Waves, Kito, and Rocks.

Miyake Sensei told the wise men of my branch that Tomiki Aikido was part Kito ryu and Daito ryu.  Most folks think that the daito ryu is obviously the joint locks and shit.  But I've been studying up on the Shodokan take on things, and what Tomiki actually did was extract the kenjutsu principles that he was sure lay at the heart of daito ryu and lay them out there.  Because in Shodokan, those guys study a lot of maai and timing, and angles. 

If you do a poor man's research, and you google up some kito ryu.  You'll find that koshiki no kata is what kito ryu is.  So lets take a look at some koshiki:

I was drinking coffee the other morning.  thinking about my releases/ 7 forms of kuzushi and trying to peice it all together.

I got thinking about kito ryu.  how its supposed to translate out to rise and fall.  Here is a clip of the main Japanese Sensei of my Texhomiki line.
Her name is Miyake.  We do this goofy finger flick on hiki taoshi that has to come from her, and I guarantee this is where we get our interpretation from. 

Anyway, I got thinking about how Japan is a sea shore kind of country.  It being an Island, and all. And I got thinking about those waves.

Then I got thinking about that other kata they mention that has a lot of influence on things. that itsutsu no kata.  the one that has two guys pretending like they are birds or something.


then I got thinking about Shinto and Japanese gardens and nature and stuff.  and those waves.  As a guy who aint seen the ocean except maybe four or five times, I imagine they can make an impression on you if you live around them all your life. 


Then I got thinking that koshiki and that bird kata didnt have nothing to do with fighting at all.  That they were just about waves and stuff being tossed around.

Then I started thinking of YON KATA. And how it has a whole different relationship with the waves than koshiki does.  In koshiki you are inside the ocean being tossed about, and in Yon its almost like you are the rocks swirling the ocean around. 

                                                                

Anyway,  I got thinking about the releases, 7 types of kuzushi.   How the waves in Jodan almost go all the way over the rock, and how the chudan goes to the sides, and how the gedan hits the rock and goes all the way up and curls back.

I dont think we are learning how to fight boys and girls.     I think the whole big lesson is about effing waves and shit.