Walter Martindale

Ikkyo... Well... One sensei of mine described the finishing movement of ikkyo omote as using the arm somewhat like a "push broom" - with uke's head being the sweeping part of the broom - elbow controlled and locked straight, used as a push-tool to get uke to the mat, head first.

At one seminar, the late Kawahara Yukio shihan showed us that 'in the old days' ikkyo could be finished off with uke pinned to the floor via the elbow, and the elbow dislocated with a strong lift of the wrist. No.. he didn't actually break uke's arm, but showed the possibility.

I've attended seminars presented by Kawahara (d), Masuda, Ichihashi (d), and Takase, all of whom have (had) slightly different versions of ikkyo, but in common to all was the sense that you don't hurt your training partners - in fact you try to protect them (Masuda is quite emphatic about that) - but that there are definite ways to hurt someone if you need to.