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-   -   Utada/Ikeda Seminar (http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4535)

frankfer 10-15-2003 01:40 PM

Utada/Ikeda Seminar
 
Hi all,

I'm just wondering if anyone who posts here will be in Philly at the Utada/Ikeda friendship seminar this weekend (October 17-19,2003). I have never attended a yoshinkai class and am looking forward to it.

I will only be able to attend Friday. The price seems a little steep for the weekend.

akiy 10-15-2003 01:57 PM

Hi Frank,

I'll be there...

-- Jun

bcole23 10-15-2003 04:33 PM

Hikaru Utada (aka Hiki) does Aikido? Wow, I thought she was just a singer...

Ron Tisdale 10-16-2003 08:38 AM

I've found stuff on the web by her...She just shares the name...I don't even think they are related...I'll ask at the seminar. Look me up Frank, I'll be there the whole weekend.

Ron

jaime exley 10-16-2003 10:25 AM

Jun,

Jenn and I used to live around the corner from Utada Sensei's dojo. If you get the chance, get a cheesesteak from Chubby's on Henry Ave. They're greasy, but they taste sooo good.

Jaime

akiy 10-16-2003 11:26 AM

Heh -- thanks, Jaime. I think the seminar is going to be held away from the dojo, though. I think Ron might have more details on exactly where the seminar is going to be.

Hope you're doing well.

Anyone else going to be at this seminar this weekend?

-- Jun

frankfer 10-24-2003 07:59 AM

Ron/Jun,

Any feedback from the Friendship seminar held last weekend in Philadelphia?

Was it well attended?

I was unable to attend and have not talked to anyone that went to the event.

:(

Ron Tisdale 10-24-2003 09:12 AM

It was fantastic! Thanks to Jun for allowing me to host him.

At the Friendship seminar given by Utada and Ikeda Sensei this past weekend, both instructors focused on breaking the uke's balance at first contact.

Ikeda Sensei stressed relaxation and using your center to capture uke, even if uke didn't know it, and maintaining that off balance through-out the waza. Ikeda Sensei was clearly a master at sensing uke's balance, and obtaining kazushi without uke even knowing it. He would have you grab his hand powerfully, even 4th and 5th dans, and then when you were sure you were in control, he would say 'nope', and throw his uke effortlessly. You could actually see uke's knees buckle, and then they were done. At one point, he demonstrated how by using his center to move uke, he could make uke look like they were having a fit. With almost no perceptable motion from his hand, he had uke twitching and jumping, all from unbalancing them with his center. His sense of humor was excellent!

Utada Sensei stressed various methods of focusing on particular joints throughout the body to effect off balancing your opponant at contact. An example might be shomen uchi iriminage ichi. At the moment of contact with the strike, shite uses the angle of the wrist and hand to redirect and off balance uke through the shoulder joint to the side and front. On stepping in with the left foot (from aihamne) and meeting uke's face, one method might be to focus on your elbow joint, control the back of uke's neck with the other hand, and off balance them further by controlling their neck. Done properly, uke's hips actually move forward, while the head and neck remain in place, virtually causing uke to throw himself. Utada Sensei chose uke from the lowest student to the highest, as did Ikeda Sensei, and demonstrated how various joints such as the waist, knees, shoulder and neck could be the particular focus of kazushi for various techniques. Utada Sensei taught the entire weekend with a severe cold, actually loosing his voice for part of the seminar. But he continued to teach excellent sessions all weekend, performing at his best for the conditions at hand. As always, he continues to teach us the true meaning of Budo.

My thanks to the members of the Doshinkan dojo who hosted us, as well as to Utada and Ikeda Sensei, for showing us how different schools of aikido can come together and train in friendship.

Ron Tisdale

Homeikan Dojo

Doshinkan Aikido

frankfer 10-24-2003 12:34 PM

Ron,

Thank you very much for your review of the seminar.

Sounds like it was a success.

Were there any photos and/or videos taken of the event?

Hope friendships were made during the seminar.

Thank you again!

Ron Tisdale 10-24-2003 12:52 PM

I believe Jun will have some photos eventually...I'm sure he must be busy. I appologize for the brevity of the review...I'm not doing a full scale one because I'm kind of biased, in this case.

It was a sucsess as far as I'm concerned. I got to train with one of my first teachers in aikikai style aikido (David Goldberg), and he still teaches me a bunch of good stuff! And I'm not quite as clumsy as I used to be, so I think some of it actually stuck...

RT


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