Most Important Aikido Technique

Hi Peter,

Maybe it'll tickle you to know that I taught shomen-ate (or the most reasonable facsimile thereof that I could manage) in a class last night...

-- Jun

And???

Did they enjoy it?

It is a great technique but as Sean mentioned to do it right all the basic principles of Aikido must be employed.

Jun Akiyama (akiy) wrote: Hi Peter, Maybe it'll tickle you to know that I taught shomen-ate (or the most reasonable facsimile thereof that I could manage) in a class last night... -- Jun

They seemed to enjoy it. Of course, as I wrote, it was probably not the "best" shomen-ate that you've seen or done but was, more or less, the best I could do...

-- Jun

I think the reason that most people who practice aikido aren't so familiar with shomen-ate is because it's seldom done in contemporary aikido. I think the reason for this is that it can sometimes cause serious neck injuries.

Some forms of jujitsu still teach this technique.

P.S. Visitors to this Web site should be aware that not all of the posters are practicing aikido.

Mike Lee (mike lee) wrote: Visitors to this Web site should be aware that not all of the posters are practicing aikido.

All of those mentioning shomen-ate in this thread practice Aikido.

In full resistance randori this technique is quite common (it works). Mike is right that the technique performed on the untrained uke has the potential for serious consequences but you know I have never seen anyone injured because of it. Now if we want to talk about death and injury try shihonage. Face it boys Aikido by its very nature is a dangerous thing to do.

So, to head off the age-old argument of "what makes a technique 'aikido'" (which would be a great different thread, by the way (ahem)), I'll say that I've seen many, many techniques done by aikido shihan who trained under the founder that people might say, "Huh? I didn't know aikido had ------?" These techniques include sweeps, kicks, punches, sutemi, leg traps, pressure points, and so on.

My intention in starting this thread was to discuss which techniques were considered "paramount" by people here. I know many people who believe that ikkyo is the "most important." I believe Shioda sensei thought that shihonage included all of the most important principles in aikido. And so on.

Now, back to your regular scheduled programming.

-- Jun

I was originally thinking tenkan (get out of the way), but after reading Lynn S.'s vote, I agree that ukemi is the most important technique. We will all end up falling when we are elderly, osteoporotic and have bad vision, but most of us will never face an attack (and would we use aikido if we did?).



I'd rather not break my hip, thank you.

As far as I know, ukemi is not considered a technique or waza in aikido. But I've been living in isolation for the last 15 years -- maybe the definitions have been changed and no body told me.

Mike,

I agree with you in that ukemi is not strictly a technique, but most martial arts (in the whole universe of western and eastern styles) do not pay as much attention to falling down safely as Aikido generally does. Any two year old can do it, right?