This is similar to my post about iriminage from standing and sitting. It was only when I practiced shihonage omote from hanmi-handachi did I appreciate the standing version more. One Thursday I was practicing HH shomenuchi shihonage with friends at another dojo. It was clear that Tori has to take zempo with his inside knee while extending Uke to keep himself safe from a kick, and to start turning Uke.

Another way to think of shihonage is this: You know when you do ura both you and Uke have yourselves back-to-back for an instant? Why not achieve that in the omote version too?

I never recognized this idea before. Steve Sensei was trying to help another student by demonstrating katatedori shihonage on me. When he went to do omote I blended too nicely (he said) and stepped when he extended me. He chuckled and asked me not to be so nice and to make Tori to make me take “that extra step” before the giri movement.

Why didn’t I noticed this before? In shihan videos Uke usually blends nicely too and that step can be hidden by flowing movement. I love shihan videos, but for this case I looked at some of those “Aikido how-to” videos by people in North America to see what they think – that extra step is not emphasized or even done sometimes. Here is a clip of a teacher getting his students to demonstrate without the step by Uke:

I am not advocating this.

And here is another – no Uke step on omote.

I am not advocating this.

If you cannot see what I am talking about, here is an exaggeration of making Uke step before the shihonage cut-down on omote by our Yoshinkan cousins. It is very clear in this clip.

In conclusion, I will try to emphasize making Uke step for shihonage omote as it helps me keep safe from a kick, and it helps Uke into a clean ukemi.