Super Time at Houston Aikibudokan
Glenn and I just got back form Houston-- we had a wonderful time connecting with old Friends-- the seminar was high energy and well attended and included Mark and Rita from Ohio, Ron from Florida and Rubin from Corpus plus all the fine folks at Aikibudokan in Houston-- Glenn and I were given beautiful treatment by one and all-- LF did a terrific job rolling out Kogure's double handed work, then he explored a nice set of randori sequences he has created and then shared the beginnings of a really interesting sutemi waza kata that he is developing which springs off the Big 10-- cool stuff all around -- we were busy round the clock and delighted to enjoy the sweat and motion with such kind and generous folks-- i'm confident we shall have many happy returns
Wanted to add some of my thought on the trip to Houston.
It was great to see LF and his wife Lynn again. I've grown a deeper respect for them. They did not get burned out from their previous sensei and have kept up with it all these years. That speaks volumes to their dedication to the art.
It was the first time I had been to the Aikibudokan. The people there were very respectful. Even though I had never met these people I felt a kinship, like it was another home.
The two-handed release drill was another interesting lesson in kuzushi and control of uke by the movement of uke's body, not hands. These are what I would call Tore-driven, not Uke-driven, as I have been used to. To me it looks like that Tore has to execute a little more kuzushi that what I have been used to. There is a window of too little and of course too much. The window of effort of kuzushi shifts a little.
I've been used to the idea of an Uke-driven rondori. Waiting for Uke to make the first move. More or less passive, but in real life that is not always the case. What if you were a policeman and had to apprehend a suspect. Are you going to wait until the suspect makes a move at you? I think not. What if someone on the street were attacking one of your friends but not you directly? Aikido can not be considered just a passive form self-defense. Sometimes Tore has to take the initiative and the initial kuzushi and try to maintain control. Related to this idea is the window of initiative: sensen no sen, sen no sensen, and go no sen.
Bottom line: I had a great time. I'd like to go back some day. I heard some of LF's students are coming for our weeklong clinic. If you get a chance to go to one of LF's clinics, I would highly recommend it.
yes tori driven vs. uke driven is really just a question of "sen" -- you are correct that tori driven does require a different skill set in terms of mediating kuzushi and also directions of action. One of the things i want to look into more deeply is the initial breaking of the moment of inertia and the potential vunerabilty that occurs when that function is not accomlished-- i suspect that this will be interesting .... more later