Tag: Shisei

Tegatana Awase

Tegatana awase

Tegatana awase is a basic exercise in Tomiki Aikido. Mostly it is used to study good posture and distance.

tegatana awase shiseiDon’t bend the posture in the lower back. Of course the study of tegatana awase goes beyond posture and distance. When Uke (senior) moves around, Tori (student) must follow smoothly Uke’s movement while keeping posture and a proper ma-ai.

tegatana awase02

Using the concept of “jukozo” creates a new dimension in this exercise. Every joint of our body must be flexible to store or to pass incoming movement or power. Jukozo gives you the possibility to acquire the skill of immediate response to the movements of Uke.

Body block or keeping the body 

3gankyo bappaiDuring tegatana awase the position of the arm and chest has a concave shape, called Gankyōbappai (含胸抜背). This is a phrase used to describe the postural adjustment at the chest level (Empty the chest & Pull out the back ). Keep the concave shape of the chest and stretch the spine to widen the back. Important is not to tense the muscles. There is a resemblance with the posture of ritsuzen (standing meditation), holding a ball between the arms.

During your training there will be many situations to apply “body block”.

bodyblock

Sotai Renshu

Paired exercises

Although solo exercises are of great importance to improve your body movements, it is a delusion to believe you can study Budo without an opponent. An opponent also called “uke” is the person who will point out your weaknesses during training. There is also another function of paired exercises: improvement of body movement and increasing the ability of generating power. But the most important items are: Metsuke and Shisei

Metsuke

The eyes are the windows of the mind.

The difference between “to look” and “to see” is basically that “looking” is being able to confirm through our sight that the world is as our reason tells us that it is, and “seeing”, is the ability of men of knowledge to perceive the world through energy charges.

(from Conversations with Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda).

Practising with a partner is all about how we “see” our opponent. Don’t “look” at the weapon (handblade, fist, knife….), but see where the attack starts. Keep your eyes on the face of the opponent.

This advice is for tori and uke

the eyes

(Picture from Goshin Jutsu by Kenji Tomiki)

Shisei

Without a proper posture, we cannot see the truth in the eyes of the opponent. Most of the people will give a signal when they really start to attack. By keeping a proper posture, you have the possibility to avoid or to control the power of the opponent. This is already explained somewhere in this document, but it is very important to emphasise this matter.

By using a proper shisei there will a communication between you and your opponent. This is only possible when the communication line has the proper tension.

Basic Tomiki Aikido Sotai Renshu (paired training)

•Tegatana awase

•Shotei awase

•Old style Sotai dosa – included tenkai waza

•7-hon no kuzushi (New style sotai dosa)

• Nigiri gaeshi – taking over the grip