Deshi Assignment

Read the book "Mastery" by George Leonard. Post reflections.

Deshi Assignment: Half Moon Ukemi

Explore the anatomy of half moon pose and how it relates to the ukemi for ikkyo and iriminage.

http://www.yogajournal.com/article/beginners/half-moon-pose-2/
http://rasayogacafe.blogspot.com/2013/10/ardha-chandrasana-half-moon-pose-anatomy.html

Deshi Assignment: 8 count bokken kata

8-count bokken kata and the techniques they correspond to.

Deshi Assignment: Your Foundation

Ikkyo thru Rokkyo from every attack.

Training Principles in Cat Stevens' Lyrics

For this week's deshi assignment, we were asked to find song lyrics that reflect some common themes in Aikido practice.

Song lyrics are immense in scope, so I decided to research Aikido themes that were reflected strictly within Cat Stevens' lyrics. I picked Cat because I was a kid with 5 older sisters in the 1970s. I still remember how sad my sister Charlene was when he decided to stop releasing music.

After each set of lyrics I've added a short explanation. I hope these are interesting for you.

from Sitting: 

Life is like a maze of doors
And they all open from the side you're on
Just keep on pushing hard, boy
Try as you may
You're going to wind up where you started from...
You're going to wind up where you started from.

I like these stanzas because they capture the notion that you cannot move your training or learning forward without being willing to open yourself, mentally and physically.

from Don't Be Shy: 

Don't wear fear
Or nobody will know you're there
Just lift your head, and let your feelings out instead
And don't be shy, just let your feeling roll on by
On by, on by...

I think of randori when I read or hear these lyrics. In the song, Cat Stevens repeats the last few words over and over, about a dozen times. You can imagine a group of ukes flying away from a whirling nage.

from Can't Keep It In: 

No I can't keep it in
I can't keep it in, I've gotta let it out
I've got to show the world
World's got to know
Know of the love
Love that lies low

I have occasionally been told that I smile too much when practicing, but I can show you picture after picture of O-Sensei smiling on the mat. There is always joy in Aikido, and the world's gotta know.

from Into White:

I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice
Tables of paper wood, windows of light
And everything emptying into white

When I started in our deshi program, I was asked to do at least one hour a week of my own practice. It could be mediation, writing, calligraphy... anything like that. It seemed hard to get that one hour in back then. Now, almost two years later, I practice yoga, meditate, and write many hours each week. You build your house from a lot of materials.

from Drywood:

Like drywood takes to fire, the truth will come to you
Like streams that seek the ocean, they will find ways through
Like morning meets the night's stars, my love will guide the way
It's time to wipe your eyes not, and awake

These words remind me of the idea that all movement in Aikido is natural and authentic. If you are true to that concept, and patient, you will find a way through.

from The Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head:

As years went by the boy grew high
And the village looked on in awe
They'd never seen anything like the boy
with the moon and star before

And people would ride from far and wide
Just to seek the word he spread
"I'll tell you everything I've learned,"
And "Love" is all he said.

These stanzas give an image of a miraculous boy in complete harmony with the himself and the world around him. The boy didn't need to practice to attain this, but I do.

Training Principles, in my words

Our assignment this week is to rewrite O Sensei's "Training Principles" in our own words.

Training Principles, by Morihei Ueshiba:

1. Aikido decides life and death in a single strike, so students must carefully follow the instructor's teaching and not compete to see who is the strongest. 
2. Aikido is the way that teaches how one can deal with several enemies. Students must train themselves to be alert not just to the front but to all sides and the back. 
3. Training should always be conducted in a pleasant and joyful atmosphere. 
4. The instructor teaches only one small aspect of the art. Its versatile applications must be discovered by each student through incessant practice and training. 
5. In daily practice first begin by moving your body and then progress to more intensive practice. Never force anything unnaturally or unreasonably. If this rule is followed, then even elderly people will not hurt themselves and they can train in a pleasant and joyful atmosphere. 
6. The purpose of Aikido is to train mind and body and to produce sincere, earnest people. Since all the techniques are to be transmitted person-to-person, do not randomly reveal them to others, for this might lead to their being used by hoodlums.

