Irimi Uchi Tenkan Entry To Initiate Shomenuchi Sankyo Ura

Irimi soto tenkan

INTi Dojo Mon 21/6/10 class

The conventional and standard way of entering Uke's sphere to perform this technique is by stepping to the outside of Uke's cutting hand using irimi soto tenkan (outside turn from irimi entry) foot step. The picture on the right captures the irimi soto tenkan movement of Tori as he swings Uke's cutting hand in a downwards and rearward spiral for the finishing takedown onto the mat.

Tonight I taught the students a variation of the sankyo technique using a irimi uchi tenkan (inside turn from irimi entry) foot step to clinch with Uke as he steps forward cutting shomenuchi with his leading sword hand.

In this variation Tori slips under and pass through Uke's arm-pit to position himself to Uke's rear before executing the finishing takedown. Upon successfully positioning himself to Uke's rear the rest of Tori's movement is the same as the standard version as depicted in the picture above.

Sankyo lock

However in order to slip pass the small space under Uke's srm-pit, Tori must feint an atemi (strike) to Uke's head. My preference is to feint a strike with age ura zuki (rising inverted punch: uppercut) to Uke's chin though any other types of hand strikes are also applicable. As a deception and distraction tactic the objective of the atemi is to force Uke to lean his head and torso backwards and also to block the blow with his other free hand in the attempt to evade the strike. Uke's leaning his head and torso backwards will cause him to stand on his toes thus floating his whole body mass and centre of gravity upwards, resulting not only in Uke loosing his balance but also in creating a void under Uke's arm-pit for Tori to slip through to the rear side of his partner. Without this atemi Tori will have to bow his head downwards and forcefully lift Uke's hand upwards to create a passageway. This kind of forceful application will betray Tori's intent resulting in a counter attack by his partner before Tori can even initiate his action.

This version of shomenuchi sankyo wasn't even planned as part of the night's lesson. It just happened spontaneously in response to a late counter to a shomenuchi strike. I wanted to do the standard version but because I was stressed out and tired with a tension headache from my office work I was too late to respond when the Uke strike shomenuchi. Thus too slow to intercept Uke's cut when his hand was still overhead, I was forced to step offline when Uke's striking hand reached the end of its trajectory at gedan (low) level. Then without conscious of what I was doing at the point when Uke's chopping hand was already at gedan level I grabbed his wrist with two hands, and under cover of the age ura zuki strike, managed to go under Uke's arm-pit to successfully execute a sankyo lock and complete the takedown. Energised and delighted by the discovery of an alternative way of doing shomenuchi sankyo ura I gradually recovered my low energy level and then proceeded to other immobilisation and projections techniques.

Looking Deeply Under The Hood of The Katas of Aikido Training

Reading about the definition of karate by Morales-Santo Domingo as the study of katas got me thinking about the learning of Aikido techniques in the dojo.

"Kata is the manifestation of the art of karate. It unfolds its meaning through time. Most of a kata remains untold, undecipherable at first glance, most times at the hundredth glance. It is a ritual of epiphanies and within them the fleeting secrets lie," Jorge Morales-Santo Domingo

Is learning Aikido the same as learning katas? Well, it all depends on whom you ask and how you define what is kata.

20 years ago during the early formative years of my Aikido career when you ask me this question I would not hesitate to declare that learning Aikido techniques is not the same as learning katas because I was simply verbalising what my instructors had told me. Fast forwards 20 years later to the present time when I have become a teacher and am teaching the art to students I encounter the same question raised by inquisitive students.

If you define kata narrowly as a arrangement of fixed sets of idealised martial movements and forms practiced solo by the individual then Aikido training is not the same as practicing katas. Because in the typical Aikido training format where you need two partners to practice, one acting as the attacker and the other the defender as the study of Aikido is not a solo practice then obviously the learning of Aikido can not be equated to the study of katas.

On the other hand if you define kata generally as the study of a prearranged set of idealised martial movements with a known input and a known outcome then Aikido training is the same as learning katas. In the typical Aikido training format the attacker attacks in a prescribed way and likewise the defender counters and neutralize the attack also in a prescribed way. In this respect as far as the pair is concerned there is a known and predictable element of input (the method of attack) and also a known and predictable element of outcome (the method of defence). Thus even before the start of the exercise both partners are already aware of their respective roles and how to engage each other to produce the desired outcome because every movement is already prearranged and predefined before hand.

