Chris Thralls

Hi - I had the privilige of training with Terry Dobson a lot, and he used a bullwhip to demonstrate several things. The most important thing was the demonstration of leading one's partner by their Ki, instead of pushing them around. To this end he used the whip or a long silk scarf - the whip easily followed the movement of the handle, but collapsed when the handle pushed back directly into the whip. He was adament that Aikido is the art of Nonresistance, of joining with and leading Uke's energy to a peaceful resolution. So he emphasized connecting with your partner and then leading them into Waza, for example from a hand grab. He then demonstrated the effectivness of circular and spirallic movements in generating very strong forces. He showed how changing directions dynamically caused the tip of the whip to move so fast that it broke the sound barrier, hence the "crack" of the whip. So Terry stuck with the basic principles, and encouraged us to apply them to the various aspects and techniques of training.