|
Author: Bret Gordon Several months ago, I wrote an article entitled "Jujutsu Gives Form To Aiki" (click here) that was intended to be a standalone piece. However, I recently came across two Judo video clips that exemplified the point I was trying to make and so I want to expound upon it. Something stood out to me in both of these clips. If you watch the initial kuzushi (structural disruption), they are nearly identical to some of the aiki connection drills we teach in American Yoshinkan, followed by a more conventional technique to complete the throw. Take a look at the first video, the kouchi gari by Justin Flores, and focus on the position, motion, and pressure of the lapel hand. Now watch this excerpt from a previous video of mine (click here for full video), where the brother of one of my students wanted to know what aiki felt like, and pay attention to my lead hand. What made this video special is not the technique, but who it's being performed on. Joe Wilson is a highly accomplished high school and college wrestler (click here for profile), and his brother that trained with me at the time had similar experiences. Justin Flores uses this to create kouchi gari, but if you watch closely his uke is already falling before the reap. That's because in both his video and mine, the uke's center of balance is shifted back, their shoulders are behind their hips, and downward force is exerted through their centerline. The kouchi gari is merely the shape which Flores inserted the aiki balance break, and in a true combative or randori scenario, is the practical application for that aiki connection drill.  In the second clip by Nifo Faletagoi, where he demonstrates kuchiki taoshi (Judo's version of a single leg takedown), we see aiki principles again used to create the initial kuzushi. Rather than simply pulling the arm down, he creates a wave through uke's body, gets uke's shoulders behind their hips, and exerts downward force while simultaneously grabbing the leg to complete the take down. Even just from the still image here, we can see uke's balance being disrupted to the point where his left hand is shooting out to instinctually try to stabilize. In the video below, my grip on the arm is different than in Nifo's video as I was demonstrating a different technique, but the position of uke and the principles being applied are the same. Which brings me to my overall point. Aiki by itself is nothing. It is a set of biomechanical principles and a pre-conditioned state of being. You can walk with aiki, you can sit and stand with aiki, and you can practice partner drills that exemplify how aiki creates different effects on the body. That is where the majority of traditional Aiki Jujutsu and Aikido practitioners stop. However, unless you also have a traditional combative foundation, whether that is Jujutsu, Judo, or any other discipline, all you will accomplish are a highly refined set of skills that have no practical use. Without the fighting techniques to infuse the principles into, aiki drills are nothing more than cool parlor tricks. They are what enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of a technique, they are not the technique itself. The pioneers of the aiki arts knew this, and they reserved the study of internal power for those that already had a solid foundation in the fighting arts. Now, I'm sure neither Justin Flores or Nifo Faletagoi ever studied internal arts (of course I don't know much about them so I could be wrong) so is it just a coincidence that the nuances of their kuzushi are the exact same principles we emphasize in Aiki Jujutsu? Yes and no, but there's a small history lesson needed to understand why. Unlike what is commonly seen at the competitive level, where athleticism and strength play a large factor among today's champions, high-level practitioners like Mifune Kyuzo and Karl Geis demonstrated a more sophisticated form of Judo that is more akin to aiki. Geis, of course, also studied Aikido and it's easily understandable why his Judo looked and felt the way it did. The effortlessness of Mifune, as seen in the clip below, suggests that such an understanding and sensitivity to movement, power generation, and structure, is the pinnacle of Judo itself. Tomiki Kenji, creater of the Kodokan's Goshin Jutsu (self defense) kata, held both an 8th Dan in Judo and Aikido. He would later go on to form his own art of Shodokan Aikido that actually encourages Judo-style randori, but Judo's connection to the aiki arts goes all the way back to its origins. After witnessing a demonstration of Ueshiba Morihei in 1926, Kano is quoted as saying "this is the ideal budo, true Judo" (click here for source), but let's go even farther back than that.  When the Kodokan first opened, and challenged the other Jujutsu ryuha to prove Judo's dominance, Kano's prized fighter was a man named Saigo Shiro. Shiro was the adopted or illegitimate son (depending which source you read) of Saigo Tanomo, the man from whom Takeda Sokaku is supposed to have learned the secret art of Oshiki Uchi which would form the foundation for Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu. Further, it's said that Shiro was meant to be Tanomo's designated successor until he chose to align with the Kodokan in order to attach himself to Kano's rising popularity and national prominence. Shiro would go on to fame, winning many matches for the Kodokan with a technique he called Yama Arashi (which according to the statue of Shiro performing this throw looks nothing like the Kodokan technique of the same name).
Given all of this information, it is fair to assume that aiki principles (maybe not aiki conditioning or body transformation, but at least the nuanced methods of kuzushi) have always been present in the art of Judo, and that the competition platform which rewards athleticism, strength, and fanciful techniques has lead to the subtleties of the art being lost. Nonetheless, it's exciting for me to catch glimpses of it out in the wild. Judo and Aiki Jujutsu are, in my opinion, two halves of a whole, and that is how I teach them. Maybe one day the idea will catch on...
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
October 2024
Sponsored By:
|