Nowadays whenever such a question arise I will tell the student that I am teaching him the katas of the art. Inevitably the next question will be whether the katas of the idealised martial movements will work in a real life situation.

My answer will be something along these lines:

"Just as no boxer fights like he spars, does the bag or skips rope I don't expect the Aikidoka to fight in self defence as he does the katas. Although the kata is a static mold, an ideal, a form, a map from here to there it teaches you essential martial principles such as timing, centering, relaxation, anticipation, extension, evasion, movements, breathing, postures, combat distance, exploitation of openings, deceptions, etc that would get you out of harm's way in a fight. While the forms may not represent realistic combat movements the underlying martial principles that these simple forms teach you are valid for self defence applications in all situations. By looking deeply below the hood to understand the intents behind the forms you are in fact learning a valid and practical combat science."

To further drive home the point I would show the student the myriad of practical applications hidden in the simple movements of the katas and adaptive transformation and use of the simple forms in different types of combat situation. I try to help the student understand that in the end there are really no static techniques or forms to master but just movements arising naturally and spontaneously in conflict resolution. However to get to the stage where you can freely use your movements to define the techniques you have to start the journey by learning the katas.

Wed class 2/6/10 in INTi. Movements define form.

Balinese Dancer

Instead of focusing rigidly on form and technical precision I asked the new girl member to imitate my movements intuitively in slow motion and also to capture with her mind and heart intent the functions embedded in the movements.

To allow the natural and intuitive process of learning to take place freely I broke down the technique into several parts and in each part breakdown further into Tori's and Uke's movements, all done in a slow, relaxed, rhythmic, continuous and dance-like motion.

After grasping the individual parts I then asked her to combine all the separate parts into one continuous movement. In my mind I was borrowing the concept from the slow, rhythmic, delicate yet graceful hand and body movements of the traditional Balinese court dancer to teach this new student how to execute a Aikido technique with effortless grace.

Lo and behold! At the end of the class this new girl who has never done Aikido before was able to execute the shomenuchi iriminage technique by recalling the movements rather than the precise forms.

Natural pecking order

INTi dojo Mon 24/5/2010 class. Natural pecking order

Max's absence of two months from practice didn't make any difference to the members. I noticed that during bowing in at the start of the class when modest Max tried to sit on the extreme left side of the row the guys shooed and ushered him to go sit on to the right side.

By protocol senior students get to sit on the right side and the juniors on the left. The guys still acknowledge 3rd kyu Max as their sempai even though I didn't intervene as I am not so particular about protocol. Then as if on cue 5th kyu WTJ who had rejoined the class after a year's break quietly sat on the left side of the row and nobody shooed him away. This shows that after training together and bonding for some time your mates will acknowledge,accept and respect you for who you are even though you may have dropped out from the training for quite a while.

31-count Aiki Jo kata presentation

Rehearsal before demo

Rehearsal before demo

Entering the arena

Aiki Jo demo in progress

Saturday 15/5/10 National Youth Day Rakan Muda Wajadiri public demonstration of the Aiki Jo at Putrajaya

Together with INTi students we joined Low Sensei's group in the presentation of Aikido's 31 count Aiki jo kata to the public. Altogether there were 21 participants from the various dojos in the group.

The event organisers allocated only a total of 5 minute for Aikido presentation. Out of the allocated 5 minutes, 1 minute was utilised for the Aiki Jo stick work while the remaining 4 minutes were utilised for the separate bokken (sword), tanto (dagger) and empty hand presentations. Although we had 1 minute for the Aiki Jo, in reality less the time taken for bowing in and bowing out of the arena we had at the most about 30 seconds to perform the stick work.

Although the presentation took only 1 minute of time the behind-the-scene preparatory and training for INTi/Semenyih group took about one week. One week before the event from Mon to Fri after work I had to rush to INTi and Semenyih to give a crash course on the 31-count Aiki Jo kata to the students because I had never taught them this Jo kata before.

Even on the day of the demo despite the intensive training I wasn't sure if my group of students could pull together with students from other dojos to put up a credible show. Knowing all the steps and movements is one aspect but in a mass drill you must be able to work harmoniously together with others as a team. Fortunately after doing a few combined rehearsals before the show all the participants from the different dojos managed to click together as a team.

The significance of Tori's thumb-up position of the captured hand in Katatedori Ikkyo Omote.

