Thursday, December 10, 2009

Chains of Aiki Technique

So often I see martial artists get attached to a technique they think they have. They hold on to it, struggle with it, and often fail because they are too attached to something that is not working.


At KyuRyu we have been playing around with moving through techniques rapidly and been having very good success. Last night we were counting and I was moving through 5-7 techniques in 2 seconds or so. The result was that my uke's nervous system could never adjust to an attack. By the time the system could react I was already attacking another angle and already setting up another one still.



Let's rethink ideas on how techniques work.



What is a technique?

A technique is a connection that causes a balance break, or the structure to alter in a person.

When do we follow a technique to execution?

Only when it melts through the person. Only when it is Aiki. We only follow a technique until after catastrophic failure in the persons balance system occurs. Perhaps a better way to think about it is that we never follow technique to execution. We simply run through a chain of balance breaks and somewhere in the process Uke falls over.

If a technique fails, and it does fail... what do we do?

Do another one. Actually do 4 or 5 more.





Yeah I got a new camera since my last one was viciously broken by Elizabeth. I know you guys have missed me! Hey my blog responses have been silent lately. Feel free to shower us praise, criticize, question, or whatever you see as appropriate. I enjoy the interactions.

Plus if you have a question or want to see something on video, feel free to make requests.

3 comments:

  1. Sounds reasonable. I suppose it goes along the lines of 'keep moving.' No matter what, just keep going. I'll admit that I tend to have a habit of wanting to finish a technique once I start it.. sometimes it's hard to let go and move on to trying something else.

    I don't know if i'm quite up to the level where I could do exactly what you suggest very effectively, but perhaps it's something that I can work on in the near future.

    Definitely something to keep in mind.

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  2. Nice stuff!
    I shower you with praise
    <;-)

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  3. very well done! more open and free , less "techniky". I have used the term linking before which goes with the concept of chains.Chains/links.

    Hope to see further exploration.

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