, hidden or inner teachings)

… and then there is Kuden – the secrets taught “mouth to ear.”

This is a good way to ensure structured progression (kyu -> dan) and maintain social gradients (kohai -> sempai). Mass production and replicable standards is the goal.

There is also a winnowing effect – not everyone gets to learn the ‘higher level’ techniques – not everyone has the same physical ability – not everyone has the same perspicacity.

A coaching model is more familial, wherein the transmission is all Kuden all the time. One tries to individuate the lesson to the practitioner in order to draw the best performance in that moment. There is also the focus on concept more than discrete technique. By separating techniques into levels, each technique remains discrete. But the ultimate goal is to make connections.

Gyaku-hanmi katate dori ikkyo

Shoden transmission: a RvL static encounter. Nage presents R, uke grasps L. Nage closes with the back foot and delivers atemi L. Uke is destabilized by atemi, allowing nage to grasp uke’s control hand, making the encounter LvL. Nage executes ikkyo. [Kuden clarification would be to enforce the distinction that in gyaku-hanmi, nage’s ikkyo control necessitates uke’s wrist is bent when nage strips it, whereas in ai-hanmi, uke’s hand remains straight.]

Chuden transmission: as in Shoden but nage refines the movement to zone to the outside line after the atemi and adds a ‘camming’ action to connect the flow between the jo-dan atemi and the contra-control of uke’s grasping hand. [Kuden at this point would explicate ‘camming’ vs drawing (a typical point of failure and frustration).]

Okuden transmission: adding flow and kimusubi, the encounter is contextualized. Nage’s thrust is stopped (grasped) to create the RvL set up, but before uke can stop the thrust, nage changes plane, turns the edge out to target uke’s pulse (or femoral depending on uke’s closing speed) whist using the back hand to target uke’s throat and zoning to the flank. Moves that are discrete point to point movements at the shoden transmission now are demonstrated as lines. [Kuden at this level explains that lines are vectors of force. Therefore as uke increases speed, nage still targets the same points (i.e., wrist, leg, throat), but will need to further adjust space to accommodate closing speed. Meaning: when nage can match uke’s speed in true time (sen-no-sen), nage will zone to the outside flank. However if uke closes in superior time, nage will need to ‘blend’ to the inside making the execution more circular.]

The conceptual challenge is that each level is a progressive accretion of information – adding variables, or levels of complexity. But the complexity is not in the response! Meaning the technique is simple. All effective techniques must be simple, otherwise they cannot be effective. Do not add complexity to your responses, it is the circumstances in which techniques are deployed that add complexity. Complexity is environmental and contextual. Who is attacking (big, strong, fast, tentative, committed)? Where are you (crowed room, open area, confined space)? What are the ambient conditions (day, night, wet, dry)? But the technique never really changes. It’s just, punch, zone, counter-grasp for control, and immobilize (pin).

This was the general structure of my last class. I presented gyaku-hanmi-katate-dori-ikkyo omote in a progressive manner to try to visually and physically present the narrative. And, yes, ura was shown as an alternative, but I remain steadfast that there is no ura as a ‘technique’ – rather it is a secondary response to uke’s superior time. Or said crudely, ura is your ‘oh shit’ trained flinch response when you realize that uke was well ahead of your OODA loop.

But once you tenkan to execute ura, the sequence of action returns to the omote presentation. In short, ura buys you time.

And now the true kuden – the deep secret technique:

There is no gyaku-hanmi ikkyo!

It’s all an illusion created by a traditional framework that fractures universal lines to make digestible component movements.

Think on this: gyaku-hanmi is a RvL encounter. Ikkyo as a response is a RvR/LvL control. Review the concept of a matrix. Therefore, the entire technique is to make a RvL become a RvR response. Ikkyo as a technique is by physical necessity a RvR/LvL encounter (ikkyo is makiotoshi) therefore the technique doesn’t change – only your initial relationship to your opponent does. The complexity is in the context. Not in the response.

RYOTEDORI KOKYU NAGE

Suwariwaza ryotedori kokyuho as a means to establish correct tension, indexing and lines of force.

