A Rundown of what Didn't happen tonight...

So... we went through 5th kyu techniques just now, and it wasn't too bad. Next week we will begin the 4th kyu techniques, all nine of them sequentially and hopefully have everyone prepared for December. I've emphasised this many times over, and its Kamae. Kamae, this state of readiness that almost everyone assumes is the posture. But a posturing posture really has nothing behind it. That's why its called posturing. Within Kamae resides zanshin. Within it resides the Fudo Genri, and later Kihon Genri. So all in all, whilst there has been improvement we will have to work on getting this idea of Kamae ingrained in our practice.

Also, whilst it has been stressed that we are going to work slowly from Fudo Genri to Kihon Genri to Aiki Genri, those are still only principles. The way that works is, you must adhere to it or you don't have it. Its as simple as that. But, in training, there's other things which link those principles to waza and connection to uke. This is what we have called Ki Shin Tai. Ki Shin Tai, if memory serves is the natural law of Ki, Mind/Spirit and body. However, it has also been mentioned that Koichi Tohei once discussed Shin Tai Gi. Which is in principle the same as the unity of Spirit, body and technique. Not just Tohei but quite a number of notable 1st generation students make reference to this unity of 3 aspects. I must have either heard sensei wrongly and mistook Gi for Ki, or Sensei is talking about something else entirely. Whatever it maybe, we can just concentrate on the natural laws of Tai first. Because its what we may call the building blocks or bridge from our principles into concluding our encounter with uke.

I've written about the exercises when we first came back from Jakarta but besides that, there are also other aspects that you must be aware of when studying the physical aspects of Aikido. Exclude all that you know of Ki and Aiki for the moment if you will.

The first exercise that I remember clearly we did was moving from the finger tips. You will see this closely relates to what sensei has mentioned before in terms of physically extending like you're stretching naturally. The body is strong in a natural stretch and its never hard or stiff. Similarly moving from the fingertips will bring our focus away from muscling through movement because it feels like overkill. This is an aspect which is important. Moving naturally as opposed to muscling through. If we continue to force through opponents, then we must take a step back and ask ourselves is this what Aikido is all about. Moving naturally though is a skill that must be learn which is really an oxymoron isn't it? What's so natural about something that you have to learn how to do it. The thing is, its a natural movement that we have blocked from our pscyhe either by ego or bad habits and years and years of unnatural movement. Much like how pilates seeks to develop our connection to unused muscles and posture, we learn in Aikido to move in ways we have never done before... or so it seems. Why don't you brush your hair now with your right hand... see how natural that movement is? Next time some grabs your hand, why don't you brush your hair like that and see how easy that movement is. Instinctively though when someone grabs your hand, most people fight back. So today for our basic kamae position, I told everyone to think as if we're fishing. We're baiting the fish, we are lightly testing the rod, the rod remains connected to our center even as we move our hands up and down. We do not push the rod, or pull the rod, instead we are feeling the line as it tauts and slacks.

As a scout we learn how to trap monkeys... for fun. Find a knot hole in a tree, and making sure the monkeys see it, we put some berries and nuts in the hole. The hole is just big enough to put an unclenched fist in... but the monkeys will grab those berries and thus make a fist. We then jump on the monkeys, they will try to run, but instinctively they won't let go of the berries so their fist remains clenched thus they are stuck in the knot hole. Try it.. it works. So you see, its ok. Its perfectly fine that you get stuck doing things instinctively because even monkeys do it. As budoka however we expect you to override that instinct, and instead react in a more natural way.

The next exercise I remember we did is to work in concert with uke. Uke is holding your hands, but imagine that uke is in fact helping you carry something. So you both work together to carry that load, and finally you hand him the load all together. This is a good exercise which again trains you not to fight with your opponent. By changing the way you move, your opponents reaction becomes confused. He expects you to fight. He doesn't expect you to do something crazy like this.

