Favorite kata?
What's your favorite kata in Aikido? I find them all interesting, but which one really excites you?
I really love San Kata, with the varying maai, kneeling, standing and weapons. I think it's a very beautiful kata.
Well, I've never gone through go and roku kata, buuut from I've done thus far, I'd say yon kata. Something about how smooth, light and flowing it is, but yet so devastating. 😄
I also like the parts of san kata that deal with the jo and bokken.
But you know, I also really like the releases (maybe that's what I like about yon kata, too). I find them endless fascinating, with endless nuances.
The releases are fascinating. There's a lot of neat things you can do. I like that we practice the releases in a worst case scenario for tori. If uke grabs further up the arm, it is much worse for him.
I also like how, in randori, if the other bloke gets a little ahead of himself and tries to make a technique happen, more often than not, my way out is a release. 😈
I particularly like owaza. It feels like the most aiki-like of the kata because of the constant separation. I like doing it with the variable distance and extra momentum of uke but I also like doing it from YK2 or a 2-hand grab condition.
Pat
I like the weapons part of the sankata... but my favorite will always be the yonkata