Journey to Yudansha

Revisits the Kaiten Nage techniques again, with various attacks like Katate dori (Uchi and Soto), and Tsuki. For Soto, make sure hand moves into a Nikkyo lock position Revisited Kokyuho: When Uke catches both hands, perform Mawashi first, then Shibori and extend hands outwards towards Uke

Revisited the gray area techniques (less practiced) Shomen uchi Kaiten Nage Assume Uke attack with left hand. Instead of moving in and deflect with left hand, we move in and chop Uke's left hand with our right hand, at the same time left hand move in to chop Uke's neck. Then right hand will scoop up and grab Uke's left hand and push it upwards. Complete the Kaiten Nage Shomen uchi Shiho Nage Assume Uke attack with left hand, deflect with left hand, then block Uke's left hand with right hand from above. Left hand perform atemi to face while we move to the omote side. Pull in the hand while we do a cat stance, then move to complete the Shiho Nage Mune Tsuki Ikkyo Assume Uke attack with left hand, we have to deflect with right hand (body move in to left side - omote, with optional atemi to face). Then at the same time, left hand will come in to grab Uke's back of palm and then perform Ikkyo as usual Tsuki Kaiten Nage Assume Uke attack with left hand, simila...

Yokomen/Shomen uchi Irimi Nage Assuming Uke attack with right hand, raise left hand to deflect, then use right hand to cut from top then down, while left hand will catch Uke's neck. Complete Irimi Nage Assuming Uke attack with left hand, deflect with left hand, then finish similar to Yokomen Ryotedori Kokyu Nage/Koshi Nage Assuming left forward stance. Step back (Tenshin) and turn Uke's right hand similar to a Nikkyo lock (Nage left palm on outside). Move back in with left waist leaning on Uke and perform Kokyu throw Same like Kokyu until the last part. Similar to leaning the body, we lean in but we do a small Irimi Tenkan step to make our head turn 180 degrees to the other direction while bending down. Then finish the Koshi Nage

Trained on things like Mune Tsuki Iriminage, and Mune Tsuki Ikkyo. For Iriminage, move to the ura side. Assuming Uke attacks with right hand, move to the left, with Nage's left hand deflecting Uke's attacking hand, while Nage's right hand will move in and attack Uke's face. For Ikkyo, move to the omote side. Assuming Uke attacks with right hand, move to the right, with Nage's left hand deflecting Uke's attacking hand, while Nage's right hand atemi on Uke's face. Then Nage's right hand moves and catches Uke's right hand and bring it to the other side into Ikkyo position. Then complete the Ikkyo. For Shomen Uchi Iriminage with bokken, move in to ura side with left hand catching Uke's neck while right hand catches the bokken handle. Then spin Uke and thrust bokken's handle end towards Uke's throat.

Today's practice emphasized a lot on tenkan movement. When performing tenkan, try not to turn all the way to 180 degrees. Instead, turn to about 135 degrees to maintain some distance and allow for easier execution of technique.

Refresher course on Ryokata dori Osae Waza. Omote: (Assume left forward stance) First, tenshin with right arm extended for atemi. Optional: Right (atemi) arm drop and cut parallel on Uke's right arm Right arm fold back and catch Uke's right fist, left arm assist to push Uke's right elbow up to twist the right arm to locking position Ura: (Assume left forward stance) First, extend left arm for atemi

Revisited the basics Aikido consists of these types of attack generally: Katatedori Katadori Shomenuchi Yokomenuchi Tsuki Ryotedori Morotedori Ryokatadori Katamen uchi Ushiro Ryotedori Ushiro Ryokatadori And key defense techniques: Osae Waza (pinning or control techniques)  - Ikkyo  - Nikkyo  - Sankyo  - Yonkyo  - Gokyo Nage Waza (throw techniques)  - Irimi Nage  - Shiho Nage  - Kote Gaeshi Kokyu Nage (breath power throw) Kaiten Nage Koshi Nage Tenchi Nage Juji Garami Trained on some tricky techniques like: Shomen uchi Kaiten Nage Shomen uchi Shiho Nage Tsuki Ikkyo Tsuki Kaiten Nage Ryotedori Koshinage Morote dori Ikkyo Ushiro Ryote dori Koshi Nage

Looked into 2 aspects of training, tandoku dosa (solo exercises) and sotai dosa (paired exercises). For the record, Tandoku dosa involves the following: 1. Kamae (stance) 2. Mae (hanmi omote, ura) 3. Movement (front, back) 4. Kiri tsuke 5. Kiri sage 6. Nidan giri 7. Zengo giri 8. 28 direction cut Sotai dosa involves: 1. Ichi noken 2. Ni noken 3. San noken 4. Yon noken 5. Go noken When holding bokken in mae position, ensure fist is above the belt, kissaki pointing at (imaginary) opponent's throat. Left hand firm (but not overly tight) grip while right hand has a more relaxed grip.

Practiced Suwariwaza version of Shomen Uchi locks Ikkyo, Nikkyo, and Sankyo. Slight variation from previously where we deflect the Uke's arm to our side, we train by deflecting and projecting Uke's arm away while extending our arm fully. Key tips to locks control is pressing on Uke's thumb base, especially for Nikkyo and Sankyo (even for Yonkyo).

In today's class Sensei focused on Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankyo, Yonkyo locks with Shomen Uchi attack. (Assuming attacking with left hand, Nage and Uke in gyaku hanmi stance) When Uke attacks with the left Shomen, Nage blocks with a left Shomen and the collision force will push both person's arm upwards. Nage should then move right leg forward, body slightly off-center, while right leg is toe to toe with Uke's left leg (Hito ime?). Nage use the free (right) hand to control and twist Uke's elbow while the left hand cuts down, Nage's position slightly pulled back. This will put Nage into the controlling position, ready to complete the lock for Ikkyo. Variation for Nikkyo: While left hand cuts down, do the wrist rotation to secure Uke's left hand in a Nikkyo lock position Variation for Sankyo: While left hand cuts down, grab Uke's fingers and twist the palm to face to self. Right hand's thumb on Uke's inner elbow to assist pushing elbow upwards so Uke...

I'm an Aikidoka currently practicing the art of Aikido in Malaysia. I will be going for my Shodan exam this year, and therefore I came up with the idea of maintaining a blog to keep track of some notes or advice given by my Sensei in class. I first got to know about Aikido through a diving friend in 2008 when I expressed interest to pick up a "soft" martial art like Taichi. Thus he brought me to experience a class in KL. I became very much interested in the art, and the rest is history. When I first started, I pretty much took Aikido as a hobby and chance for me to do some much needed exercise for maintaining my health and weight. So at first I was quite reluctant to take exams to advance in the ranks. And to be frank, I have never imagined that one day I would reach the Yudansha levels. But my Sensei advised me to proceed with the exam so I can gauge my own progress in the art. So here I am, at first Kyu after 9 years, going for the Shodan exam. Wish me luck!