Eric_Aiki

Hi all-

There are alot of far more experienced Aikidoka here than I, but this thread reminded me of an insight I had in class recently.

Disclaimer - I hae only been training for... 3 weeks or so. Weve done a little Bokken work, some forms there, which allowed me to focus more on my own body position and less on position relative to an Uke. This helped me to improve my slide step, slide turn and really helped my shihonage. The 180 turns with bokken really helped me internalize hand position on Shihonage, or at least to the point I understand the technique now (which is limited I am sure).

Before I get to my long winded point here - in class the other day I tried the kneeling/facing technique with two people (forgive me for being ignorant of the japanese name of this right now). I asked sensei after class what the application was - I could only think of two people bowin to each other in a kneeling position, then getting into some argument - seems silly, I know. He laughed, and said that the point of the technique was rather an exercise, not a real world useable technique.

This is kind of how I think of kata - nobody is going to attack or defend themselves with Kata alone, but they can be a tool to improving ones technique. Theyve been helping me at the basic stuff. Tools to learn by, I suppose.

Mind that I only have a few weeks Aikido experience, my opinions are going to change several times over the next few years I am sure.

Thanks for hearing my opinion,

Eric