In my words:

1. Aikido can be very dangerous, so you must be careful and follow the instruction given to you exactly, so that you don't hurt your partner. This is not a competition to see who is stronger. 
2. Aikido teaches you to deal with threats coming from all directions, so you must practice this in your daily life, and build awareness of things going on around you in all situations. This means being constantly observant, whether in your own home, on the street (with pedestrians, cyclists, and traffic), or in the dojo (with things going on on the mat), whether or not these things are happening in front of you or behind you, or whether or not they involve you at the moment. 
3. You should try to train with a positive attitude. When you are training mad, you are less receptive to instruction. A good atmosphere makes it easy for everyone to be engaged and attentive. A bad atmosphere makes everyone unhappy and less receptive, when people are concentrating on the negative aspects.
4. The instructor teaches the physical aspect of the art, and the techniques relating to that physical aspect. The application of aikido is much broader, however, and extends through all aspects of life. You must treat every encounter as an aikido encounter, look for all potential applications in life, and practice them constantly.
5. Carefully learn the basics of the technique first. Once you have the basics memorized, you can begin to be expressive with the technique, and train more vigorously. Aikido movement is natural and based on the movement of the body, so anything that is unnatural or forced will not work, and may cause injury. If you follow this rule, everyone can train, even the elderly and the young.  
6. Aikido is difficult and takes a long time to learn correctly. As you go through the training process, you undergo emotional development process. You begin to become more earnest and sincere in your daily life. Without this emotional development accompanying the physical training, aikido could be used for bad purposes, so you should never teach a technique to someone who is not undergoing the training.

Your Own Words

We have a deshi assignment to rewrite O Sensei's training principles in our own words. Here is my post on this. I hope it is interesting :)

Aikido is precise

• It's also dangerous. Please do things exactly as demonstrated, with only as much force as required. 

Radiate awareness

• Like driving on the freeway or walking in a crowd, see everyone around you. 

Aikido always has joy

• Sometimes it's a tiny drop, sometimes it's a sweeping torrent - but it's always there. 

Practice broadly

• Classes are the primary way of learning, but there are additional ways, too. Work on flexibility, meditation, reading, writing, and solo practice are examples. Be curious and explore. 

Aikido movement is natural

• Practicing should feel smooth and fluid, no matter what your abilities or skills are. 

We practice Aikido together as a community

Deshi Assignment: Your Own Words

Rewrite O Sensei's "Training Principles" in your own words.

Training Principles By  Morihei Ueshiba

·               Aikido decides life and death in a single strike, so students must carefully follow the instructor's teaching and not compete to see who is the strongest.

·               Aikido is the way that teaches how one can deal with several enemies. Students must train themselves to be alert not just to the front but to all sides and the back.

·               Training should always be conducted in a pleasant and joyful atmosphere.

·               The instructor teaches only one small aspect of the art. Its versatile applications must be discovered by each student through incessant practice and training.

·               In daily practice first begin by moving your body and then progress to more intensive practice. Never force anything unnaturally or unreasonably. If this rule is followed, then even elderly people will not hurt themselves and they can train in a pleasant and joyful atmosphere.

·               The purpose of Aikido is to train mind and body and to produce sincere, earnest people. Since all the techniques are to be transmitted person-to-person, do not randomly reveal them to others, for this might lead to their being used by hoodlums.

Tsuki Ikkyo

This is a tanto attack from tsuki. I like it because the blend from nage leads so naturally into this particular ikkyo ura variation. They start quite far apart, with uke's footwork moving from gyaku hanmi into ai hanmi during the tsuki. Due to the ma-ai and footwork, nage blends with an irimi tenkan. We would more likely use a simple tenkan blend for nage, and have uke start closer with footwork beginning from ai hanmi.

You can see on the slow motion replay how nage rolls uke's arm forward and down after the tenkan, then into a threat of hyperextending the elbow. As nage moves into the pin, the forward foot is placed under uke's upper arm where it meets the shoulder, similar to how we would pin for a reverse kotegaeshi to increase the pressure on uke's elbow. I assume there is a similar motivating effect here.

Tsuki Ikkyo

Like Amanda, I also searched for tsuki ikkyo videos, and had a hard time finding videos that I really liked.  I liked the Tissier one she posted, but came up with this one as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQm2SrJ38XE (just the first person, not once they switch roles).  They still seem to have some of the issue that I saw with most of the videos I encountered, that nage seems to be doing the technique primarily with their arms, rather than using the hips and focusing on maintaining good positioning.  This especially seems to be the case when the technique is being performed quickly or in sudden, jerky movements.  This video seems to be at a steadier pace, with uke providing constant force feedback instead of losing the connection and only moving when nage forces them into an uncomfortable position.  I'd appreciate it if more people posted videos showing the technique done as slowly and deliberately as possible, with constant connection between uke and nage.

