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Old 06-18-2004, 10:02 AM   #54
kironin
 
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Dojo: Houston Ki Aikido
Location: Houston,TX
Join Date: Aug 2000
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Re: The sword in aikido

Quote:
Ron Tisdale wrote:
It didn't help that I over cut way past the target...this particular school focuses on never over cutting as it leaves great big whopping suki...kind of like the one you see above.
yes, in general and certainly for us, you never want to cut way past the target for the reason you give. One of the things you learn in iai is to cut with power but still leave yourself in a position to respond immediately if they successfully evade your cut. Horizontal cuts I find the most difficult to maintain proper hasugi. I wonder sometimes if I am fighting muscle memory from swinging a baseball bat a lot as a kid.

You are right not having a peg there for a good cut is more a mental issue. A peg makes it a little more easy to make multiple cuts on a single target though but it won't stop a bad cut from launching the target off the stand.

As to comparing test cutting to board breaking as mentioned earlier in this thread, it reminded me that while I was in Tokyo last November, I happened to catch an early morning show which was doing a news bit on a local club that was about 15 years old. It was like a gym and they all had shinken. The whole practice was test cutting of all sorts. Men and women (talk about babes with sharp swords!). As I recall they called what they do Toh-Do. It does sort of bring up the same image as would a karate dojo that only practiced board breaking.

best,
Craig
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