ki-musubi

CHUDAN TSUKI

Tsuki (‘thrust’) in Aikido should replicate a knife thrust. We have focused on the high-line (jodan) first because it was a pedagogical thread from kata-dori, but also because a thrust to the face elicits a strong ‘flinch’ response. It is harder to maintain ‘zanshin‘ when pressed with a high-line attack. This morning we moved downContinue reading “CHUDAN TSUKI”

Linguistically, Japanese sounds exotic, which (like most things in life) is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because a Japanese phrase like ki-musubi forces non-Japanese speakers to pause mentally and to question seriously whether or not we understand the concept. Translated, ki-musubi is ‘to tie ki.’ Now the curse of aContinue reading “KI-MUSUBI”

ROKU NO TACHI (6th Kumitachi)

Monday was a digression from continuing to explore irmi-nage / no ura concept I had been flirting with. Because I was not feeling well and didn’t want to sweat over everyone, I moved back to kimusubi/ the 6th kumitachi. I tried to show both roles independent of each other – as simple kata, then to pairContinue reading “ROKU NO TACHI (6th Kumitachi)”