CHRIS MULLIGAN – FEBRUARY 2020

Chris Mulligan Sensei returned to Portland for his annual February workshop. Friday night was body arts and the guiding principle was to gather power at the center. Simple phraseology; how does one achieve it? The closer one’s hands are to our own body’s center, the more structural and muscular advantage we have. Therefore, Mulligan senseiContinue reading “CHRIS MULLIGAN – FEBRUARY 2020”

RYOTEDORI – KIHON

At first glance ryotedori is an inane attack. Two hands on two hands: Who does that?[1] Contextually I have presented it as an means of controlling an opponent’s un-drawn sword. Uke approaches the pin nage’s hands to his hips to prevent deployment. Nage learns weapon-retention and countering. This post is a focused exploration but review the broaderContinue reading “RYOTEDORI – KIHON”

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 theContinue reading “RYOTEDORI KOKYU NAGE”