Hi peeps,
Lately, I've been thinking a bit about the two short videos below and I wanted to hear what you guys think. I have done those drills as a warmup in my aikido career but the concepts were never really discussed.
Some thoughts:
- the actual footwork is simplistic and would need to be complemented by actual mobility drills to be remotely applicable (in aikido this could be done through multiple attackers drills) and the "do not bend backwards" part is just common sense. The distance is also not appropriate for empty-handed striking. Ah also I don't like the rote rythm of the sword drill, which can develop bad habits;
- it may be good to deal with strong frontal attacks such as sumo charges, lunges and jump kicks:
- the most intriguing part to me is the discussion about body structure: upper body goes up, lower body goes down. This has several consequences: 1) one maintains balance; 2) it puts the whole bodyweight behind the step, which generates power; 3) it creates isometric tension within the body to help transfer power; 4) the shoulders follow the hips (and ideally the elbows should follow the knees, the hands should follow the feet);
- when he talks about "vanishing", I think he means that, by transporting and pivoting the hips while maintaining the "straight" structure mentioned above, one can quickly move and reduce the target area with less "lag" than with a normal step. I think it's interesting but I would need to test it more.
Does any of this make sense? Any thoughts based on your own experience?
Lately, I've been thinking a bit about the two short videos below and I wanted to hear what you guys think. I have done those drills as a warmup in my aikido career but the concepts were never really discussed.
Some thoughts:
- the actual footwork is simplistic and would need to be complemented by actual mobility drills to be remotely applicable (in aikido this could be done through multiple attackers drills) and the "do not bend backwards" part is just common sense. The distance is also not appropriate for empty-handed striking. Ah also I don't like the rote rythm of the sword drill, which can develop bad habits;
- it may be good to deal with strong frontal attacks such as sumo charges, lunges and jump kicks:
- the most intriguing part to me is the discussion about body structure: upper body goes up, lower body goes down. This has several consequences: 1) one maintains balance; 2) it puts the whole bodyweight behind the step, which generates power; 3) it creates isometric tension within the body to help transfer power; 4) the shoulders follow the hips (and ideally the elbows should follow the knees, the hands should follow the feet);
- when he talks about "vanishing", I think he means that, by transporting and pivoting the hips while maintaining the "straight" structure mentioned above, one can quickly move and reduce the target area with less "lag" than with a normal step. I think it's interesting but I would need to test it more.
Does any of this make sense? Any thoughts based on your own experience?