Correct tension. Uke must approach nage with the intention of controlling nage’s arms with force from high to low and nage will receive with equal counter force from low to high. The resulting tension is the starting point, the axis of the encounter. At this point there are two primary means of releasing the tension. First – what I labelled Mulligan sensei‘s approach. The forward hand meets at the elbow and nage shifts bodily to the opposite side with the back hand ready to strike: a flanking action. Once nage establishes this superior position, nage shifts from the hip and toes to drive through uke’s center of mass. The second – Okamoto sensei – will approach more directly with the back hand softening at the elbow to allow greater contact with uke (driving into the sternum as necessary). The first approach dissolves the tension, the second will develop the hara by meeting it more directly.

Indexing. The ryotedori relationship is a L/R and R/L on the inside line. Indexing is a quick reference – i.e., “you have been here before.” Knowing where your hands are in relationship to your opponent’s body is critical to understanding what responses are available.

Lines of force. We flank uke’s center in order to traverse and cut though the initial approach. This means we drive through 90-degrees off the original line of attack.

Move to standing – the technique does not change. The primary reminder is to ensure that you step through with your back leg. (In combat, your front foot has trapped uke’s lead foot and now your back leg will be coming through as a strike.) Stepping through should be as simple as walking. Shizentai, the natural body posture. Once you have shifted off line and disrupted uke’s force with a redirect with both hands, then walk through the space uke occupies.

Then add dynamic movement. Uke could still grasp both hands while in motion, but uke might slip up to (or nage may redirect to) both shoulders. Ryokatatedori moves to ryokatadori. But the technique does not change. Nage’s response is still, slip, flank and drive through.

Change this to yokomen and nothing changes. Your response as nage should be the same. Front hand intercepts, back hand strikes.

Change the attack to shomen and now and a beat: stop-hit cross-hand (RvL, LvR) and then move back to the same response.

Then look deeper still. The front hand that was receiving and setting up the back hand as the strike now is primary. There is no block, the front hand moves directly in and strikes.

“The same response?” In Aikido’s lexicon, we have covered a number of techniques, but only one concept.

In The Five Keys to Kali Master at Arms James A. Keating teaches a simple set of body movements. All of this morning’s class is motion number five. The beauty of the Kali set (kata) is that it provides a very concise formula. That formula shows the principle motions of the upper torso, you are given the “key” or understanding to then “know” any and all movement the human upper torso is capable of making (conceptually). Disguised in this class of kihon Aikido techniques was the exploration of one range of motion of the upper body from the basic Kali set.

Same principle – it’s all applied concept

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Secret bonus – watch Cliff Lenderman on basic knife concepts to discern (a) how ryotedori is a weapon technique (b) how kokyu-nage can be employed.

IKKYO IS MAKIOTOSHI

This morning we started with bokken. Standard shomen cut suburi to free the shoulders, then slide-cut to incorporate footwork (ashi-sabaki). From solo suburi to shomen uchi as a paired exercise.

Shidachi gives gedan no kamai to invite uchidachi to strike.[1] Uchidachi strikes at the available opening: shomen. Shidachi receives with a cross block with a slight forward advance whilst simultaneously lowering to dissipate the force of the strike – absorbing the force with the legs not the arms. Similar to this classic kendo exercise:

ed1bfb22621b82b695b81538f27ab8d6--japanese-culture-japanese-art.jpg — Classic pose – careful using your head as a brace point

Unlike the photo above, shidachi having started from gedan raises the sword one-handed and supports the forward portion of the blade with the flat of the front palm.

Shidachi then executes a makiotoshi by snapping the right hand precipitously down and the left hand helps roll the blade from its flat to edge to traverse uchidachi’s sword (or forearm) and control the center. This is ikkyo.

Ikkyo as a concept is makiotoshi.

But a digression is in order to ensure that the terms are defined. If we understand that Aikido is a metaphor for weapon play (usually weapons are the metaphor), then it should be obvious that ikkyo is really a response in time; a cut, counter-cut. That is, at its most primal, ikkyo is responding to shomen uchi with shomen uchi in time. Done perfectly, uchidachi strikes first, thereby creating an opening that shidachi fills with a counter-shomen which efficiently dispatches the attacker. Brilliant timing, but not much of a ‘technique’ to explore.

Now understand that if shidachi does not time the counter strike perfectly, the resulting encounter will be the cross-block. Shomen meets shomen. Examine our samurai from the banner photo:

If the samurai on the right had better timing, he would have simply avoided the attacker’s shomen and moved off-line (flanking) to counter cut. But he was late and had to receive the strike instead. He is now behind his assailant’s OODA loop! And because our defender has received the assailant’s sword too close to the foible, the attacker might be quick-witted enough to keep sword pressure, ride down and slip his point under the cross block before our defender can dominate. Remember you cannot win by defending! And defending with imperfect technique seals your doom.