Katatedori Ikkyo Omote
Tory on the left thumbs of
captured hand facing up

Semenyih Dojo. Fri class 5/3/10

"Why tori must keep his thumb up as in palm facing sideway and not to the side as in palm facing down in the beginning of Katatedori Ikkyo Omote ?"

One puzzled student asked me this question during katatedori ikkyo omote exercise on Fri 5/3/10 during the training.

With reference to the Tori on the left hand side of the accompanying photo....

During the execution of the technique beside stepping back with his lead foot Tori has to rotate his captured hand clockwise so that the thumb finally ends pointing downwards towards the floor and the fingers naturally curved backwards. In stepping back his lead foot Tori breaks Uke's body alignment by translation forcing Uke to step forward with his lead foot to compensate for his body tilting forwards. In spinning the captured hand clockwise Tori further breaks Uke's body structure through rotation forcing Uke's body to tilt and rotate side ways. This effect is similar to earthquake where due to the shaking of the ground horizontally buildings tilt sideways and collapse to the ground. Thus in stepping backwards and rotating his captured hand Tori destroys Uke's balance and stability in two directions ie forwards through translation and sideways through rotation.

By keeping the palm facing downwards and the thumb facing the side at the beginning of the exercise Tori can only spin his captured hand a quarter of a circle. By keeping the palm facing sideway and the thumb pointing upwards to the sky like imitating a hand shake form, Tori can spin his hand by half a circle. Thus it is not difficult to see that the thumb-up position induces a bigger range of rotation than the thumb-sideway position which is extremely limiting in scope. The bigger the range of rotation the more Uke's body tilt to the side and the more effort Uke has to exert to restore his instability. In his anxiety to forcefully recover Uke creates tension and stiffness in his body leading to further breakdown of his body alignment

To be effective and almost effortless Aikido techniques have to be executed in a multi-dimensional way and not just limiting to only one. I notice many students rely exclusively on stepping backwards with their lead feet and issue atemis to their partners' faces with their free hands to break Ukes' stability. Thus unaware of the effect of rotating the captured hands they are unable to see the significance of which way the palms are facing at the beginning of the exercise.

Shomenuchi Ikkyo omote. Adapting to reality

Basic shomenuchi ikkyo omote

Initial hand placement

Basic Shomenuchi Ikkyo Omote initial hand placement
Shomenuchi ikkyo omote is the first control technique used by Tori to defend against an overhead attack by Uke. Uke's action is the empty hand equivalent of an overhead sword cut or kiri-oroshi. In this technique Tori intercepts and redirect Uke's forwards and downwards slash upwards and backwards towards the attacker by cupping the Uke's elbow with his left hand and slicing Uke's right forearm with his own right arm. This way of applying the technique is fine if the two partners are about the same size and weight. Have you wonder how to apply ikkyo omote to a fully committed attacking partner who is one head taller, has longer limbs and weighs more than you? Imagine trying to stop or to redirect a runaway freight train coming your way.

Intercepting Uke's upper armA humbling lesson from a beginner
Many years ago when I first started teaching Aikido in INTi, I asked a beginner student to attack me with shomenuchi. That person was one head taller than me had long arms and legs and easily weighed 90 kg. In comparison I was a midget as my height was up to his shoulder level only and weighed 56 kg.

When I asked the big guy to attack in a

Close up of Tori's initial

hand placement

committed way he did exactly as he was told. When I tried to redirect Uke's cut in the convention way that I was taught the impact sent my two hands collapsing towards my face. If  I had not retreated two steps backwards and stiffen my spine to brace against the attack Uke's forearm would have flatten my nose and smashed my teeth. That evening I went home with a sore forearm and a sprained back, and of course a very bruised ego.

Another view of Tori's

initial hand placement

Adaptive use of the initial shomenuchi hand placement
The problem is that if the attacker is taller than you and with longer hands it is difficult to reach for his arm and forearm on the Uke's upswing hand. By the time you intercept Uke's attacking hand it is on the downswing, almost mid-way to getting hit on the face. In this position your two outstretched hands, instead of deflecting the attacking force upwards become a focus of support for Uke's downwards cut. Thus unless Uke stops or slows his attack momentary for Tori to play catch-up Uke's attacking hand can slice through Tori's weak defence to slam on your face.

