The Dojo of Nashville

Still working on body integration .,, pulling within myself to create an aiki body. The hand movement is not a push but an un-bowing. And the same with the legs and the back. The combination of pulling and un-bowing creates an unbalancing force in uke. Note that nage’s hands can become a punch anytime in the technique. Also note that at the end of the video the uke called this “tori fune” which is the rowing exercise we do in aikido.

Let’s review a throw, katate dori uchi mawari. From contact you must attain kuzushi and keep it the entire time. Kuzushi also prevents the other hand from striking. Enter with an integrated body. Pull six directions as we create aiki age. Tenkan to create a void and allow uke to fall into the void.

This is an exercise on maintaining kuzushi. Keep touching your partner. This contact is feather light but can feel heavy on the receiving end.

Let’s talk about punching. How do you apply internals to your punching technique. Lots of stuff going on here. Pulling six directions to create an aiki body. Creating stickiness thru relaxed tension-less motion that follows my partner. I call this touching back … your partner touches you and you touch them back (not in that creepy way!). Take note that while your partner is throwing a punch you are also throwing a punch. My apologies if my description in the video is haphazard. There is a lot of information in my head that is difficult to get out in a short video. Sometimes I’m at a loss for words. Uke Stephen Gabbard. Video Kimberly Schultz

Happy Heavenly Birthday Steve Matthews Sensei. Teacher. Student. Budoka. We miss you brother.

One way to learn how to integrate our body into technique is to learn tenchi nage by standing on one foot. Tenchi means heaven and earth. Inside ourself we need to pull in six directions while balancing opposing forces within ourselves. There are also other important ideas of aiki age, aiki sage, controlling dan tien, molding with your partner such that letting go thru technique becomes difficult.

What’s the lesson here? This is tenchi nage. Most of the time Aikidoka practice tenchi nage from a two handed grab, ryote dori. This practice is from a punch.