Quick recap of what we covered at training last night. The lesson plan was based on making good connection to uke’s shoulder from wrist grabs;
Warm up
Ukemi; Zenpo kaiten, hiyaku, koho, yoko, floating leaf.
Tandoku Undo; Unsoku, Tegatana dosa
Tai no henko
Sokumen Irimi nage (Gyaku game ate)
Kotegaeshi
Hanmi handachi katate mochi shiho nage
What is so amazing about nikkyo is its ability to reveal just how much how confrontational you are. When you have an uke with whom you cannot apply nikkyo, what do you do? Do you attempt to crank down on the wrist even more? Do you rationalize your failure by saying that the uke isn’t resisting correctly? Both are common reactions, but neither are correct. I learned this through one of my most senior students, a gentleman who has remarkably strong arms and who recognizes that, when practicing with me, will attempt to resist the nikkyo as much as possible.
Read on at Aiki Thoughts Blog
Last night, we concentrated on kikarigeiko (light freeplay with no resistance), with particular focus on blending with yokomen uchi and chudan tsuki. The other focus was specifically on uke skill, so lots of extra falling practice.
Then as usual we played with locks/controls.
Quick recap of what we covered;
Warmup,
Ukemi; koho (back falls), yoko (side breakfalls), zenpo kaiten (forward rolls) , hiyaku (jumping rolls/flips), floating leaf falls
Shikko (knee walking)
Tandoku Undo; Unsoku, Tegatana Dosa
Extended kikarigeiko (yokomen uchi & chudan tsuki)
Nikkyo/nikkajo/kotemawashi
Sankyo/sankkajo/kotehineri
Gokkyo/gokkajo
And a warm welcome goes to Wayne who had his first night of aikido last night.
Muscle memory is a common phrase associated with the martial arts as well as in other sports, playing a musical instrument, riding a bike or in the acquisition of any other psycho-motor skill for that matter. It is a useful way of trying to understand what is going on: through repetition of a set of muscular actions, that muscle (or group of muscles) will eventually react to a stimulus in a predictable and reliable way. It is as if those muscles have ‘remembered’ what to do and the movements become automatic without the need for conscious control.
Unfortunately the phrase ‘muscle memory’ grates on me a little! It may feel as if your muscles just know what to do all by themselves and you aren’t consciously sending them messages to contract or relax at a given moment but your unconscious brain is working very hard to tell your muscles what to do in any given situation. Clearly memory resides in the brain not the muscles. In my opinion a more accurate phrase to describe what is happening is motor memory.
Back by popular demand, Genryukan dojo has Neil Saunders Sensei visiting to take the class on Monday 21st February.
For those who do not know him, Saunders Sensei has a wealth of Aikido experience, and holds a 4th Dan in both Tomiki and Yoshinkan Aikido disciplines. Neil now teaches Yoshinkan Aikido at his Meikyokai Dojo in Bexley, Kent under the technical supervision of Robert Mustard Sensei (7th Dan Yoshinkan) from Burnaby, Canada.
For more information, feel free to contact Phil direct, or use the contact page here on the site.
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