Today went from 10:30 am until about 3:30 pm with an hour for lunch.

We started with basic tai-no-henko practice. Kawahara Sensei emphasized that the palm be faceup, and when we tenkan our fingers should point in the direction of Uke‘s extended arm.

We then went into tai-no-henko with nagare for a short period of time. No general comments from Kawahara Sensei.

Now doing uchi tai-no-henko, Kawahara Sensei had a good point to help everyone: For uchi, we do not let Uke grab our wrist. As he comes to grab out wrist, we retract it by bending it inward toward our hara. This is basic. What he suggests is to not only bend it, but to bend it and present your elbow so Uke cannot grab your forearm (or sode) after a failed wrist-grab attempt. Also, when you retract your forearm to your hara, go past your hara. I noticed that Kawahara Sensei bends his arm, presents his elbow and retracts his arm so that the wrist is well on the other side of his body, beyond his hara. In fact, his elbow becomes closer to his hara than his overshot wrist.

Building on uchi tai-no-henko, we did katatedori kotegaeashi. Sensei had good advice for this was well: After Uke‘s hand is grabbed from the top and after you have done the first tenkan, you have a choice to make: send Uke‘s energy back into himself or outward in the direction he is already going. Beginners stop after the first tenkan and curl Uke‘s fingers and wrist back into him so he falls. The better version is to do another tenkan (not blocking Uke!) so that when you apply the kotegaeshi it is in the direction that Uke is moving already. However, if after the first tenkan Uke is adamant about resiting, you can do the so-called beginner way and blend with Uke‘s pulling toward himself. This is according to Sensei, today.

This time it was katatedori koshinage. Right away we are supposed to extend Uke‘s arm out using an atemi, extend up and tenkan in to get Uke‘s center of gravity raised, then continue the koshinage. Sensei goes on to say that atemi is 90% of Aikido.

Next, we went to zagi ryokatadori nikyo osae. Both arms need to be addressed simultaneously to prevent you from being hit by an unattended arm. From the outside in, one arm needs to be cut down toward the horizontal middle of both of you (cut down toward your hara). At the same time, from underneath the second arm needs to be raised and directed upward in a circular motion. This will cause Uke to begin twisting his body, as well as guard your body in case he lets go to strike you. Next, tenkan maybe 90 degrees so you are perpendicular to Uke when he comes to rest; you should guide his shoulder in between your legs for the nikyo pin.

The old way of doing the above pin was to pop Uke‘s elbow (i.e. break it), then strike the back of his head or spine. “We don’t do that anymore.”

Kawahara Sensei then talked about lining up in seiza. Specifically, in the Aikido world it is not important who is on the left of whom. We are all humble. What is important is for everyone to hurry and line up for the next demonstration. However, if someone like Ueshiba Sensei comes to visit, then out of great respect we line up by rank.

We worked next on yokomenuchi nikyo via irimi. What was unique is that Kawahara Sensei wanted the shoulder pin of nikyo. That is, we are to hold Uke‘s arm upright from a standing position, press down on the back of his palm to lock his arm and apply pressure to his shoulder, then push his arm toward his head more to accentuate the pressure on the shoulder.