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”
Tag Archives: ooda
SWORD TAKE-AWAY: Tachidori
Testing for shodan requires demonstrating weapon take-away techniques against tanto, jo, and bokken. Simplify the phrasing and the concept we are discussing is disarms. Here is the secret: all empty hand techniques in Aikido are disarms. You have been doing nothing but disarms since your first ikkyo omote. Aikido is not an unarmed art. IContinue reading “SWORD TAKE-AWAY: Tachidori”
LOGIC CHAINS – Ikkyo to Kotegaeshi
The flow of any given technique can be broken into constituent elements that are linked in logic chain: an if-then series based on the openings and opportunities. Another way to understand the logic of a technique is to ask – what if this doesn’t work? What is the backup plan? As an example – hereContinue reading “LOGIC CHAINS – Ikkyo to Kotegaeshi”
Protective Arts 