I just got back last night from a seminar with Hiroshi Ikeda sensei (7th dan, Boulder Aikikai), and I thought I'd write a bit about it for everyone here.

I've been lucky to be able to train with Ikeda sensei for four times in four months (December: Ashland, OR; January: Mt Madonna Winter Camp; February: Fremont, CA; February: Aikido of Tamalpais). Perhaps due to this, I'm becoming a lot more familiar and comfortable at Ikeda sensei's seminars and with his material that he teaches.

As always, Ikeda sensei used his "tiny spirals" throughout the weekend in techniques ranging from ikkyo to shihonage to kokyudosa. His main emphasis was to use these tiny spirals as the condensation of the big movements that we learn.

Ikeda sensei pointed out the distinction between doing a "movement" and a "technique." When we first start practicing a certain technique like ikkyo or a simple tenkan, we very often use big movements that is not actually very efficient. This, he says, is due to the fact that these beginner movements are actually just that -- we are teaching our bodies movements, not techniques. The reason why a lot of these movements we employ in tai-no-henko, ikkyo, kokyudosa, or other techniques may not work is because we are learning the movements, not the techniques.

The techniques, he says, should affect uke at the point of "deai," or first contact (or even sooner, as I felt it). I'll say that when I was uke for him, I had no recourse but to be affected by what he was doing. Sometimes, it felt as if I suddenly weighed 500 pounds when I went to grab him. Other times, I felt my opposite shoulder and back leg being lifted up. And so on. All of this happened whether or not I grabbed him as hard and strong as I could or if I went for a soft grab -- it really didn't matter.

When nage gets grabbed, nage begins to play the attacker's game and is already involved in a struggle with the attacker's strength. Ikeda sensei said that even the tiniest of movements in the wrist can and does affect the attack enough so as to help diffuse the attacker's strength. He likens this to tossing a rock at a very quickly spinning top; the rock only hits a very small portion of the top, but it gets bounced back with a lot of energy due to the top's spinning motion; in the same way, we only need to use a very small portion of our movements in order to affect uke if it is directed into uke's "center."

If you've ever been to any of Ikeda sensei's seminar, you will hear him say that you have to "catch" uke. I didn't understand him for the longest time, but I _think_ I'm beginning to these days. Ikeda sensei also says that you have to "grab" uke rather than uke grabbing you. I think he is telling us that in this moment of "deai," we should affect uke in such a manner that _we_ have the power, and not uke. Instead of being caught by uke, we must instead catch uke's balance/power/strength and work with that advantage.

Rather than using the big movements to affect uke, Ikeda sensei emphasized using very small movements. With a concerted movement of the entire body (starting out with the hips, of course), we can very effectively deal with uke without having to resort to large, inefficient movements. The principle behind the large movements can be condensed and included in even the smallest of movements.

Ikeda sensei said that the faster and more committed the attack is (whether it be a grab, a punch, or a bokken swing), the less nage has to do in order to affect the attacker. Rather than nage's using his or her strength to affect uke, nage can use uke's power instead. He likened this to trying to changing the direction of a 1960 Dodge pickup truck, on one hand, while going 5 mph in a parking lot and, on the other hand, while going 75 on a highway.

These movements, says Ikeda sensei, are powered by the hips and not the arms. Ikeda sensei very often likens the hands and arms as the steering wheels of a car, while the hips he says is the body's engine. All that the hands do is to redirect the attack while the hips drive the entire body into affecting the attacker. As Ikeda sensei said that if you move your hips to move your hands, you get more strength than just using the hips alone.

We also spent some time on Saturday doing some bokken exercises. This was really surprising, as the mat was very crowded, but luckily, he just did a lot of stuff that didn't involve a whole lot of bokken swinging. Ikeda sensei went through static and active variations of each exercise, illustrating that uketachi did not need to employ a lot of movement when kiritachi's sword was in motion (i.e. a shomen cut) as uketachi could use kiritachi's movement for power, but when static, uketachi had to derive power by moving the hips more.

Ikeda sensei also reiterated his thought that people should not do exactly as he is doing, as our body is different than his. We should look at the principles that he is showing us, then develop that principle through practice and not just by emulating what he does. He says he is only providing us with a model with which to work -- not for us to try to clone his movements.

We also had a fun potluck on Saturday night at the house of one of Aikido of Tamalpais' students. Many beers and bottles of wine were drunk, many chocolate cakes (Ikeda sensei loves chocolate) were eaten, and one video of juggling god Michael Moschen (provided by me) was watched.

Overall, I had a great time at the seminar. For the second seminar in a row, Ikeda sensei used me during his demonstrations, and he also came around to correct me and my partners quite often so I got to feel him quite a lot. Just a little piece of advice for people -- don't be afraid of getting "direct" feedback from the teacher in the form of being uke for him or her! There's no substitute, and it really teaches your body rather than just your eyes and ears. Good ways of achieving this is to make sure to sit in the front row after each technique (so you might get called upon for demonstrations), work with your partner where your instructor usually stands (so s/he can see you and provide you with corrections when necessary), and _ask_!

I also got to work out with a lot of wonderful people from the area. I now have a whole bunch of stuff that I can mull over until I see Ikeda sensei next which, unfortunately, probably won't be for a few months (until Summer Camp in Washington DC) unless I sneak off to Colorado or something on a random weekend...

Jun