Hello, I am making my first posting on AikiWeb forum on a very old thread. Please excuse me if that is not the way to go. The reason for this however is that the subject (Aikido and kick) of this thread is something I have been working on for the past three years. This work and research was very interesting and has led to writing of a book concerning this very interesting subject which will probably be published in october 2008
The opinions expressed in this thread are not very different from the others I have encountered during my internet research into this subject. There are a number of things which I have found in the past years which I would welcome any reaction to:
- I have found no Aikikai Aikido dojo's incorporating Keri-waza in their curriculum as a fixed part of aikido training. I am still curious if there are any schools around which do have that;
- Ukemi is not al that difficult. In dealing with Keri-waza we have made a division in three ways of dealing with a kick (before applying technique): Te-waza (parrying with the hands), Ashi-waza (parrying with your own legs) and Ashi-dori (catching the leg) Only in Ashi Dori does ukemi really change. And it is just a question of training.
- Regular Aikido training does not prepare one automatically for Keri-waza training. The similarities between regular aikido attacks and Keri-waza are not enough.
- The techniques applied to Keri-waza are essentially the same as regular techniques.
By training in Keri-waza uke and tori become more complete budoka. I believe that we should training Keri-waza in a structured way. And I have learned (and recorded that in the book) that it is not that difficult to find a good way to train these techniques.
If anyone has an opinion on any part of my posting I would welcome hearing from you.
Mark