May
11
Tenchinage Pointers
Synthesized over the course of three aikido practice sessions this week, key learnings are in bold.
Starting position: Extend right hand vertically or palm-up. Partner grabs your wrist with his left hand. Extend left hand above. Partner grabs your left wrist with his right hand. You are now in gyaku hanmi stance. Your elbows are are in front of the plane of your chest. They will never move behind this plane.
Irimi: Step to your right and slightly forward with your right foot. Your back foot follows, maintaining hanmi. You are now completely off of your partner’s line of attack (his sagittal plane), with your center of balance between your two feet, while having taken your partner’s balance.
If your partner resists your irimi by pushing with his lower hand: Push back, then change direction of force. There is a “sweet spot” that is akin to the sweet spot in a sumi-otoshi, such that downward force on his front foot will prevent him from being able to step with that foot, and there is an angle where you can apply body weight against the strength of his arm, pushing his hand out. As you do this, turn your palm down. You are now completely off of your partner’s line of attack, with your center of balance between your two feet, while having taken your partner’s balance.
Keeping both top and bottom elbows in front of the plane of your chest, step forward with your back foot, while cutting down thumb-down with the top hand. End in hanmi stance, with your weight mostly on the front foot.
Alternative from ai-hanmi stance: Extend right hand, pulling foot back as partner grabs. Extend left hand above. Partner grabs left wrist. You are now in left ai-hanmi stance.
Irimi: bring back foot out and to the back of your partner’s front foot. Tenkan slightly when it is in place. You are now completely off of your partner’s line of attack, with your center of balance between your two feet, while having taken your partner’s balance.