After some analytical thinking and experimentation I found out that by extending both hands together to meet Uke's upper arm instead of cupping Uke's elbow with one hand and trying to reach for his forearm with the other it is possible to catch Uke on his upswing yet preserving your own center without over-extending your body and take Uke down at his most vulnerable position. Thus by a slight adaptation of the initial hand placement I could take down guys taller and heavier than me and still preserve the essence of O Sensei's teachings. I would like to share this little piece of discovery with the reader. Imagine you are Tori and Uke attacks shomenuchi with his right hand.

1. Stand on right hanmi guard. Uke is standing on left hanmi guard
2. Watch Uke's body language especially his shoulders. When Uke raise his right hand over head to cut he has to rotate his shoulder first.
3. At the slightest rotation of his right shoulder you step in, your torso as plumb as possible and your two hands extended forward forming a wedge shape, slightly bent at the elbows and in a state of relaxed extension. You may have to bend your knees slightly in order to keep a straight back while in motion.

Final takedown

5. Use your legs to move into Uke's space while he is raising his hands over his head and not bend your body forwards at the waist.
6. You must time your movement in such a way that your right and left hands make contact with his attacking upper arm at the same instant, just below his shoulder at the end of the upward swing of his right hand. Your right hand should make contact with Uke's upper arm along the edge while the left hand slightly trailing the right cup the Uke's arm lightly with the palm. At the same time you must angle your body slightly offline from Uke's line of attack.
7. As the uke steps forward with his right leg and tries to swing his right hand downwards to cut, your two extended hands will hinder uke from initiating the downwards cut at the same time breaking Uke's body structure.
8. Once Uke's boy structure is broken, you slide your right hand from uke's right upper hand downwards towards the direction of his wrist at the same time controlling Uke's arm with your left hand. By this time uke would be bending backwards due to loss of structure. You then twist Uke's hands with your right hand at Uke's wrist and your left hand at Uke's shoulder. From this point onwards you advance forward and take Uke down in the conventional manner.

The Systema roll vs the Aikido roll.

Appearance can be deceptive
Outwardly the Systema roll looks different from the Aikido roll. That is only as far as the appearance goes. The principle governing
the two are essential the same though the form and shape between them may be different. Let us look at how the Systema and the Aikido practitioners do the forward rolls.

The Systema roll
The practitioner aligns his torso square with the direction that he is going to roll. He lowers his body vertically downwards to a squatting position and gather his two palms in front of his chest, similar to the movement of a swimmer at the start of the breast stroke. As he bends forward and downwards he sweeps his hand outwards in a big arch again like the shape of the end Systema RollAikido Rollof the swimmer's breast stroke. With the right palm pressing against the floor, the left hand and palm rotating outwards to face the ceiling and his head turned towards the right side he eases his body forwards and downwards towards the floor. Using his left shoulder and the hand as a temporary support he swings his legs over his head to complete the forward roll. The path of the roll is diagonal starting with the left shoulder down the left hand across the spine as he comes out of the forward roll on the right side.

The Aikido roll
The Aikido practitioner aligns his body sideways (hanmi stance) parallel to the direction of the forward roll. He bends his body forwards from the waist at the same time gradually bends his knees. He extends his right and left hands forward at the hip level, the right hand in front and the left hand trailing slightly behind the right hand. With the right hand pointing towards the torso and the left hand pointing forwards, both palms facing the floor the two hands act as an elastic bridge in the shape of a arch. As he projects his body forwards and downwards he maintains the bridge-hand form until the time when he is about to make contact with the floor. Just before the body slam the Aikidoka swings his right hand forwards and downwards to touch the floor ahead of the rest of the body. The right hand acts as feelers and sensors to guide the roll along the right shoulder down the right hand, cross the spine to the left side of his body. To soften the impact of the body hitting the floor he slams his left hand on the floor as he rolls out on his left side. Similar to the Systema practitioner, the path of the roll is diagonal starting with the right shoulder, down the right hand across the spine he comes out of the forward roll on the left side.

The shared rolling principle
In Systema rolling the path of the roll is diagonal starting from the shoulder on one side of the body down the same side hand, then across the spine on the torso and exit on the opposite side of the body. The Aikido practitioner also executes the forward roll along a diagonal pathway crossing from one side of the body to the opposite side.

What is different between the two are the forms. The Systema practitioner approaches the roll with his torso square with the direction of the roll. He initiates the forward roll by lowering his body vertically by bending his knees, then as his shoulder make contact with the floor he gradually eases his hips and legs over his head.

