I’ve spent more time at Steve’s dojo because Calgary Aikikai is closed on Saturdays for Summer. I wish they were open, especially because there is a test coming up in September for their students. C’est la vie – Summer is vacation time.

Today we did ikkyo from insert-anything-here attack, and Steve Sensei came to show my junior partner how to pin better in ikkyo. Before the pin he pauses at one interesting point. I like it. He inserts his knee into Uke‘s armpit and keeps his other knee up to brace Uke‘s arm. I practice this way too, but here is the difference – he locks Uke‘s wrist into his hip in a very secure transition hold before putting his knee down and sliding Uke‘s arm into the pin. This is not to be confused with putting Uke‘s wrist to Tori‘s hip before taking him down – do this when Uke is already down.

I think Andrew Sensei had us do this one class – I wish it were encouraged more because I love the stretch it gives as Uke.