Kaze Uta Budo Kai Forum Archive

One of my Aikido guys has been facing a lot of hip and knees problems. It looks like at least for the short-medium term much of his ukemi days are limited.

We have been talking about starting jo sessions on the days he shows up. We currently have the Aikido and Judo going, might as well flush out the trinity.

I have been watching some of the videos ya'll generously put up. Does any of the Jo gurus here have a suggestion on what order to tackle the material? We don't have to get it perfect at first, as I expect a lot of corrections over the seminars to come.

Thanks!

Eric

Hey Eric,

In Jodo, there is a TON of minutia. There are a lot of little details that can easily bog you down if you dwell on them too long. I can spend an entire class just working on the tsune-no-kamae posture transition into honte-no-kamae. This stuff is very important, but it will come over time.

I would suggest working on solo kihon forms first. Use the jo and perform each strike a lot. Focus on precision & proper technique. Do what's easy. I like really slow motion stuff, as it provides ample time for people to consciously process what's going on and adjust. Over time you can speed up naturally.

From there learning the two-man kihon form becomes easy, as you are really adding a real opponent into your practice (compared to the imaginary one you're used to).

From there, kata becomes application of the individual waza strung together. For shodan, techniques 1, 2, 4 & 6 are required. You pick up 3 & 5 along with 7 & 8 for nidan.

the order i'd suggest
first as single person then as paired exercise:
kihons
tsune no kame
honte no kame
honte uchi
gyakute no kame
gykute uchi
hiki otoshi uchi
kaeshi zuki uchu
gyakute zuki uchi
makiotoshi uchi
kuritsuke
kurihanashi
taiatari
tsukihazushi uchi
dobarai uchi
tai hazushi

kata -- seitei kata forms 1-2-4-6 first
then later fill in 3 an 5
after that just in sequential order up to 12

Be particularly careful about maintaining proper posture, and let physics do the work. First develop precision, then later add speed, then power, then it all becomes natural.

And if you haven't already, this video provides some great insight into training methods/principles. The concepts of big/strong/fast/light are very interesting.

Eric asked about independent study, and Jack mentioned physics ...

Since we don't have regular contact with a high-ranked jo teacher here in Minneapolis, I've been focusing a lot on fundamental 1-stick physics myself, and relying on a very mixed bag of tools.

For example, in juggling there's staff manipulation and staff spinning (see for example this dvd http://www.dube.com/video/ArtStaffSageDVD.php). This art is a terrible postural influence but provides some great lessons in how the stick "wants" to behave. Also, whacking yourself with the stick over and over makes it less scary to risk somebody else doing so. 😉

The 9-pound "body bar" you can find in lots of gyms nowadays is about the same length as a jo, and just a little thicker. I've found it's also a good physics and ergonomics teacher. (And boy does that warmup sequence get more interesting.) (Be careful though, and work slowly, or you'll risk serious injury.)

There are some inspiring aikido weapons tutorials out there as well. I'm particularly fond of this video with Charles Koh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPbBACWbu0U -- in terms of posture and application he's on a different planet than we are, but the way he transitions between fluidity and structure has given me a lot to think about.

My *hope* is that an honest relationship with the stick's own physics and good posture from aikido will keep my jyodo correct enough to be improvable later, rather than needing to unlearn and relearn the whole business. I certainly find it improves my aikido, and I find that over time the jyodo material makes more and more sense; but who knows if my understandings are correct...

my favorite solo training, which i did extensively for about a decade, is to hit a pell -- get a fence post and set it in the dirt so its about your height-- cut a hole in an old tire and mount it at the top (the tire is optional but your practice weapons will last longer if you are hitting the bouncy rubber instead of the hard wood) -- apply weapons vigorously to target often and regularly -- it is very important to learn what really hitting something is like -- ther is no substitute for real contact to develop real control

I agree re: the pell. here are a couple of articles describing how I built my pell using rope as padding instead of a tire, and some video of me beating on it...


http://www.mokurendojo.com/2008/05/how- ... t-uke.html

http://www.mokurendojo.com/2009/10/my-j ... getsu.html