The Aikido practitioner likes to stand sideways parallel to the direction of the roll. He initiates the roll by lowering his knees slightly and bends his body forward and downwards at the waist. The as he goes air-born with his body he projects his entire body forward and downwards.

Essentially the Systema practitioner executes his roll by first "sitting down" and then dips his upper body forwards to exit from the roll. The Aikidoka's roll is more of a rotational movement in the vertical plane starting from the standup position without a interim movement such as "sitting down" of Systema.

My take on the two ways of rolling
Personally I prefer the Systema roll more than the Aikido roll. I find that the Systema roll tends to be softer and easier on the body as the interim vertical "sitting down" movement resolves about 80% of the impact before the body makes contact with the floor. Thus by the time you hit the floor you only need to take care of the last 20% impact force. On the other hand as the Aikido roll is essentially a rotation in the vertical plane without any interim movement you have to resolve 100% of the impact force by means of dynamic body rotation. Sometimes the overturning force is so great that body rotation is not enough to resolve the impact and that you have to slap the floor forcefully with your hands to dampen the impact of the body slam and also to check the body from spinning out of control.

Rolling on a hard surface
In my opinion if you practice in a dojo that has mats there is little difference in how you want to roll as the mats are an additional mechanism beside your own ukemi skills for damping the impact force. On the other hand if you practice on a hard concrete floor without the protection of mats the Systema style of rolling is kinder to the body than the typical Aikido roll. Likewise if you have to take a breakfall any where outside the safety and comfort zone of the dojo eg on concrete, timber, tarmac, earth, sand, rock, etc it is safer and less damaging to your health and body to roll in the Systema style.

National Kyu Grading of 13/12/09 Review

Sun 13/12/09 MAA HQ Dojo

10.00am. Dojo already packed full of people apart from the 50 candidates. There were a couple of visitors, family members and spouses of the candidates and some parents accompanied their children to the dojo.

Grading in progressLooking at the grading list all the kyu applications from 5th kyu to 1st kyu were represented. The biggest group was from the 5th kyu candidates numbering about 20 people. MMU Melaka candidates constituted the bulk of the candidates from the 5th kyu group. From my group only IH from Semenyih Dojo was entered for the 5th kyu test.

Low Sensei asked me to conduct the 5th kyu tests while waiting for Dr Leong Sensei and Tony Sensei to come by. About mid-way through the grading Dr Leong Sensei walked into the dojo followed by Tony sensei a little later.

By the time the 1st kyu test concluded it was already half past one in the afternoon. After the grading review by Low Sensei all of us bowed out and the students then started to leave the premises in batches.

All the candidates did well under their respective categories except the 3rd kyu and the 1st kyu groups. But after close consultations among the 4 senseis a unanimous decision was taken to pass them with the condition that they would have to attend corrective classes to be conducted by the senseis in their home dojos.

While the students were busy walking down the staircase the 4 senseis were busy huddled inside the cage to conduct the last business of the day: NTTC meeting and planning for next year's MAA activities.A lot of time I think MAA matters are similar to house keeping work. Ask any full time homemaker and he/she will tell you that house keeping work is an endless task and never get done. Fortunately the 4 senseis were able plan next year's seminars and wrap up the last business of the day within 15 minutes.

After collecting the kyu certificates on behalf of INTi for the previous grading from Low Sensei I too made my departure from the dojo.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the successful candidates who had passed their tests.

After all is said and done I just wonder if anybody noticed a large group of about 20 youngsters who were from another state outside the Klang Valley attending the grading.

This particular group of outstation candidates showed their true mettle, fighting spirit and commitment to the art and their sensei by traveling all the way from Melaka to grade. This group comprised of students from MMU Melaka and they told me that in order to make the trip to KL they had to get up at 5am in their campus to catch the 6am bus in Melaka. On arrival in KL they had to transit by other buses and LRT to get to the dojo. After the grading they had to make the long and tiring return trip back to their Melaka campus by the reverse process. Congratulation to this group. All their efforts are not in vain as all of them had passed their tests in their respective categories.

Similarities between Karate and Aikido?

On the surface Karate and Aikido look like two contrasting styles at the opposite ends of the spectrum. However on closer examination my personal observation is that the processes by which Karate and Aikido practitioners evolve in their respective styles are remarkably similar.

Karateka on-guard stanceKarate
The Karate beginner executes a basic punch with solely muscular strength. As the Karateka tightens his muscles all the way the muscle contracts and work against each other. After training for some time he learns to relax through the punch and tense only at the end. At the next level, he does not even tense at the end of the punch, but aligns and connects his body as the technique is completed. The final level finds the student executing the technique totally relaxed physically, yet connected to his body all the way through the technique and possessing great internal spirit.

