Friction in tenkan

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[arvin m.]

Hi everyone its been a while since ive posted so i hope everyone's still good!!

I have been trying to do irimi and tenkan with shoes and sandals and stuff and notice that it is significantly difficult to achieve speed when u turn since there is considerable friction between yer footwear and the floor. Its sooo different in the dojo when u do it barefoot where its easy to sweep yer feet and stuff. The only alternative i can think of is to lift my feet when doing tenkan and irimi but that would contrary to what ive been taught to keep my feet on the ground a all times.

It would be rather weird if i were to be mugged on the street and told my muggers "Hang on guys let me just remove these shoes and then maybe we can talk" Next thing i noe they'll be going " So when's the pants coming off?"

On a side note if i did remove my pants that would scare the hell out of them... :)

[ze'ev erlich]

You can also invite the robber to rob you at the dojo on the mats...

[lt-rentaroo]

Hello,

Are you pivoting by using your whole foot, or are you pivoting on only the "ball" or forward part of your foot? The reason I ask is that I've learned to pivot by using only the forward part of my foot, thereby eliminating any excess friction that could slow down the pivoting motion. The heel of my foot would only be raised slightly, perhaps a few millimeters.

I've never noticed any change in the speed or stability of my pivot when I use the above method. All I can add other than what I recommend above is that one of the things which makes Aikido such a wonderul martial art is that it is inherently flexible. By flexible I mean that you can adapt a technique or in this case a pivot to suit the situation you are in. Hope I've helped and not confused. Have a good day!

[Brian Crowley]

Arvin,

Here is slighty different perspecive that I learned from Ki Chuan Do/close combat classes.

Generally, in a violent encounter, you should lift the feet several inches off the ground as you move around to deal with an attacker ("stomp-stepping").

There are 2 main reasons for "stomp-stepping" in actual encounters. First, you are much less likely to trip over misc. crap that happens to be in the area that you are in. We routinely practice on uneven surfaces, with objects on the ground and with multiple people pushing us around. People who do not pick up their feet enough as they move routinely end up tripping or being pushed down. When you see this it is a real eye-opener. Just to clarify, it is not that we are staring at the ground to avoid objects, it is simply by using this foot-work you are much less likely to trip.

The second reason is that by bringing the knee up as you step it can provide some incidental protection to the groin and serves as a little surprise if your attacker decides to tackle you - ie. your knee may hit him in the face. It also gives you the option of stomping on the person's shins/feet as you step or shooting a low kick before putting the foot down.

Within Ki Chuan Do/close combat are similar concepts to irimi and tenkan - although these terms are not used - ie. the "box-step" used in our Ki Chuan Do/close combat class is very similar to the tenkan - but the feet do NOT slide. There is a good description of how this works in the book Attack Proof.

Brian