Tonight we started off class with the always-appropriate tai-no-henko wam-up. Andy and I have gotten comfortable moving like Saito Sensei and Osawa Sensei in their videos (See my post on this here). One critical observation that Andy and I noticed and emulate subconsciously is how Saito Sensei finishes at the end of the exercise. Here is a photo:

tai-no-henkou-saisyo

Please notice that his fingers are pointing upwards.

We were made aware that Inaba Sensei and others like to have their palms flat with their fingers extended and Ki radiating from them to infinity. Andy and I tried both slight variations and here is what we found:

1. If tai-no-henko is finished with the palm flat and the fingers extending into the horizon, then it is surprisingly easy as Uke to slide his hand down the wrist and snatch Nage’s fingers and do yubidori or gyaku-nikyo. Try it.
2. In the above picture, to snatch Nage’s fingers requires Uke to let go of Nage’s wrist and attempt to scale the hand in order to get at the wrist. His own thumb is preventing him from climbing straight up. He has to let go which gives Nage a sensation and precious extra milliseconds to react.
3. Where does the Ki go? I believe it extends along the forearm and radiates from the bend in the wrist along the path of the forearm. The forearm becomes a shaft whose tip is the bend in the wrist.

Ki is not supposed to turn sharp corners any more than a fast-moving car can. That is why it feels like it sources at the hara and radiates through my extended arms and out through my wrist keeping ki-no-musubi with aite.