Weapons training – a search for inspiration.
Quite often we need external stimulus to keep us interested in training but if we ever believed what we were training for was worthwhile, then that won’t have changed because of the Covid 19 lock down.
I miss teaching and in the process of teaching, discovering new learning from students. I realise that sharing was one of my chief motivations.
I’ve just run through some brief Jo kata practise in my garden and it offered me some small insights.
In the beginning of our aikido journey we practise slowly, so we can learn the moves … usually with the intention of one day doing it really fast, faster than our teacher perhaps. And we so look forward to that day. However, going fast means that too many basic errors go unnoticed.
I like Koichi Tohei’s 22 jo kata, I learned it from my friend Huw, himself an excellent teacher. The 22 kata moves suit spear more than jo, martially speaking, but do accentuate whole body movement and harmony with the weapon. This kata might show you some nuances of movement that are more difficult to observe in the 13 and 31 count katas.
Regardless of which kata you are going to perform, try going very slowly and I mean slowly. Seek out every time that the hips did not engage as a posture changed, seek out every time that the jo felt uncomfortable to relaxed hands. Observe which part of the body had to move first in order that everything just felt right … all in harmony.
By going slowly and becoming the observer of your actions you will find it quite absorbing, because you will not be alone anymore. You will be master and student, observer and practitioner, together. In the absence of other people, you will find the weapons are both willing student and teacher alike. The manner, in which you harmonise with the jo, is no different to how you should harmonise with people. Your own fascinating class, your own teacher. You only have to listen with your body.
Best wishes, stay safe, Richard
Quite often we need external stimulus to keep us interested in training but if we ever believed what we were training for was worthwhile, then that won’t have changed because of the Covid 19 lock down.
I miss teaching and in the process of teaching, discovering new learning from students. I realise that sharing was one of my chief motivations.
I’ve just run through some brief Jo kata practise in my garden and it offered me some small insights.
In the beginning of our aikido journey we practise slowly, so we can learn the moves … usually with the intention of one day doing it really fast, faster than our teacher perhaps. And we so look forward to that day. However, going fast means that too many basic errors go unnoticed.
I like Koichi Tohei’s 22 jo kata, I learned it from my friend Huw, himself an excellent teacher. The 22 kata moves suit spear more than jo, martially speaking, but do accentuate whole body movement and harmony with the weapon. This kata might show you some nuances of movement that are more difficult to observe in the 13 and 31 count katas.
Regardless of which kata you are going to perform, try going very slowly and I mean slowly. Seek out every time that the hips did not engage as a posture changed, seek out every time that the jo felt uncomfortable to relaxed hands. Observe which part of the body had to move first in order that everything just felt right … all in harmony.
By going slowly and becoming the observer of your actions you will find it quite absorbing, because you will not be alone anymore. You will be master and student, observer and practitioner, together. In the absence of other people, you will find the weapons are both willing student and teacher alike. The manner, in which you harmonise with the jo, is no different to how you should harmonise with people. Your own fascinating class, your own teacher. You only have to listen with your body.
Best wishes, stay safe, Richard