Aikidoka on-guard stanceAikido
This process of evolution is similar in Aikido development. The majority of Aikido techniques can be represented by geometrical shapes of a square, triangle or circle. In the begining the Aikido trainee performs his techniques based on the square concept. A square is a stable and strong shape. Lacking in movement,it is completely grounded and it plays mainly from physical strength.

After a period of sustained practice, he  will graduate to the triangle. A triangle can be seen as having two angles at the bottom and one at the point, the two lower angles can be imagined as a stable platform and the angle at the point as the atemi. It can be compared to entering techniques (irimi) giving the impression of direct movement. At this stage the Aikidoka has learned to soften and relax his movements somewhat from his previous square development stage.

At the next level all the techniques assume the circle concept, where the circle evolves to a spontaneously flowing, and continuous spiral. Circles are not stable but as they are constantly moving they never fall (can a ball be made to fall over?). If all the possible circular and semicircular movements around the centre of an Aikidoka are combined into one image, the result is a dynamic sphere whereby the mental attitude of the Aikidoka is centralized and the energy required to carry out a technique is extended outward from the centre.

Advanced level of Karate and Aikido
So, while the first few years of Karate and Aikido are interpreted differently, the evolution of the techniques is quite similar. The end result is that each style graduates from a more structured, hard and rigid state to a more relaxed, dynamic, efficient and economic state. When both styles execute their movements in a relaxed, dynamic and efficient state at the advanced level perhaps the one aspect that differentiates between the two is that the Karateka's movements tend to be linear while the Aikidoka's is more circular

Payment of fees for kyu grading.... have become so forgetful...

Paying the grading fees on behalf of the students can be a chore. Maybank would not accept online payment via Maybank2u because the MAA account is a business current account that has more than one signatory.

Forgetful personMaybank2U only allows current account transaction if the current account belongs to an individual. There is no such restriction in Public Bank online. Don't understand what is the logic behind such a practice. So each time when I want to deposit money to MAA I have to do it in person over the counter in the bank, usually during lunch time. Luckily for me there is a Maybank branch within walking distance from my office.

Forgotten something?Today after lunch I had thought about going to the bank to pay in the grading fees in cash  the counter. As usual I searched my Nokia handset for the stored MAA account number. To my surprise I couldn't locate the account number. Puzzled I tried to recall where the account number is stored in the hand set. After a while I realised that since the day I changed my hand phone to the current model I had not remembered to save the MAA account in the phone. ....Oh dear! ...How forgetful I have become of late....

The Body Language of Fear and Tension

Body's reflection of fear and tension

It is said that the bodily manifestations are the mirror of our deepest and innermost state of mind and mental wellbeing. If you are fearful of being injured then your body will act in ways to reflect that fear. You may be able to willfully mask and hide your true state of mind behind an inscrutable facade when you are still conscious of your mental faculty but once that is lost your body language will reveal to the observer your true mental, spiritual and emotional state of mind.

The flinch response of a fearful practitioner being projected air-bond into the air is typified by recognizable natural body reactions such as shutting his eyes tightly, squeezing his facial features by grimacing, holding his breath, flapping limbs wildly in an uncoordinated fashion, awkward pose due to stiffening his body, etc.

To avoid unnecessary injury during training it is important that the trainee should be relaxed at all times. This can be achieved by synchronising his breathing with his body actions. Instead of holding the breath the trainee should learn to breathe naturally and freely. Breathing naturally and freely means to inhale and exhale at the rate that is in harmony with his bodily actions. Inhaling represents tension and exhalation represents relaxation. Thus just before the body slam the uke should have completed his exhalation and by which time his body will have released the stored tension and soften sufficiently to receive the impact without suffering bodily distress.

Preparing for 5th kyu grading

Fri 20/11/09 Semenyih Dojo

There are only 7 techniques to do in the 5th kyu grading. After about two months of consistent training the serious student should be able to pass his exam with ease. In the two hour session tonight I went through 6 of the 7 techniques with Ilham. The 1 remaining technique that I couldn't do with him was Sanin Gake Shomen Uchi Iriminage, multiple attack using shomenuchi attack and iriminage defence. This was because Ilham was the ony student training tonight.

