Thread: Reversals
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Old 01-20-2006, 12:16 PM   #10
Dan Herak
Dojo: Florida Aikikai
Location: South Florida, USA
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 41
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Re: Reversals

My sensei just started a couple of us on kaishiwaza after we earned ikkyu ranks. For self defense purposes, kaishiwaza techniques are a bit unrealistic. You are more likely to employ aikido to avoid or deal with a drunken lout than an experienced aikidoka performing shihonage on you.

However, they are very useful in helping one better sharpen techniques' angles. They are also useful, and perhaps this is the same thing, in helping one hone one's timing, both in terms of when a technique is not really "completed" because someone can still get out of it, but also in terms of when one can apply a technique even if one is originally on the receiving end of something. My sensei has not only taught us a few kaishiwaza techniques but also has asked us to start with some particular technique, such as kaiten-nage and see for ourselves which counters we can come up with. Quite useful in thinking of the techniques in a more holistic manner.
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