A fact perhaps unknown to many people is that Alan Ruddock
Sensei is the only Aikido instructor resident in the British
Isles who has actually trained at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo
(Headquarters) while O-Sensei Ueshiba Morihei, the founder of
Aikido, was still alive. Although O-Sensei was an old man during
the early 1960s when Ruddock Sensei was training in Tokyo, the
experience of being in his presence and feeling the technique of
this great teacher first hand clearly had a profound effect on
the young Irishman.
Ruddock Sensei is quick to express gratitude to the various
teachers whose classes he attended during his time in Japan and
interspersed his teaching with anecdotes from his memories of
some of the most highly respected teachers within the Aikido
world today.
According to Ruddock Sensei posture "makes Aikido, posture
"is" Aikido". For this reason a certain amount of
time was spent looking at posture and the different ways of
standing in Kamae (guard position). Although various stances are
possible Ruddock Sensei prefers the "old fashioned" way
with the front foot pointing forward and the feet at right angles
to each other.
Even more important than the actual stance is making sure that
your weight is kept forward over your front leg. If it is on your
back leg you can't go anywhere; you have to transfer the weight
onto your front leg before you can move.
Once posture and moving had been looked at, Tenchi Nage (Heaven
and Earth Throw) was used to practise moving from your
"centre", no matter what the point of contact with the
attacker. Rather than wait for an attack to come or a wrist to be
grabbed, however, Ruddock Sensei had the students initiate the
"defence" the moment that an attack seemed imminent. In
this way practitioners learned to be "ready for him coming -
not for his arrival".
Although there are certain principles which may be particular to
"aiki" arts there are also principles of body mechanics
which apply to all arts, no matter what they are or where they
come from. One of these involves "making maximum use of what
you've got". As the lower body - hips and legs - is very
strong in comparison to the upper body, it is the lower body that
should direct movement. Using "aiki" principles will
allow you to blend with your attacker but if your body cannot
move correctly the actual use of aiki principles will not be
efficient.
Whether in Tai Jutsu or armed with a weapon the importance of
moving correctly and with the right attitude was repeatedly
stressed. The "right attitude" included being ready for
any attack at any time and being able to seize the initiative.
"There is", said Ruddock Sensei, "a big difference
between being gripped and letting someone grip you. In real
Aikido you don't let anyone touch you; you make the contact, not
them, but you can only do this if you are ready and aware".
Ruddock Sensei's innovative teaching methods were greatly
appreciated by the students, as were his insights into the art to
which he has dedicated himself for over thirty years. Even if
some of the techniques and principles studied during the seminar
are forgotten over the course of time, certain of Ruddock
Sensei's comments will remain in the students' minds for a long
time to come. Ruddock Sensei's closing remarks illustrate this
point perfectly: "Whatever each Sensei teaches is like a
kind of disease - hopefully you're going to catch it from all of
us. Once it's in there it will grow, and that's what's
important".
After a brief introduction of himself and Yoshinkai Aikido,
Rubens Sensei started his instruction by demonstrating the
principle of "opening the door". The basis of this
principle is to "attack" not the body when executing a
technique, but the space around it. In order to practise the
principle Sankyo (Third Control) was chosen as a technique as
this is a movement with which all practitioners of aiki arts are
familiar.
Although the point of contact with an opponent is the hand when
performing Sankyo, it is not the hand which moves the opponent
but the hips. Echoing remarks made by Ruddock Sensei, Rubens
Sensei emphasised the importance of remaining "centred"
in order to carry out a technique; without a strong base there is
no power in the technique and the technique ends up being
performed using upper body strength alone. In Sankyo, for
example, the hand locks the opponent's wrist in order to move him
but the actual movement itself is governed by the hips.
Sokumen Irimi Nage (Side Entering Throw) was the next technique
studied. This basic Aikido movement was used to stress the
principles already looked at, those of attacking the space around
the opponent and performing the technique with the whole body and
not simply the arms. Not only is correct preparation necessary
but correct follow through also. Performing a technique quickly
can hide a multitude of errors and so students were asked to
pause at various points in their technique to check that they
were still "centred" and in control of the situation.
The skill in the technique is not in actually throwing the
opponent to the ground but in getting into the position where the
throw just becomes a matter of course.
In connection with Sokumen Irimi Nage Rubens Sensei referred to
the principle of "Hasami" (scissors). The idea behind
Hasami is to create "a powerful tool with a pin in the
middle". Like a pair of scissors, create the pin by ensuring
that your hips are in close to your opponent's and that your
centre is the "pin" around which the rest of the
movement revolves. As in the previous exercise Rubens Sensei had
the students stop at certain points in their technique to check
that the principle of Hasami was being adhered to.
