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Old 05-21-2008, 05:07 AM   #3
Dazzler
Dojo: Bristol North Aikido Dojo
Location: Bristol
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 659
England
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Re: Uchikaiten Sankyo

I cant see the youtube clip - banned in my office but heres something from a few years ago...not ai hanmi but close enough.

I've changed some of my thoughts since I wrote this but most of it I agree with still. Hope it helps

Daren

SHOMENUCHI UCHI KAITEN SANKKYO

There are several ways in which this technique can be performed. All are relatively similar and relate to the moves practiced in uchi kaiten nage which is preparation for sankyo.

We tend to practice just ura versions of this since we utilise our response to ukes shomen and therefore always start on the receiving end.

Remembering that there are 2 versions of shomen we have at least 2 methods to achieve this.

Here I will actually cover three all of which are basically the same but with minor differences to accommodate Tori defending by moving inside or outside ukes attack and also depending on the type of shomen used by uke.

Starting with the standard downward cut to the head with uke stepping forward to strike. Tori takes ai hamni posture. Assuming uke strikes with their left hand, as uke strikes Tori steps forward and applies atemi to ukes head with their right hand. They will have stepped with their right foot. This step should blend with ukes attack -- step too soon and the attack changes direction, step too late and it will hurt! The step also takes uke safetly off line and their kamae will be approximately at 45% to uke with lead foot pointing towards uke.

While stepping Toris left hand comes over the top of ukes attacking hand. It is not a block. Instead it applies downward pressure to blend with ukes downward strike. As the strike concludes its descent Toris hand can divert it from its original course and draw it in the direction of ukes centre.

As Ukes hand is diverted, Toris right hand retracts from its initial atemi and is in place in ukes centre to take control of ukes hand which toris left hand sweeps to Toris right. As tori grasps ukes hand his thumb should slide onto the back of ukes hand, Toris palm should wrap around ukes tegatana and Toris fingers will be in ukes palm.

From this position Tori lifts ukes hand up and out to the side of uke. It will now be at 90% to its original direction, and extended out to the side of uke. It should only be moved to its maximum full natural extension. Too short and Tori will be too close to uke. Too far and uke will be disturbed.

As Tori takes ukes arm out to the side he uses tsugayashi to move his own body off-line while lifting Ukes hand high. It should be easy to move it up since it is at the natural extension and there is no reason for uke to resist. As the right armof Tori raises ukes left arm, Tori uses atemi to stop uke turning while using irimi to move his centre to a position under ukes held hand.

A common mistake is for Tori to extend both hands so that he applies atemi and takes ukes hand to the side but does not move his own body. There is no irimi here, Tori remains in a dangerous position so kamae is not good. Furthermore the focus becomes fixed on the atemi instead of establishing a spiral which is the true value of sankyo.

At this point Tori is off line with his centre under ukes arm which Tori holds aloft with his right hand. He has just applied a light controlling atemi to ukes face and is about to turn to apply sankyo.

Since the finish from here will be the same for all three versions I'll recap and look at how we reach this position in the other 2 versions.

The second version of this can be used where a rising shomen uchi attack is used. This will rise up from ukes centre in the form of a heel of the hand strike to Toris chin or nose.

In this case Tori will again evade this strike by entering off-line and applying his own countering atemi. This time he will reach back under ukes hand which will be at the original position of Toris head, and then Tori will take the same grasp as before. Tori will then turn back to use irimi and atemi while stepping with tsugayashi to the position where sankyo is just about to be applied.

The third version of this really applies better to yokomen attack however for completeness I'll include it.

This time as uke strikes Tori will step inside and apply atemi to the face with his left hand while parrying (Not blocking !) the striking hand with his right hand.

From this position Tori can tsugayashi forward on his left foot thus practicing irimi and moving his centre once again to the position above. This will also involve moving ukes extended arm around to the side and up. This should not be difficult since ukes arm is now extended while Tori is fully centred behind it.

If there are any doubts to the efficiacy of this don't forget that uke has just received atemi. A great discouragement to any tendancy to block a partners moves.

So with all three options explored we are again at the position where Tori is off line with his centre under ukes arm which Tori holds aloft with his right hand. He has just applied a light controlling atemi to ukes face and is about to turn to apply sankyo.

From this position Tori now steps forward with his back leg, stepping under ukes raised arm. He will be using heppo geri foot movement. As his left foot land he turns back to face the same direction as uke and reinforces the right hand grip on ukes hand by also gripping the other side of ukes held hand. This sandwiches it between Toris palms.

At this stage Toris turn starts to subject uke arm to a spiralling control. As Tori turns in the same direction as uke, Ukes fingers will be held pointing downwards and his elbow points skywards. The sankyo will be starting to take effect.

There are many things that could take place from this point, what we choose to do is continue the move in keeping with the rest of our practice. So at tis point Tori will tenkan back in the direction of ukes 3rd point and turn as he steps.

Toris hands remain in his centre so they start pointing in the direction that Uke originally struck but now point to the rear. As the turn takes place Tori raises his hands which increases the impact of the sankyo by spiralling upwards. This cause uke to jump back and raises them onto their toes. At this point the sankyo is very powerful.

What Tori does as he applies the sankyo in this manner is to move uke to a position which restores Toris good kamae. He must turn far enough to move ukes to the safe position outside of Toris front foot. This will be the right foot if you can still follow this!

Once uke is outside of Toris front foot Tori can cut uke all the way down to the floor. Since uke will have been up on his toes and under the control of the sankyo it should be possible to cut uke all the way down so that his posture is destroyed and he has to break his fall with his right hand. As the cut completes Tori releases his left hand grip on uke.

From here the finish depends on uke. Michael Narey often cracks a joke ‘it's the way the uke crumbles'. You can decide if you like this …or not.

Anyway, for now I'll assume that as uke breaks their fall they have their lead leg protecting their groin. This means that Tori will be in a postion to execute an ura version of the sankyo finish.

So as uke breaks his fall, before he can reset himself Tori turns to the rear of uke, lightly pulling ukes held hand past his own centre and out towards ukes rear. Toris free left hand will grip ukes elbow and tori first uses tsugayashi with right leg forward (irimi) before using tenkan with the left leg to turn and spiral uke to the floor.

From here the standard sankyo finish is applied.

As uke lands on his chest Tori can slide his left hand in to also control ukes elbow while kneeling either either side of ukes shoulder.

Toris right hand slides up to press ukes palm to his chest, his left hand curves palm up to bend ukes elbow and he lifts ukes arm while turning to ukes head to apply sankyo finish to uke.

For a tighter feeling he may grip ukes hand and apply an additional twist as he turns to ukes head with the twist also turning in this direction.

At all times throughout Tori should keep his head high maintaining his shisei and enabling breathing to remain unrestricted.
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