Jack calls Aikido the strategy of movement. With the strategy of movement there lies the realm slowness and softness, and tactile perception, balance perception. In my other posts I call this the footfalls and cottonballs approach. self defense wise, its sketchy. But when you think with a self defense mind set its all sketchy. You don't know who is gonna jump you, when, how many, and what have you. You approach things with a scattered outlook. Scattered isnt a fun way to live. The strategy of movement isnt scattered.
I think that most soft martial arts have a problem with atemi, or unconnected disruptive force. It lends it self to a seeing mentality. looking for openings. instead of feeling for openings or oppurtunities. there are balance and extension issues that don't jive well with the aikido. A seeing mindset is a different mindset than a feeling mindset.
Also, soft martial arts work along a system of actions/reactions. It has been called a Tori/Uke relationship but I think this becomes abstract to a point. A matter of philosophy. I think we are behind the curve a bit in aikido in general, however Texas/Oklahoma Tomiki Aikido (yeah, I said Texas and Oklahoma) has bridged the gap somewhat. Aikido has been called fake because people dont understand the system of actions/ reactions and really, compared to other soft arts, it just isnt there on a concrete, instructional level. The problem is literally placement of the hands. In judo, you have hands on the jacket somewhere both hands engaged action reaction is taught explicitly In tai chi, you have push hands, two hands engaged and its really the same as judo. Kung Fu sticky hands; the same deal. Goju ryu karate has kake, which is a form of sticky hands. Aikido tries to have disconnected softness. It has the grabbing of hands, but mostly its a disconnected artform. Tomiki called it separated judo, but to keep it separated he used the Tanto.
Anyway, the separated nature of aikido makes it unique. I hate the word connection, but I think here its a valuable descriptor. It's connecting with softness. Instead of a strike, its an off balance movement that terminates in a throw, or pin of some sort. It is kind of like Jodo, an interplay between sword mechanical themes, and stick mechanical themes, but not quite.
Here is what Tomiki Aikido has turned into with out Tanto Randori. I can't say that my execution of this Kata, is the same, but I have been instructed on the concepts of principles and I can look at it and understand what is going on here. Its very circular and wavelike. Don't let the Hakama's or the cool looking dojo fool you. This is an American translation of Tomiki Aikido, and I think its a damn fine version. It's from the Windsong Dojo in Oklahoma. This is Texhomiki Aikido.
Here is a traditional version From England. I dig it. Looking at it raises questions, however about some of the things Texhomiki Aikido does. Let's just take it technique by technique.
1. shomenate. This is about how I have been taught to do it. pretty simple. The Windsong guys do a late timing version. In Texas and Oklahoma we have a Kata called the Owaza Ju Pon, that is very circular and I think it may have had an influence on the movement, but I may be talking out of my shodan ass here.
2. aigamae ate. I dig the English version. I've seen the daito ryu thing where tori controls uke's elbow and gives him the middle knuckle "eff U" to the short ribs before finishing a technique, and I now see this as a related idea. Its almost seems like a failure response to a #6 ikkyo. I think the version we do in texas/oklahoma is very dependent on a Uke that reorients strongly. I asked Jack about the goofy wind up, and he said simply, its in the case that your hand slips off. also, we see a suggestion of our Texas signature off balance-Tejazushi. (nobody has bothered to put a term to our stepping forward offbalance, so I'm calling it Tejazushi.)
3. Gyaku gamae ate- here is a offbalance that we sort of discount, because it seems limited in a self defense framework. but I wish I worked on it more. I think it may help a guy with the footfalls and feeling offbalance. we lose a vehicle for soft connection. sometimes instructing from a self defense perspective muddles things. If you ever slow danced in canvas pajamas judo style to feel footfalls and balance then you should have time to do this. tomiki did this, and tomiki wasnt an idiot. The Texhomiki version goes to the face, and has a spinelocking variant.
4. Gedan Ate--the same--except I think Texhomiki features a superior fit-Tsukiri.
5. Ushiro--Both are about the same.
6. Oshi Ikkyo-- The english version has the back up kuzushi and then cycles the balance shift into the technique, again I think the back up kuzushi is a good cycling idea. The Tejazushi version appears to work off a cycle and a reorientation by Uke.
7. Texhomiki features a pin
8, 9, 10. My take is this is where tejazushi comes from. you notice the offbalance toward the same back corner in the English Kata. People call em butterfly catches. Tejazushi is a onewing butterfly.
17. notice the hand flick to get the rise. hmm where have I seen that before?
Anyway, while The English kata seems more staccato but it features some different kuzushi ideas. I think we limit our kuzushi options when we muddle the strategy of movement with self defense notions and scattering.
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