Now, I know I said forget about Ki and Aiki... but then, the way body laws work is also closely tied to the innate energy of the opponent. Thus within the physical body is the innate energy. In physics we also have what we call latent energy. Sometimes someone can use latent energy, sometimes they only have it but they don't use it. In the 3rd exercise we practice the leading of ki or in particular that latent or semi latent energy. For the uke that uses the latent energy, we need to also have a semblance of understanding how to use our own latent energy to move our hands before trying to lead him. For the ukes that only have latent energy, its more of a question of being sensitive to the energy flow. The basic precept is not to fight against the flow of energy, instead move with it and lead it to where you need it to go.

The 4th exercise we did is to sink our hara. This is no big secret. So many schools of martial arts understand that just by dropping the center we create a large amount of force. Think about it. How much mass is in your hands and how much is in your torso? Mass and acceleration becomes force. You don't need to generate acceleration with muscles when you can just use gravity instead. The only thing about this is how do you actually connect this force that you generate to your partner. Ok so that's where the skill comes in. Sinking hara is just the way things are done, the how is what we're practising in this exercise. This connectivity with uke requires that we create a unity with uke before sinking our hara. You can jump up and down all day, but if you and uke remain as two separate entities, nothing useful is going to happen. The key to creating unity with uke is above all, extension. The second is to ensure that together both of you equal to the power of 1. Do not exceed it or be lesser than it. As a start we can work on cutting away the slack. Another step is to 'fill' the gaps.

The 5th exercise was relaxing. In fudo genri we have relaxing the mind, body and spirit. In Tai we are talking about relaxing the shoulders especially and our connective muscles. The more relaxed you are, the better your body becomes a conduit for the power being generated by your center. Sensei will refer a lot to elbow power and this comes from there. You can't generate elbow power if your shoulders are tensed. But you can't generate elbow power, if you try to power it from the elbow also... everything comes from the center. This exercise also ties with 'floating' hands.

By the way, all this talk about center... there's really something you should know in relation to Tai. Center or Hara is often referred to the spot 2 inches below your navel in the approximate center of your body. It is approximately your center of gravity as well coincidently. In other arts there's also a lot of reference to this particular area. Most however will refer to the hips. Certainly you will hear martial arts in Japan especially always refer to the hips. To them, working from the hips is a crucial aspect so much so that when you appear top heavy you are looked upon with disdain. If you look at a lot of martial artists in Japan traditionally, and you compare them with western fighters you will see the difference. In the west where big shoulders and height epitomises power and strength, in the east you see bulging abdomens. Abdomens that are large but not necessarily fat. Don't question the strength of their arms and legs, far from it, but you don't see those big bulging muscles there. In fact they are more of a wiry nature. If you look at asian labourers you will see their body is being very wiry. They are strong, and they have lasting power. Big bulging muscles look impressive and is very intimidating. But they cost a lot to maintain, and sometimes become dead weight. In fact the emphasis is on the core muscle and the torso in general. Whilst in the modern world, we refer to the hips as the area around the buttocks and waist, in Japanese martial arts it actually refers to that and also the whole torso. Power is generated from the core, and it is only now that modern 'western' body arts are beginning to talk about the core... pilates again being one of them. What I'm getting at is, whilst the center maybe this invisible spot of power in our body and we should be training to perceive this, do not underestimate this area we call the hips because certainly in Tai we need to be developing this part as well.

There are other aspects to Tai that I suspect sensei has not begun to teach us yet. I don't want to assume, but here are some other things that I would like us to study and train. The first is what I used to refer to as the empty leg. This is the point that I say is where our uke really should have an additional leg in order to remain well balanced. In Japanese martial arts this is called shikaku or 'dead zone'. Actually shikaku is more than that I believe. When we do our sensing exercise, we use extension to feel uke's energy and balance. We are using this feeling to feel for shikaku and we actually try to unbalance uke from there itself. Later when we do ashi awase, we are killing uke's ability to move by attacking that shikaku but in a more dynamic fashion. But at the beginning, we understand shikaku as the dead zone that exists in any stance. Given time, anyone can find the shikaku for any stance. Just move around and push uke as he commits to that stance and you will eventually find the sweet spot. In systema, practitioners try to avoid having such a dead zone by remaining limber. We create a straight trunk by bringing up the pelvis and bending the knees and moving with a straight and limber posture. When you are dynamic and relaxed, your shikaku is harder to find, though it still exists. Later when we get better practised at extension and we can extend ki throughout our body, it would be significantly harder for anyone to find the shikaku even if you're standing still. This then becomes what we call the immovable body and mind. Right...err, getting uke's shikaku is the start of achieving kuzushi. If you don't have kuzushi, don't affect a waza.

