Thread: Ikkyo
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Old 02-12-2003, 08:00 AM   #5
Jeff Tibbetts
Dojo: Cedar River Aikikai
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 142
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You know, I had a thought in class a while back during Ikkyo and I guess this is a good time to bring it up. I think for many of us Ikkyo is one of our first techniques, and it's often considered more "basic". Of course it's not basic, it's another 15 year technique, but there's a reason people think it's more basic. In my experience, even if you don't get all the details right, it's one of the easiest techniques to fudge into working anyway. That is to say, you can't keep going with a Koshinage if you screw it up, but even if you mess up Ikkyo pretty bad it is still almost as effective, and almost always will take Uke down. While this shows how great a technique it is, it also makes it more difficult to make changes, in my opinion. If my body feels it work, then it's hard to try to do it a different way even if I know that it isn't right. For almost any other technique, there is a real need and motivation to altering the technique to make it work better. Just a thought, but I brought it up in class and we were all just like "yeah, progress feels a little slower with this one". Any thoughts on this one? I know that this doesn't address the original problem, but maybe this helps explain why the question came up. To actually respond to the question, I think the thing that helped me the most was to get that arm held RIGHT up into my center before I started moving, and also to walk zig-zag first right, then left with the arm held. The first step to the right pushes your right hip into their armpit, and connects you more; the secong step to the left will quickly drop the uke down. One of the best aspects of Ikkyo for me is how much it really _doesn't_ hurt, so pain is really minimal from what I can feel. Hope this helps.

If the Nightingale doesn't sing-
wait
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