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Old 02-02-2010, 11:38 AM   #105
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Re: Kokyu development for Aiki in Aikido

Quote:
Jonathan Olson wrote: View Post
I agree. You're very far from convincing me that Claude's not a good example though.
Take this with the following cautions: I'm a beginner at IT, the video of "Claude" is a training vid, the vid is short, and I've never trained with Claude Berthiaume.

This is what I noted as sticking out. Around 4:13-4:16, especially at the 4:15 area, as he turns he does two things.
1. His shoulders move exactly with his hips
2. He appears to weight his left side right before he cuts.

NOTE!!! See cautions above. I'm not stating that Claude Berthiaume isn't capable, isn't a good instructor, etc, etc, etc. It's a training vid and he seems to be going over physical details of suburi.

I am just pointing out things that I don't do in my Internal Training. Those two things I noted are things I wouldn't do. My upper body is just a ribcage that rotates around my spine. My upper body connects to the lower "V" portion (the groin area) of my body. When I turn, I turn from the waist (which includes that lower V portion) but I don't turn with hips/shoulders as one unit.

I don't put weight all on one side. And I try to keep my spine straight in the middle. Imagine the spine being on a pivot point at the bottom of it. Spine straight but can pivot on that point. If I put more weight on one leg to turn on that leg, the pivot point tends not to move, but the spine does, which causes it to be curved or bent.

Quote:
Jonathan Olson wrote: View Post
That would fit with my experience. One thing I'm trying to improve on is "grounding a push". My main problem is that I'm not quite sure how to go about it.
I started out by having a partner push on my extended hand (out to the side) and trying to let that push go into my opposite foot. It helps if the partner pushes towards that direction initially. Later, the push can go straight across the shoulders. If you tip over, you're probably using too much upper body muscle.

Then, start with contradictory forces. Have a force go out your arms/hands from your spine while at the same time, a force is coming in through your arms/hands into your spine. Getting both of those going was tough, but it definitely changes the quality of how you receive a push. Course, you have to have contradictory forces going elsewhere, too, not just the arms.

Think of it this way. Let the energy of the push come through your arm, into your spine, down, and into the ground under the opposite foot. Then, think of Tohei's push test where people think of the arm as a water hose and water is flowing out the arm and out the hand. Combine the two and have them going at the same time.
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