As I said before, I think there's a lot to Tai and probably trying to learn it all by rote is going to be counter productive. But I write this blog not only to go over lessons, and help our students remember those lessons, but also as a reminder to myself in training. We go over only a few techniques each class, but the more we can be mindful of these principles and practice, the better our Aikido will become. I will write more about what I think is part of Tai later, but those would be my assumption. And we all know what Assumption can lead to, so take it with a pinch of salt and be wise.

Check these links out... they have really good pointers!

This 2 links are really good. It seems they've analysed the Aikido movements in a measurable and biomechanical way, instead of the usual 'Extend Ki' gross oversimplification that we tend to do. Some of the pointers require a good understanding of principles and techniques, some require knowledge of key terms relating to the school itself (I'm guessing Tomiki maybe)... They often do randori, which are full fledge resistance 'competition' that have winners and losers as both Uke and Nage. So... because of the uncooperative nature of those encounters, one would need to have a good strategy and tactics to overcome resistance. In this, they have the advantage of us.

Looking at it from another angle, one school advances methods of training to take someone down and lists down the 'correct' self-position against each possible opponent-position. The other school, advocates refining and mastering principles and its application irrespective of the situation. Its probably faster to learn how to deal with opponents in the first school if you're the methodical, fast learner, intelligent and logical type. The other school however would be harder to attain a degree of mastery in a short time due to the looseness of its teaching methodology that emphasises self discovery through experience and intuition. It never hurts to try each school's ideas out, and any knowledge is good to learn.

So... first link: http://www.mokurendojo.com/2007/04/100-terrific-things-to-try-in-tegatana.html
Second link: http://www.mokurendojo.com/2007/04/hundred-hanasu-happiness-hints.html

Don't fret if you don't understand this... even understanding our 5 principles in the Fudo genri is difficult, much less understanding or doing the 100 points listed in the guides above.

Thinking too much!

I've just been thinking... and then it all falls apart! Its funny when there's so many theories out there floating about, that different people attach themselves to different views. It can be anything, from the theory of gravity right through to evolution. If there's one school of thought, there will be at least another with a totally different way of thinking. Each debunking each other. This here is an interesting read amongst the many that have seen publication and those that have not.

Before it gets out of hand, and I know it will the way I write, the main thing I'm trying to get across here is to feel-act. Feel and it becomes instinctive/intuitive. From there act. Doing this with Kihon is definitely harder to ki no nagare, nevertheless it has to be taught at least for the senior kyu grades and especially for yudanshas.

I've been caught in the trap so often, its embarrassing. Thinking is not a bad thing, but thinking through a technique ... its like trying to think up of art. You can't do it. Sensei always uses art as an analogy too. For us to appreciate things like creativity and imagination, the right brain has to be dominant. Analytical logical sense for the engineers and mathematicians out there, we use the left brain more. People who use both sides of the brains and are not dominated by anyside are rare, most who do get it are people who train themselves and are gifted in some way. They create neural pathways that connect each side of the brain more than is ordinary.

Its been said that Aiki training develops this incredible pathways. Certainly having experienced the body and mind coordination alone, one would think that it helps develop a lot of mental focus. Not only that, in Aiki, imagination and intuition is developed further than is ordinarily expected of someone. Just because its not a subject at school does not mean that you can't train these skills.

Thus, the root of the problem lies in how we think Aikido should be learned. We approach it from either a physical skill or something like a class lecture. If we think hard enough we'll get it or if we work at it for countless of hours we'll get it. I believe, whilst in someways working hard and thinking hard would bring some amount of progress, the only way forwards really is to change our paradigm of learning.

