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Old 02-15-2017, 09:21 AM   #21
PeterR
 
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Dojo: Shodokan Honbu (Osaka)
Location: Himeji, Japan
Join Date: Mar 2001
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Re: Solo exercise in Aikido

Quote:
Mary Malmros wrote: View Post
Are you new to aikido? If so, I'd guess the answer is, probably not. You've been given links to videos of various exercises, but you don't know what those exercises are trying to develop. If you're new to aikido, you don't have a reference point, you don't know what the "right thing" feels like yet. Working with more experienced students and your sensei, from time to time one of them will say to you, "Do you feel that? That's right." Then you know what the "right thing" feels like, and you can continue to try and capture that in your training. But moving your body around to try and imitate a video whose purpose is not clear and for which you have no frame of reference? No, I'd say you're not going to learn aikido techniques that way.

Again: do it if you think it's fun. Don't expect to gain skill from it.
That's a good point. The karate kata also have a connection to particular principles and ideas and are not a haphazard collection of moves. The Tomiki video shown above is closely linked to the next level in a training pyramid. I would say it is impossible to invent a kata series de novo - but - going through the motions without a partner is a good way of developing coordination.

Peter Rehse Shodokan Aikido
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