Gekitotsu! Aikido

Preview of the introduction:

The movie is only 82 minutes long with some awesome 70′s blaxpoitation music1, so it is enjoyable as a sit-down without being too long.

The movie starts out having Morihei Ueshiba (Jiro Chiba) leading a farming community and they like to fight to pass the time. Morihei is the strongest in their community. One day in a chance encounter he protects a young kid but gets into a fight with the leader of an opposing group (Sonny Chiba) and almost gets killed. Bitterly disappointing in himself, he leaves the farming community in search of masters who will give him skills to defeat his now arch rival. He befriends one master and in doing so picks up another arch rival with dark intentions. The move leads to a final confrontation between Morihei and his two sworn enemies.

By the way, the person on the left of the poster plays Morihei Ueshiba, and the girl on the right (Yoko Koizumi) was barely in the movie as a student of his – the kanji on her gi might be misleading otherwise.

It’s just a fun movie like Enter the Dragon or any fighting movie from the 70′s, but there is very little, if any, actual aikido2 so just enjoy it as a themed movie and have fun.

1. Blaxploitation films starred primarily black actors in the 1970′s, and were the first to feature soundtracks of funk and soul music – from Wikipedia [↩]
2. except for a demonstration montage by Kisshomaru Ueshiba in the beginning credits [↩]

合気道パーフェクトマスター

In this publication, Doshu and (mainly) his son explain key points to posture, kamae, ukemi, as well as techniques between Aikikai 5th kyu and 3rd kyu levels. The DVD is 97 minutes long and entirely in Japanese (and for region 2 players – not like that means anything anymore). This is great because the viewer can hear the names of techniques with authentic Japanese pronunciation. In my case, I want to hear what Doshu thinks are important points as he explains key points and features. This book and DVD is not a mechanical step-by-step instructional video, but rather it focuses on critical elements that can be applied to more advanced techniques. That is why it is called Perfect Master.

The first instruction is how to sit in seiza and stand from it, then return to seiza. You may think you are a rock star at sitting in seiza and getting up from it, but they make it look cool and polished in the DVD. Also, whether you like to keep your hands up in kamae or not, Doshu makes keeping hands up カッコウイイ。 If for no other reason, when doing Aikido you should set aside your karate stance, your judo stance and/or your kickboxing stance because there is just something confident and non-threatening about Doshu’s Aikido stance that we can learn from, in my humble opinion.

The DVD then goes through ikkyo to yonkyo from various attacks. This is not a complete set of techniques like Tissier has made in his DVD set, but techniques are repeated at different speeds with key points highlighted, plus they are demonstrated by Doshu so it is a good reference. For example, where to press in yonkyo in explained in both omote and ura versions.

合気道パーフェクトマスター screenshot

Takemusu Aikido Special Edition: Budo

Takemusu Aikido Special Edition
Morihiro Saito
Aiki News, 1999
ISBN 4-900586-56-0
168 pages

Technical Description

Takemusu Aikido Special Edition: Budo presents an historical overview of the Founder’s aikido techniques from the time of the mid-1930s through the Iwama period following World War II. It is based on technical material contained in the manual entitled Budo published in 1938 by Morihei Ueshiba supplemented by detailed commentary by Morihiro Saito Shihan. The technical material in this volume includes preparatory exercises, basic techniques, knife (tantodori), and sword-taking techniques (tachidori), sword vs. sword forms (ken tai ken), mock-bayonet (juken) techniques, and finishing exercises (shumatsu dosa).

What I Learned

Photos are by Saito Sensei Sr., his son Saito Hitohiro, and historic photos of O-Sensei. I learned that Budo was the first organized Aikido manual which was published in 1938 and only around a hundred copies were made. It provides a snapshot in time of the development of Aikido. Some techniques have been changed over time by the Founder which makes me comfortable knowing that Aikido can still evolve.

Some technical aspects I learned/confirmed are:

• the ikkyo pin was done very differently in the past
• gokyo was not what it looks like today; it looked more like ikkyo ura
• O-Sensei clearly states iriminage requires grabbing the back of Uke‘s collar (p.36)
• shomenuchi nikyo urawaza: do not let uke get back up; after the nikyo pressure grab aite‘s elbow and push his shoulder to the floor (p.58)
• for ken-tai-ken men (our kenawase #7), O-Sensei says to strike at aite‘s head (pgs.128-131); do not strike his neck or motion to cut if off. Aikido is for peace, not gore.
• O-Sensei says that on shomenuchi ikkyo omote, Nage must grab Uke‘s elbow on the initial strike if he does not do an atemi first. (p.45)

Best Aikido - The Fundamentals

Best Aikido: The Fundamentals
Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Moriteru Ueshiba
Kosansha International, 2002
ISBN 4770027621
192 pages

My Review

The book starts out with an FAQ about Aikido from the authors – the late Kisshomaru Ueshiba and the current Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. Included in the FAQ is the purpose of furitama and torifune undo which I have always wanted to know about.

The next chapters are mainly step-by-step stills of a basic technique executed by Moriteru Ueshiba with a numbered description of each still. Techniques range from ikkyo to gokyo, omote and ura, from katatedori, ushiro ryotedori, yokomenuchi and tsuki. Most techniques include explanations from rippo and zaho (standing and sitting).

The stills are very clear, but most techniques have as many as six steps in the technique, but most have far fewer. The written step-by-step descriptions are simple and a teacher is needed to explain more, but the images by the leading authority well make up for this.

Book Description from Amazon.com

At last, the complete and authoritative introduction to all the fundamentals of Aikido, coauthored by the two direct successors to the Founder of the martial art, Morihei Ueshiba. Coauthors Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Moriteru Ueshiba, son and grandson of the Founder, seek to carry on his legacy and to share with the millions of men and women around the world practicing Aikido today the most important techniques and principles of the art.

This book is the quintessential training aid for all Aikido practitioners — whether beginning or advanced — who wish to further their understanding of the forms and spirit of Aikido.

Underlying the forms, or physical techniques, are the spiritual principles of Aikido, which are based on the notion of ki, or “life force.” Ki is the fundamental element to understanding Aikido. But as the authors explain, it cannot be learned merely by watching a demonstration or reading a book. Rather, one must come to experience it through practice, in unifying body and mind.

Best Aikido helps guide the practitioner to this goal. It offers step-by-step instruction that will complement knowledge learned in the dojo. The text is illustrated with a wealth of never-before-seen photographs that feature Aikido master Moriteru Ueshiba demonstrating the fundamental techniques of the art.

Best Aikido is authorized by the Aikikai Foundation, the central organization set up by Morihei Ueshiba.1

1. http://www.amazon.com/Best-Aikido-Fundamentals-Illustrated-Japanese/dp/4770027621 [↩]