To prevail, our defending samurai can makiotoshi immediately or continue to receive as described above and perform makiotoshi with two hands. Ikkyo as a concept instantiated at different elevations (planes) and in two different times.

To emphasize the point, a block with a sword must be done closer to the cross-guard/tsuba – i.e., with the forte/strong portion of the sword. As a visual reminder – the forte is that portion of the blade closest to the cross-guard (tsuba) whereas the foible is (roughly) the last 2/3 of the blade extending to the point.

We need to receive a block forte to forte to ensure proper leverage (think 5th kumitachi) and a good bind on the opponent’s blade. One cannot block with the foible, just re-direct, beat or slip. As I have indicated in other posts, none of this is unique to Japanese arts. Some beautiful applications are found in the manuals of the west. I will continue to blend eastern and western terms when one provides greater specificity.

Translating this analysis to an unarmed presentation, it should now be clear that ikkyo is not a manipulation of the forearm and wrist but rather above the elbow on the humerus. Contact may be made at the foible, but the control is done at the forte. The unarmed presentation is more challenging than the weapons because the arm is articulated: it bends at the wrist, elbow and shoulder. When we train, however, the entirety of the arm is used as if it were a sword, so uke must learn to hold the arm in a constant shape when performing shomen uchi. If uke allows the striking arm to bend at the wrist or elbow when received by nage, the entire structure will collapse and to uke’s detriment because nage should be counter striking (not blocking).

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Only when both players appreciate the need for proper striking form will ikkyo be revealed as a universal application of makiotoshi. Years of training is one way to see this relationship, or study deeply the need to treat all encounters as a weaponized encounters. There are no unarmed techniques in Aikido. Just weapon work without the tools of the trade. Unarmed techniques is a failure in logic: it presumes that you know your assailant is unarmed.

Arikawa sensei disabused me of that assumption when I saw him at end of a class when he was teaching ikkyo, suddenly step into the shomen, perform a gokyo stop-hit, magically pull a hidden tanto from his keikogi and stab uke. Ikkyo as gokyo: There is always a weapon.

Gokyo is ikkyo done on an advancing beat. Ikkyo in true time is makiotoshi. Ikkyo in superior time is kiri-otoshi.

I am illustrating examples and concepts so you can draw connections.

Weapons training is the foundation but it is taught as a supplement. I have never had the courage of my convictions to correct that pedagogical flaw and begin a training cohort starting with weapons. Even this, however, would be nothing more than an experiment in pedagogy. In the end, there should be equal emphasis on both armed and unarmed training, and further, to treat every scenario with the possibility that it involves multiple assailants.

This post tries to make explicit the logic of this morning’s class starting with bokken, moving to unarmed and then connecting the two. Weapon vs weapon, then unarmed vs unarmed. With more time I would have shown the weapon vs unarmed to complete the presentation.

For good measure, although I emphasized the kimusubi (connected flow) of Aikido’s rhythm, I interjected staccato beats and nerve disruptions, limb and bone destructions. Kuden to be kept alive.

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[1] Training nomenclature. In Japanese arts, the uchidachi is typically the one who initiates the violent action and invariably is the one who dies in the encounter. There is a certain irony in that Aikido will usually present kumi-ken (and kumi-jō) with nage taking the role of shidachi (the role that ‘wins’) to demonstrate technique. This is ironic because in more traditional arts, uchidachi is the senior student who controls the pace of the encounter in order to help shidachi learn to react in the concise and structured environment of the form. In FMA, the role of uchidachi is the ‘feeder.’ Uchidachi should verify shidachi’s form, body mechanics and zanshin before moving to the next sequential step.

With this in mind, uchidachi must perform their portion of the kata with precision and clear intent in order to make the training sequence useful. Hence the senior taking the default role of uchidachi: because the role of the feeder requires greater skill (controlling shidachi’s pacing) and should be embraced without a sense of competition. A true uchidachi is ready to assist the shidachi without any other intent. This is expressed through the uchidachi performing their strikes cleanly and purposefully, allowing shidachi a proper training environment.