Aikido and Golf !!

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[John Boswell]

The other day, there was an info-mercial on about this new gimmick to improve your golf game.

When I first gave golf a try, I was told:
Keep your head down
Eye on the ball
Square off with the ball
Keep one arm straight (according to whether your are left or right handed)
Follow through

But as I was watching the info-mercial, I noticed something very specific.... the hips! THEY OPENED UP AT THE END !!

The whole time I used to swing the club always facing the ball head-on, very "squared" off to the ball and more or less "rocked" on my hips. BUT... if you open your hips up, as in AIKIDO (duh!) you get to follow through with far more power and precision!!

Why didn't anyone ever tell me that?? :hypno:

I've noticed this same hip motion in baseball & tennis. You see similar motion in ballroom dancing with special attention to posture. There's no telling how many other activities are related to the hips opening up at the end like in aikido.

Anyhow... just thought I'd share that.

Anyone else ever catch on to the same thing? or did I just have a really crappy golf instructor?? (Thanks, Mom! Not! :p :D )

[markwalsh]

Check out Jamie Zimron's Kiai golf series. She's an aikido 5th dan and PGA pro. She's cool too and basically kicks all kind of ass.

[Mike Sigman]

My father was a fanatic golf/tournament player and he started me playing at around 7. Naturally, I burned out in my mid-teens.... you can't force a child to do things, sometimes. But I know a lot about golf and played competitively against good adult men before I quit. And I tend to keep an eye on golf and golf-things.

A couple of years ago I saw someone touting a golf-club that was hinged on the shaft. The idea was that you had to swing the club so that you kept the clubhead in line with the shaft. They even showed people hitting balls at a nice clip with the hinged-shaft club when they swung it just right.

I was intrigued because essentially to hit like that means that you have to keep the momentum fronted and in the club-head to hit the ball. For all practical purposes, in a rotational swing, they are keeping their "ki" (as it can be used in this sense) in the clubhead. Of course there are some refinements to this idea, but the basic idea is perfect for Aikido tenets and it's a lot of what Tohei meant about using your ki to play golf. ;)

FWIW

Mike

[davidafindlay]

Hi Mike,A couple of years ago I saw someone touting a golf-club that was hinged on the shaft. The idea was that you had to swing the club so that you kept the clubhead in line with the shaft.

<snip>

I was intrigued because essentially to hit like that means that you have to keep the momentum fronted and in the club-head to hit the ball. For all practical purposes, in a rotational swing, they are keeping their "ki" (as it can be used in this sense) in the clubhead.Hmm, does that mean it was hinged in one plane so the clubhead would swing back and forth in the plane the club is swung? So that it you put too much force in, the head would lag, and too little would mean the head would "get ahead" of the shaft's arc?

Or was it more like a universal joint?

Cheers,
Dave Findlay

[Mike Sigman]

Hi Mike,Hmm, does that mean it was hinged in one plane so the clubhead would swing back and forth in the plane the club is swung? So that it you put too much force in, the head would lag, and too little would mean the head would "get ahead" of the shaft's arc?

Or was it more like a universal joint?
Just found one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Refiner-Driver-Golf-Swing-Trainer-with-DVD_W0QQitemZ220015766869QQcmdZViewItem

and here's a commercial website:
http://www.refinergolf.com/

You've got the idea right, but there's more on the commercial page about how it works. Maybe we should build a hinged bokken??? ;)

Regards,

Mike

[Upyu]

Ahhh! the real meaning of the three section staff now comes to light!
Kidding =D

[crbateman]

The original clubs of that type were developed and marketed under the name "Medicus". A google search will lead you to many sources. I tried one several times, but couldn't get the kind of results that were advertised (duhhh....).

[davidafindlay]

Maybe we should build a hinged bokken??? ;)Haha, you know - I did laugh, but then thought... why not?

My aikido instructor also practises Katori Shinto Ryu under the Sugino dojo, and flies Sugino sensei out here every year. And every year the workshops have at least a whole session on kamae and basic cutting.

Although I no longer attend the shinto ryu classes, when I did, and when Sugino sensei would pound us all with correct cutting technique, there was a emphasis on a feeling that would be very similar to that I think you describe with the hinged golf club. He would talk of putting your attention (ki! eek! :)) to the tip of the sword (kensaki). While cutting down from jodan, neither pull the sword, nor let it drop, but somewhere in between. Actually, in the early stages, he would advocate beginners to more let the sword drop - he always said that power can come later, but you first want the correct shape & feeling.

So maybe there is an opening for a pretty funny-looking bokuto after all. I can imagine the look on someone's face if you pulled such a contraption out of your sword bag - especially when standing in seigan with a big bend in the thing!

Actually, it would probably cause more injuries than its worth, when raising the sword to jodan - you'd keep getting whacked in the back of the head as the thing hinged over! Ouch! :)

Cheers,
Dave Findlay

[Lyle Bogin]

There is a section on Ki and golf in one of Tohei's out of print books. That comes right before his chapter on ki and gambling. I keep a photo copy of an old add for "ki-stones" that he used to breathe on and sell for a couple hundred bucks back in the day folded up in my copy.

[Mike Sigman]

I keep a photo copy of an old add for "ki-stones" that he used to breathe on and sell for a couple hundred bucks back in the day folded up in my copy.If you could find someone who bought those stones and then steal the stones from them, that'd be a "ki-stone cop". ;)

[Larry John]

Oh, Mike, that hurts!

[crbateman]

Don't give up your day job, Mike... ;)