Seldom is one taught to feel. Its almost a girlish thing this understanding of feelings, especially for the big boys and macho man. We seek to develop ourselves and defend ourselves and thus we could careless about feeling. If I have the biggest stick I'll win, or if I can build a titanium outer shell, no one will ever hurt me. So with those 2 ways of thinking, how could we possibly put ourselves in a compromising situation? To let our feelings out in the open, to explore others? Yet we are trying to learn the skill of leading someone, not only through the physical sense but through the visceral sense. How can we learn to touch that if don't understand it in ourselves?

I've said it time and time again, if you just want to learn to manipulate the body, I can recommend a variety of silat that does that better than what we'll learn in Aikido. Heck, even Judo would give you better body skills to bring someone down. Yet people still say they are interested in Aiki and that's why they stick to Aikido. However, they are trying to learn Aikido through wholly physical means. I suppose what I've been trying to get at this last 2 paragraphs is that, we have to relearn how to learn Aikido. Thinking is not a viable option. Feeling is probably a more acceptable method.

In the last class, instead of doing the regular ki tests we so love, we explored again with feeling. Feeling as uke, the flaccidity, the tension and the extension of nage. Negotiating those feelings intuitively i.e. responding in a natural way through each feeling. Nage too feels the correctness of the moment and feels uke as he responds naturally. Learning to take up that feeling and lead uke the way he wants to be lead, the way you want him to be lead. (You can't lead someone against their will, the only way is to make your will similar to theirs)

Please study again the class video that I'll upload soon and compare. You can't see feelings here, but at the very least you can see the form.

Ramadhan, thou hath arrived...

The arrival of this auspicious month is greeted by mixed emotions. Happiness by some and weariness by others. There are also some who are not even aware of anything special. Surely, how can a month be any different that the one before it?

For the weary, they are thinking of the necessity to stay away from food and water from before dawn till dusk. They are thinking they have to curb their roving eyes, or physical acts of endearment, and even to cut down on physical activities. Some and I amongst them, I must admit, are planning our early departures from the office to avoid the ubiquitous traffic jams that will precede the breaking of fast.

The happiness of being able to experience this month is not in the joy of communal breaking of fast, or that Eid is in the coming. It is because in this month, we have been given a gift to bridge our faith. Do we change? Or do we remain such as we are?

To change for the better is always best. But the question is do we change our daily lives to compensate for the lack of water, food and sleep? Do we make excuses for ourselves not to work as hard or to play as hard? Always, I am greeted by extraordinary surprise when I say training does not stop. Be it in the afternoons or at break of fast, the classes will go on.

The month of Ramadhan is not a month to excuse yourself. Because of its special status, prayers and such are elevated to a different level, and to do more now is expected of one. But, in Islam it is also expected that one should maintain a good habit and keep to that schedule. If you regularly visit your parents once a week, you must continue to do so. If you attend classes at night, you should continue. Prayers are added above and beyond that, to pad the activities that you have already surrounded yourself with.

I remember sitting out of PE sessions in the afternoons during my early school days. It wasn't till I was in a boarding school that such inferior expectations were rooted out from my psyche. We half expect to faint in the afternoon sun and thus it is no surprise that some do. But when our expectations are no different than it is in every other month, fasting does not become a chore or a handicap. In fact, it strengthens our spirit. And frankly, we need the exercise.

Health wise, I will not contradict the nutritionist or the doctor. Its important to be hydrated as we all know from those intense seminars. But keep some good habits in during your practice and it won't be that bad. I know because I sweat a ton. The thing about training in Ramadhan is to understand your limits. Everybody has limits, just don't let that limit be... nothing accomplished. Keep your mouth closed and don't talk so much and you will not be as thirsty. Breath through your nose and not your mouth, and you will find this help improves your stamina. Move economically, running around making all those unnecessary steps is not only unsightly, its tiring. Especially since we are doing kihon more now, the steps are exact and rarely requires you to move more than a couple of steps. Also start your fast properly and break your fast appropriately.