Tonight I taught Ilham one more additional technique that I have been quite reluctant to teach in the dojo. The technique is suwari waza ryote tori kokyu ho. Why so reluctant to teach this particular technique to the students?  The reason is that this particular technique requires moving on your knees and because we train on the hard concrete floor without the benefit of mats the body weight bearing on knees and rubbing on the hard surface can damage the knee cap in the long term. I am also not certain if the adult students can accept this type of training stress on their knees.

I was also quite worried if I could walk on my knees as I had sprained my left knee and still experiencing some pain whenever I flex my leg. However the knee guard that I wore tonight provided enough support to enable me to move without too much discomfort.

As I watched his movements I was confident that with two more sessions he should able to acquire enough skills and confidence to pass the 5th kyu test.

Knee woe

8.00pm. Aikido class. Semenyih Dojo.


As I was sitting down in seiza on the hard floor to start the class I felt a sharp pain at the back of the left knee. From the back of the left knee the pain radiated upwards to the caft and tight till it disappeared at the buttocks region. Trying to distribute the weight equally between the two legs didn't bring any relief. Finally transferring most of my body weight to the right leg gave some relief. I wondered if the student noticed that I was sitting not upright but slighting tilting towards the right.

The first time I experienced some pain in the left knee was one week ago during the Aikido seminar in Melaka. As the pain was not bothering me I dismissed it as sore muscles due to sitting in zeiza for too long. Then the next morning I felt the pain shooting up the left tight and the leg becoming a bit stiff. The Hulu Langat traditional Chinese medicine massage therapist whom I consulted said it was muscle sprain and after more than one hour of massage I experienced tremendous relief, as if some weight had been removed from the tired leg. The therapist said that I would have to return for more massage treatments in order to heal the injury completely.

In retrospect I am not sure how the pain came about. I don't recall ever hitting my knee cap on the floor due to a bad fall. Maybe as I am getting on in years, the muscle-skeletal and the nervous system are starting to degenerate as well. Well, I will have to find another way of sitting in seiza until the left knee recovers.

Danger of slapping forcefully on the mat

At the 3rd National Aikido Seminar in Melaka 7/11/09 and 8/11/09

I noticed many students habitually slapped with great gusto on the mat without regard to the health of their limbs. It is as if banging forcefully on the mat is the only acceptable way of taking ukemi. If the floor had been concrete instead of tatami mat slapping forcefully on the hard and unyielding surface will surely damage the limbs in the long term. Even one sensei opined  that  by banging hard and loud on the floor it would impress the public with the power of Aikido while falling and rolling softly and quietly would make Aikido appear as dull and uninspiring.

In Semenyih dojo where the trainees practice on a hard concrete surface with no mats, such reckless floor slapping antics are actively discouraged. Instead the trainees are taught how to relax and soften their bodies so as to resolve the impact of bodies crashing on the floor. In addition the trainees are also taught how to exhale just before hitting the fall. In my experience slapping is probably safe if you are in the prime of  your youth but as you grow older continuous slapping the floor can lead to bone and tissue damage.

Featuring in FaceBook

Am considering publicising the Semenyih Dojo by creating a Aikido group in FaceBook. What should I call this group? I have just created the group with the name of SAG. SAG stands for  Semenyih Aikido Group.

National Kyu Grading on 27/09/09

Sunday 07/09/09 MAA HQ Dojo

More than 50 candidates from various dojo affiliates reported for grading from 5th kyu to 1st kyu. The majority of the candidates were taking their 5th kyu tests. Candidates from all the university dojos namely MMU Melaka, MMU Cyber, IMU and INTi were represented. From INTi Dojo I entered 4 students for the tests, two for 5th kyu and two for 3rd kyu.

As were past practices I conducted the 5th and 4th kyu tests while Tony Sensei and Low Sensei handled the 3rd , 2nd and 1st kyu grading. Due to the large number of candidates the whole grading exercise lasted about 4 hours. We started at 10am and by skipping lunch managed to wrap it up at 2pm.

I was very happy that all the 4 INTi students passed the tests in their respective class. The two 5th kyus were performing up to expectation in their 5th kyu exam. However for the 3rd kyus there were a few anxious moments. M appeared to have forgotten to do the ura version of some of the techniques and momentary lost his concentration during the grading. This was probably due to the fact that he was unnerved by Tony Sensei for the way he called out the techniques in an erratic manner. Finally all ended well as the committee  decided to pass all the 3rd kyu candidates, including the two from INTi.