Tsuki ikkyo

I'm trying to find my favorite version of tsuki ikkyo, but it's pretty hard to find any versions online. I like Tissier Sensei's a lot -- he's very precise, and his timing is very good. I suspect that timing is ~99% of this technique. O-Sensei talked about leading the opponent in from the very inception of the attack, and I was looking for someone showing that.

I looked and looked, in summer camp and full class videos, for people doing this technique, and I found that there's actually not a lot of tsuki techniques being recorded. I'm not sure if that's because of the timing requirements, or if it's some other reason, or if I'm just missing something.

Seattle Aikikai Beginners Series class 7

Warmup
Back fall practice
Partner back fall practice
Munetski kotegaishi with tanto
Ushiro tsuki kotegaishi with tanto
Ushiro awareness practice
Bear hug grab from behind

Seattle Aikikai Beginner Series Curriculum, Class 6

Warmup
Back falls
Footwork
Connection practice (Katatetori partner practice)
Katatetori sumiotoshi
Katatetodi jodan tenkan practice

How to watch a demonstration of a technique:
1. Watch attack (what kind of attack is it?)
2. Watch feet (are they ai or gyaku?)
3. Watch hands (Same or opposite hands?)
4. Watch movement (entering, or around the outside?)

Tsuki kotegaishi
Tantodori - Tsuki and nage draws back
Tantodori - Tsuki tenkan
Tantodoru: Tsuki kotegaishi

Seattle Aikikai Beginner Series Curriculum, Class 5

Starting class

  Warm ups and stretching, falls
  Footwork

Instruction
  Gyaku hanmi katatetori practice - jodan entry
  Gyaku hanmi katatetori kokyunage (jodan entry) - backfall for uke
  Tsuki blend review

  Tsuki kotegaeshi with tanto

  Gyaku hanmi katatetori kokyunage (chudan blend via kaiten) - forward roll for uke
  Overview of rolling, following

Ending class
  Bow out
  Circle to allow for questions and announcements

Seattle Aikikai Beginner Series Curriculum, Class 4

Stretching
Back fall practice
Tsuki striking practice
Tsuki udekiminage
Tsuki sumi otoshi

Seattle Aikikai Beginner Series Curriculum, Class 3

Starting class
  Warm ups and stretching, with emphasis on our core's relationship to rising from a backfall
  Footwork - kaiten, tenkan, irimi tenkan

Instruction
  overview of uke and nage's roles in a grab vs a strike
  Gyaku hanmi katatetori practice - just offering and grabbing, getting off the line
  Gyaku hanmi katatetori into shikaku angle causing a backfall for uke
  Gyaku hanmi katatetori sumiotoshi
  Ryotetori tenchinage
  Back stretch

Ending class
  Bow out
  Circle to allow for questions and announcements
  Quick demo of the techniques from class to help with vocabulary
  Wet wash the mat

Seattle Aikikai Beginner Series Curriculum, class 2

Introduction
Warm-ups and stretching
Back roll progression and practice, to back roll slapping the mat
Footwork practice
Munetski striking practice
Partner tsuki striking practice
Tai no henko partner practice
Introduction to kotegaishi
Kotegaishe progression to back fall
Tenkan, kaiten, irimi tenkan solo practice
Tenkan, kaiten, irimi tenkan randori practice
Back stretch
Off the mat after class:
Etiquette introduction
Bowing practice

Just standing

1. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
2. Just stand still.
3. Answer the question: Is your foot a triangle or a square?

Do the Math

1. Set a timer for one minute.
2. Count how many thoughts you have in that minute.
3. Do the math: How many thoughts occupy your day?

Tenchi nage

I like this video of tenchinage because the nage is very upright and focused forward.  The nage is able to use the energy coming from uke's hands and is able to get in a position where that energy is coming back to uke where their balance is weak.

I plan to put into practice the idea of learning who is the one who studies aikido by paying more attention to how others perform techniques, which aspects I like and dislike, and which aspects work well for me.