Aiki-ken Japanese sword-work clips and some fun

[arnheimsdomain]

I can't do any real sword practice at the moment, but have resolved to study my footwork:

One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practise the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.
Morihei Ueshiba



Hand spacing for basic overhead cuts: I like this sensei's crisp jo kata, and these cuts are very emphatic, some would say stiff, but very clear for this purpose. You can see him nicely 'parting his hair' in the first - go easy and build slowly until it flows, I've hit myself on the head doing this one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNwp3BhKfBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8y2i4dH29U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIMVEs3ogSg

This instructor is on a number of clips doing a series of basic moves (please ignore the adverts!) and talks about the feeling behind the motion, which is very helpful. He is very powerfully built, so his centre stays low, his cuts are very businesslike and he is direct, 'straight' in style and his movements are very deliberate, discrete - slightly punctuated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54hHUfnbK8

This student demonstrates a more relaxed, flowing style which is more appealing to me (some of the other clips of him show exercises I would not practise at this point). It is possible his centre is 'floating' a little towards the end, but it shows spirit.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jIpqCEswchU

For inspiration:

Paired practice, performed with appropriate care and respect
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MA6kQPBY8dc

There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within.
Morihei Ueshiba

Poetry in motion - a spirited paired exercise and test cutting just for fun: the great master Toshishiro Obata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5msjdZIoag


For kicks:

Never, ever, do this, but it is pleasing to see that the kendoka has such control that he doesn't a) even react to feints or attacks which are out of distance and b) kill the poor bloke learning Lichtenauer longsword fencing, & who does not have the control to be sparring like this. The kendoka shows great calm and poise under attack and this is what my sensei called 'keeping your centre', which is my main focus at the moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFGPCTMp2cw

The opposite: YouTube is littered with this sort of vanity project - I don't think these Bleach fanboys look quite as cool as they imagine - just so dangerous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHWY3HbVcmI



Eye candy for my fangirl friends:

Big Bren Foster being butch, built and very shirtless, not my thing, but...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQRFuBeRAi4

And the more petite sword dancer Brendon Huor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOqbw-ovmSE


Do not be sorry that you did not practise more in the past, do not be daunted about practising more in the future, just practise now.
I'm sure lots of people have said that before, if Ueshiba didn't... Feel free to substitute 'writing' or 'drawing', 'playing guitar', 'phoning Brian' etc. I would have said 'do it', but that might have sounded rude. That too, come to think of it ;-)

Comments

[arnheimsdomain.livejournal.com]

woo! *tackledinavirtualmanner* :-)

That would be wonderful!

It is easier than we sometimes think to write, be it in-jokes on T-shirts, poems on walls or manifestos on beermats: of all these possibilities, one sort of story rather than another is a minor difference. We might not write what we imagined we would write, but then would it be as exciting if we did? :-)