There's a reason why we delay the start of fast as much as we can till just before fajr. Drink plenty of fluids and eat slow energy foods. Rice or porridge, pasta with a little protein and some veg is a good way to start and maybe some dates, figs or bananas. Buns and instant noodles or anything sweet is like playing with fire. Breaking fast is also important. Do not gulp down that large mug of ice cold syrup because God knows I want to too. Instead, sip warm water. Take a date. Let your stomach get used to a little food first. Pray and come back to eat again. This way we limit the gas and overeating and allow for normal digestion. Proper rest is important too.

I wish to all my muslim friends a fruitful Ramadhan. Lets make a point to develop our Makoto especially hard this month. Gambatte!

Realism, really?

I just got back from watching Salt and frankly I've no idea why reviewers are giving it a hard time. Sure, its not Bourne but Angelina has her charm and the action sequence were quite good, if over the top at times. Still, you gotta wonder whether such deep cover sleeper agents are even a possibility?

Train kids for what, 6-7 years? And they are all from these super genetic match up to ensure high mental and physical prowess. So they got the 1st equation right, a strong base to start off with. They they have regimented training from mental, physical as well as psychological. Now you have highly skilled, very smart and very loyal almost fanatical teenagers. Then, they get sent back home to be sleeper agents. Great.

They live maybe 20-30 years of their adult lives as a normal person, making normal friends and getting the usual run of ups and downs, that sort of thing... until one day they're called upon to do some drastic stuff that would use all their available skills. How do one keep up with those skills? You're unlikely to be able to go around killing people with your bare hands for 20 years and still act normal. For that matter, how do you go about training to jump from moving vehicles unto another moving vehicle? Or shoot at great accuracy? Or a bunch of other things?

Why am I even asking this in my blog? Actually... I thought it would be a good idea to put this in, for us to get some perspective on how we train. We can envision that real agents do have special skills, and I can attest to that truthfully. The things you see agents do on TV, they are realistic...well some of them are, like slick driving one handed at 200kpmh, shooting cans and keeping them in the air, sensing armed targets... these are things which I've seen to be true. Not those, get shot a hundred times and still kick some ass movies though. Agents are human, they bleed and they die. But ok... so the training is real and the skills are real, but here's the deal. They either keep at it, or they lose it. Not lose entirely, but a good deal of the edge becomes blunt.

Also, if they don't have enough of good training, there really won't be an edge to blunt over time. So the trick is, to get good enough to call it an edge, and to hone long it long enough so that it'll take a whole bunch of time before you lose your skills.

Training on empty will not cut it. Mostly training with everything to lose will be the only way for you to learn anything much. When you're riding a bike, you have to take the two wheels and dare the scrapes and falls for you to eventually master it. If you keep using crutches like having two mini wheels on the sides, or people holding on to you as you ride, you'll never get it. Or it will take a long long time to do so. It gets worst if you plan on doing crazy skills. But there you have it, the true risk reward system. The bigger the risk, the better the reward.

So is this how we do it in Aikido? With its almost ritualistic kihon waza or kata training, we're not actually anywhere close to pushing the envelope. But then how do you train? Everytime it gets down to full randori or free style training, it usually ends up as a brawl or slugfest or a grappling match. It never fails to amaze me that you will see aikidoka's hanging on to their opponents arms and limbs to get an ikkyo, shihonage or kotegaishe. Even iriminage looks more like a clothesline. And at the end of the day, they call it real Aikido.

If this looks familiar, then we all know something is really wrong with how we're training. We've become the Tae Bo of the jujitsu world. A joke. Yet, we continue to amaze audiences with sword disarming, knife disarming and stuff like that. No one has ever considered inviting an Iaido expert to become uke for those though...

We also laugh when we talked about how Steven Seagal made his rounds on the streets to try his for real (or so it was claimed). Do we dismiss this is a joke or do we secretly wish we had the guts to try it out for ourselves. Now there's also the philosophy of not fighting that holds us back, but really is it about the philosophy or more about the uncertainty? My silat brothers did and continue to try it out in the streets. Half of them I would call hoodlums myself, but will I get in the ring with them? No, truthfully no. I know their skills and I know why they survive out there. So there you have it. I still have something to lose, they feel as if they have none. We have limits, they don't. Yet, when it gets down to it, we will be meeting people without those limits on the streets. It is exactly those tossers who don't give a damn what happens to you or anyone including themselves that are out there knifing people up and snatching handbags out of pregnant women. While I've never backed down from helping someone in need, I've never had the bad luck to chance upon someone who was armed and dangerous. I truly wonder how I'd hold up to that.

