I hadn’t thought to look up Kanazawa Sensei in over 2 years. He was a fine teacher at Hombu – stern and serious. He was teaching the beginner’s class on the second floor while I was there. He doesn’t have that many videos so this is a treat to watch.

His shihonage cut-down is very nice. It makes me want to look into mine yet again.

Kanazawa Sensei, yokomenuchi shihonage ura

Shihogiri continued

... continued

I’ve noticed that many shihans cut down at an angle (which I explored in a previous post). Kanazawa Sensei really cuts through Uke‘s center of gravity, then sweeps back out. It looks almost like two cuts. I never thought to cut into Uke‘s center before, just kuzushi by way of gravity and then sweep out to make him turn as he falls. I’m looking forward to practicing this on Thursday.

Kanazawa Sensei Shihonage