In a prior article, I explained ikkyo and irimi-nage arise from the moment of contested weapon access—the effort to draw and the counter-effort to suppress. The last Saturday weapons class continued that line of thought, focusing more precisely on ikkyo and nikkyo as a means to draw the katana in a contested encounter. Protecting theContinue reading “WEAPONS INFORM MOVEMENT”
Tag Archives: timing
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”
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 isContinue reading “LEVELS OF TRAINING”
Protective Arts 