I'm not advocating blood and gore in our training. Nor am I provoking a UFC grudge fest. The self defence kata is also not what I have in mind really. But, surely somewhere between 3rd kyu to 1st dan, there must be a litmus test of sorts. A point where the aikidoka must be able to handle a fighter of a certain level and hold his own. Otherwise, we really should not call it budo anymore. We're not looking for techniques, but more on the aikidoka's ability to use principles and concepts of Aikido to remain unharmed and subdue his opponent. Free for all, but to limit the lethality of attacks so as not to cause serious permanent harm. The goal should be to maintain the philosophy through ability and not just avoidance. To really understand the psychological aspect of being able to handle an attacker with intent to harm you and to subdue him without the intent of returning that harm. To be able to turn aside danger without being ensnared by fear or anger. To be able to move at will and not respond in a violent and instinct driven adrenaline rushed manner. A test.

Building up to this test would be the indoctrination of the mind and spirit and the forging of the physical. Always, students have to be aware, have to be ready and extended and relaxed at the same time. To maintain a natural focus that is neutral and not contrived.

Even today, forging intent with 2 basic exercises. Tenkan using an attack line and extending ki along the line. Shomenuchi strikes, to strike before striking and to keep striking after the strike. Even today, a basic exercise and something quite difficult to grasp. I wonder if it is possible to train in this manner until we reach realism. Should we even try, or in the end, it all boils down to what's in our hearts?

Training with Purpose

It was one of those days when we were not really about to do a class by rote. But not going too off tangent was important as well, and so we gave out the objective of training against 'jammer's. Been in Aikido long enough, and you'll hear the term. Jammers are typically what you would call an uke who actively resists the technique that you're about to do on the basis that he knows which technique is being performed beforehand and he understands the mechanical principles that will foil your execution. Its not so much about strength as it is about technique in itself.

This thing happens primarily because of boredom I would suppose. Either that or ego I guess. Its probably boring to keep cooperating with nage all the time and getting put on your butt each time, so some people like to throw in a monkey wrench once in a while. On ego, I suppose some guys just don't like being 'beat' at all. Foiling someone just elevates them to a superior status in their mind.

So now we know that 'Jammer's are out there. Now what? Well, most people would advocate doing a different technique to put them on their butts. That's ok I guess. But you know, we could be stubborn and actually try to learn how to deal with the jammer. Being physically jammed doesn't stop you from applying proper technique. It only stops you from applying bad technique. So we trained last night on how to deal with some techniques by looking at different ways of applying the same technique. I also focused on applying kihon genri elements in particular awase and musubi to counter the jamming. It works either way. A study of different approaches, sometimes applying techniques incorporating methods from other arts works well, sometimes not. Truly I think we were looking at the Ki, Shin, Tai in particular Body laws last night.

Of course, using kihon genri elements was only as good as how well you've mastered it and in my case, there's a long road left to go. Still, its a lot different than how I would have approached this training several years back. The only thing I had problems with last night was about 'filling up' my uke during a reverse bear hug. Since I know it actually works, we really need to practice it more in class.

I actually liked the session where we tried to takedown nage, and also the ground grappling bits. Sure, its just play and doesn't prove anything. But keeping fudo genri really gave the ability to deflect uke's power in those cases. I'll chalk this down to one of those infrequent play time that we'll give ourselves every now and then. At the root of it, its more interesting when uke attacks nage with a purpose. Either to hit or to take down or to apply a technique. Certainly it creates a different awareness, and aliveness. We've seen this before when we practised with uke that strikes as soon as he makes a grab, but putting in other attacking options open our more options.

Doing the same thing differently...

