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Old 04-07-2005, 08:07 AM   #30
kokyu
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 283
Hong Kong
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Re: The meaning of omote and ura

Quote:
Rupert Atkinson wrote:
I liked your description of ikkyo - it matches one of my variants. Also - consider this:

If you step forwards to meet with the right foot (right handed attack / ai-hanmi meeting), irimi is a far more natural outcome. If you approach with the left foot (gyaku-hanmi meeting), tenkan is much more natural. The point being, a lot of ordinary practice we do in Aikikai is un-natural. Think about it. It is possible to do the opposite by choice, but why choose?
Rupert, I completely agree with you about the importance of being natural in movement. Moving off the right foot for a right handed attack clearly makes it omotewaza. And, moving off the left foot suggests urawaza.

However, I just looked up [The Aikido Master Course: Best Aikido 2] by the Aikikai Doshu and interestingly enough, for Hanmi Handachi Shomenuchi Ikkyo, against a right handed attack, Doshu meets his uke with his left knee/left hand for the omote version. Doshu also uses his left knee/left hand for the ura version. I'm just guessing that it's easier to get to the important right elbow if one moves off the left knee in omote. So, maybe the "right" move suggests itself in the safest option?
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