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Old 02-15-2013, 06:48 AM   #37
Alex Megann
Dojo: Southampton Aikikai
Location: Southampton
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 401
United Kingdom
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Re: Posture in Iwama Aikido

Quote:
Jim Clark wrote: View Post
This was just posted today by Aikido Journal (although it may be a re-posting).

http://store.aikidojournal.com/hitoh...ting-kokyunage

Hmmm.....
Yes, I saw that clip this morning too. I was surprised how much the posture of the ukes varied - the first and second guys in particular had the pronounced "Iwama" rearward positioning of the hips, and all of them seemed to do it more than Hitohiro Sensei himself.

The other thing that the clip reminded me of is the signature Iwama ukemi, where uke is projected horizontally and falls quite heavily. I first saw this in old films of Saito senior with Bruce Klickstein, and at the time I was very impressed by the athletic ukemi, but I wonder how sustainable this way of falling is into middle and later age.

By the way, what is the badge on Hitohiro's back? Does everyone in the Shuren-Kai wear this?

Alex

Last edited by Alex Megann : 02-15-2013 at 07:02 AM.
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