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Ron Tisdale wrote:
Hi David. I've always been wary when people define awase as "blending"...my own japanese instructor always responds with "what is this blending???".  |
Mark mentioned that
awase can be translated as "together". That's not bad for a one word definition but the word as typically used in Aikido is more complex.
Awase has the flavor of being "in phase" as in the waves viewed on an oscilloscope. When a training exercise focuses on
awase the partners are trying to match one another. It is a method used to develop sensitivity. You first learn to match another's movements before you go to the more "applied" level which would be called for in an actual confrontation.
One would not normally strive for
awase in an applied situation. In a real conflict one would attempt to put the attacker "out of phase" with his movements (thus preventing kaeshiwaza). Pulse type movements, timing changes, strong balance breaks and atemi are all ways to accomplish this.