I'm a bit screwed. I've no idea where I put that scrap of paper sensei wrote about training at various levels. The gist of it was that we will use more body technique & strength at the kihon level before increasing genri and aiki aspects as we improve to ki no nagare and aiki techniques. Even in Aiki waza there are various level from shoden to okuden and on. So at the beginning, fudo and kihon genri will be an important percentage but gradually reduced until its all aiki.

This will serve as an introduction because it will frame your mind on what we are trying to do here. Since everyone in our dojo will almost exclusively be training at the kihon level only for now, we should not try to emulate everything sensei or his senior students do at the beginning. It may sound contrary, but doing so will only slow down your progress. Instead of worrying how to use Aiki entering, pulling or etc, or awase or musubi, concentrate on developing techniques that are correct and are based on fudo genri.

My idea is to concentrate on an aspect of fudo genri for a set of techniques for a period of time. Once we have  a good understanding and some measure of ability there, I will introduce another aspect of fudo genri to be incorporated. Since there are only 5 principles and we are only looking at about 5 techniques this time around, hopefully by December everyone will be sufficiently prepared.

I've already started this in the several classes since coming back from Jakarta. Center and relaxed being is emphasised at the very beginning, but the concentration is on extending ki. The last couple of Sunday classes, we've looked at using extension of ki in kamae to deal with attacks. Last night we used extension of ki during ki testing of rei and standing and seating. This ki test is difficult to do properly and well. Because, typically we are now quite used to extending ki into our hands. Extending ki through the body takes a bit of adjustment but is necessary. The ki tests is as we have shown earlier, push from the front and also the side. The toughest is bowing with partner pushing against us. Using strength and leverage, we will undoubtedly be pushed back because a leaning partner has a solid structure that we will be fighting against. Ki extension must be done through the body even before partner makes contact with us. We have to the extend it forwards through his hands and through his body. Partner will feel a difference between extended ki, stiffness, pushing and a slack body. Bowing need not be rushed and can be done slowly as long as you have started out right. Uke will be compelled to collapse under your bow if you have extended through him.

Standing and sitting ki tests are the same. Capture the feeling that you have done right when bowing and use this feeling during standing and sitting.

Next, the 4 techniques practised last night and for several months more are katate dori shihonage, shomenuchi ikkyo, shomenuchi iriminage and katatedori ikkyo. These 4 are part of the 5th kyu grading syllabus.

Our approach of Ki-Shin-Tai prevails. Since we are stressing the Tai elements, within it are many points that have to be cultivated well. Last night, we must correct our form alone. Not to disregard all the other aspects, but we are not looking for perfection. So if you already understand the other elements, it should be incorporated naturally but do not stop the technique if it isn't there. Just study the form first.

Movement of the feet, body movement, hand positioning, sinking center, relative movement to uke, timing, maai... all these aspects are covered under form. In simpler terms, work on making the technique 'look' right. Do not worry that it doesn't 'feel' right just yet, much less worry about how it works or not.

Receiving shomenuchi strikes. Where previously I have stressed extending our spirit and cutting the opponents center, let us take a couple of steps down now. Instead, just kamae with extension of ki, and then raise your kamae with the same feeling of extension of ki that you felt when doing the standing and bowing test. Even with a good attack speed, your arms will not collapse like a block, nor will it clash like a strike. From this static extension you can connect with uke's power and listen to it. Lead it upwards and away into an ikkyo. Or lead it upwards and move into iriminage. Remember no pulling, pushing or losing extension of ki along the way.

As we all improve in our ability, we will slowly incorporate the other aspects of fudo genri and kihon genri. Mushin and Makoto are more intangible in nature and will involve in changing how we perceive attacks and how we deal with it, but because we ARE training kata, the attacks and conclusion are already predetermined. Thus these 2 aspects will not really be as obvious or easier to train like the other 3 principles. However, when we start on kihon genri, aspects of kokyu, chushin, enshin and shuchu will be very obvious and can be seen.

Ultimately this training method probably has a name which I don't know. But the idea is to repeat the forms many-many times but focusing on one aspect at a time and correcting it. Hopefully in this way, you will understand the waza well but mostly understand be able to use the principles correctly and thus for the other waza, its just a matter of learning the forms and filling the gaps with principles you have mastered.