For the past two weeks, I had been training the INTi students up to 3 times a week to prepare them for the grading. From the begining of the month even the Wed SySSDA training was temporarily suspended in favour of intensive Aikido training. It would be a real let down for me as well as the students if after all the effort some could not make the grade.

Fri 28 2009. La Pelangi Semenyih Dojo

Was pleasantly surprised that one guy had already shown up in the center by the time I  stepped into the hall. The guy is a Chinese youth by the name of Y. He was the one who asked me by phone on Mon about Aikido training in Semenyih. After answering his call I thought nothing of it, half expecting to be just another of the so many unproductive calls that I regularly receive. Anyway I followed up by sending a sms  reminder on Tue and Fri morning, not treally believing that it would matter at all.

Another surprised. The young man signed up for the premium package of RM90.00. After all necessary paper work I started the class with the usual warm up.

About 15 minutes into the training, I came. I immediately asked him to join the training as I didn't want to interrupt the class with paper work.

The two guys seemed to take the training with relative ease even though we were rolling and falling on the hard floor. Of the two Y is a complete beginner in martial art while I revealed his previous martial art background in the way he moved and deliver his strikes. I paid for the dogi and also signed up for the regular package.

After the class ended at 9.30pm we hung around the place for a further 1/2 hours for some chatting. I was particular talkative, asking me many questions while Y just observed the conversation in silent.

Time flew and before I realised it dear wife was already buzzing me on my hand phone. As expected when I stepped into the house after returning from the dojo dear wife was already complaining loudly about my late home coming.

As I was half expecting standing in front of an empty gallery I was happy with just two persons signing up and paying the mat fees. It is a good start and I hope these two will bring in their friends to practice Aikido at the centre. After Ramadan I expect the student enrollment to pick up.

Teaching one student

Fri 8/21/09. La Pelangi Sports and Recreation Centre, Semenyih. The inaugural Aikido class at the centre.

I turned up at the Centre at 7.30pm to wait for the first student to show up. By 8pm there was no sign of anyone coming and a thunder storm was in the process of forming. I exchanged small talks with the manager to pass time while waiting for the first student to report for training.

8.15pm. the few remaining swimmers was getting ready to leave. Blinding rain accompanied by lightning strikes had descended on the Centre. The manager, getting bored and restless had already retreated into his office. I guessed he already knew that he would not be issuing any receipts for Aikido training tonight. Alone, I was wondering whether I too should pack up for the night.

Just as I was getting ready to leave a SUV with a family of 4 people pulled up the curb side. The driver was the Malay university lecturer M whom I was expecting. Accompanied him was his wife and two kids. After the usual greetings we sat around the table and started to chat.

I could see from M's demeanor and body language that he was not yet ready to commit on the training and so I decided to put away the application form and attendance register.

Before I realized it we had already chatted about Aikido for more than 1 hour. He was throwing all kinds of questions at me. How long it takes the trainee to achieve shodan, why are the fees so cheap in comparison with what others are charging whether once a week training is enough, whether it is possible to extend the training time beyond 11/2 hours allocated, the grading frequency and where it is conducted, why are so few Malays taking up Aikido, my take on religious sensities with regard to bowing in the dojo, whether Aikido is effective in street attack situations, why teach self- defence applications seperately from Aikido training, etc, etc were some of the questions that he fired in my direction. I sensed that asking questions was M's way of sizing up the worth of his potential Aikido teacher. I answered all his questions promptly and as honestly and sincerely as I could. I was not sure if all the answers to his queries made sense to him.

"Sensei do you mind coming to the Centre to teach even if there is only one student?", M's last question as we were about to bid goodbye to each other. "Yes, I am pleased to teach anyone , even if only one student comes to class." I reassured him without any hesitation.

From time to time I am often confronted with the stark reality of facing an empty gallery where not a single soul shows up for practice. After so many years teaching the art you learn to deal with this sort of depressing experience with a shrug of the shoulders and a smile in the face.

In my mind it is not the matter of the teacher teaching the art to only one student but more importantly whether the one student is willing to learn from the one teacher. Perhaps I should be the one to ask " M san if you are the only one student in the class do you mind learning the art from the one teacher in the class all the time?" Naturally I kept my counsel.

Waving goodbye as he fired up his car engine he said that he would start his first class next Fri 8/28/09. Well I shall soon find out the outcome in one week's time.