After practice of Hasami Rubens Sensei spoke about how the
Japanese term "Awaseru" had been mistranslated into
English by referring to it simply as "harmony". When a
westerner talks about "harmony" he is not talking about
the same thing as when a Japanese refers to "Awaseru",
according to Rubens Sensei. "The Japanese idea is of a rock
in the centre of the ocean; huge waves batter against it but the
rock just "is"; it neither attacks nor retreats from
the waves, it just "is", no matter what is happening
around it. Another way of looking at it is to imagine the roof of
a cave; if you stand up and hit your head against it, it isn't a
case of the roof trying to hit you, the roof just "is".
These ideas are not what westerners generally understand by the
term Awaseru".
Attention to the principles above, as well as others such as
Kokyu (pure energy), Musubi (tying together) and Tachi Ai
(standing up together) was carried over into training with the Jo
(four foot staff). The power and energy through the hands are
simply an extension of the power and energy which emanate from
the hips. "It makes no difference whether we are holding a
Jo or not", said Rubens Sensei, "we just have a line of
power and we extend through it".
In response to a question from one of the students Rubens Sensei
clarified the point that the way in which the Jo is used in
Aikido (known as Aiki Jo) is not the same as in classical Jodo
(Way of the Staff). In Aikido the Jo is used to give another
insight into Aikido and the principles of movement; it is not
meant to be a fighting weapon.
The benefits of almost five years study in Japan were evident in
the manner in which Rubens Sensei conducted his classes. A
confident and extremely proficient teacher, his relaxed and
friendly demeanour immediately put at ease those students who had
initially expressed a degree of apprehension at the thoughts of
training in Yoshinkai Aikido.
Although the empty hand art in the Kaze Arashi Ryu system is
Aiki Ju Jutsu and not Aikido, Watson Sensei asked the students to
forget the labels of "Jutsu" and "Do" for the
time being. Although there are fundamental differences in
philosophy and application between Jutsu and Do arts, the
principles of aiki and body movement transcend the division
between the two concepts.
Watson Sensei chose to illustrate basic principles on which the
Aiki Ju Jutsu of Kaze Arashi Ryu is based by demonstrating
techniques of the system with which students would be familiar,
albeit in a slightly different way. The six controls of Kaze
Arashi Ryu (Ikkyo, Nikyo etc.) were studied by taking one or two
versions of each, dissecting them and looking at the principles
behind them. Every control in Kaze Arashi Ryu has a standing and
a ground version. Standing applications are usually used as
immobilisations or "come-alongs" while ground versions
are used to keep an attacker immobilised for a longer period of
time or to prepare him for tying up. Hojo Jutsu (Art of Tying) is
one of the subsidiary arts studied in Kaze Arashi Ryu and Watson
Sensei illustrated this briefly.
Emphasis was laid on maintaining contact with the attacker once
it had been made. Contact is the first step to gaining physical
control of the situation and it was stressed that, even though
the defender may have to move along with the attacker to a
certain extent, maintaining the contact should mean that the
defender remains in control throughout.
Sankyo (Third Control) was practised to show how the concept of
"aiki energy" is one of a continuous, never ending
movement. A technique, be it a throw or a lock, can only occur
when one person's energy gains superiority over the other.
Students practised a version of Sankyo which involved a takedown
by means of a nerve control on the forearm. Once on the ground
the attacker was "encouraged" to lie on his front by
being held at a "threshold of pain", the point at which
an attacker realises that it is in his interests to comply with
the defender's requests or risk further, unbearable pain.
Dojo practice is one thing, but in reality no attacker is going
to let himself be countered and will change his strategy as soon
as he realises that his initial attack has been foiled. To
illustrate this Watson Sensei showed how certain "weak
points" could occur during the takedown from Sankyo if the
defender did not ensure that he was in complete control
throughout the execution of his technique. The reason for the
weak points occurring is that the defender has "lost his
centre" and, as a consequence, he has returned control of
the situation to the attacker. In the context studied, the
attacker, having regained control of his own energy and that of
his victim, finished by applying Sankyo to the careless defender.
Although aiki arts are generally thought of as employing circular
movement, Watson Sensei showed how a straight line force was
often appropriate. Using the idea of the "stick and
hoop" it was agreed that once the hoop had been set in
motion it could be kept going by striking it with the straight
line force of the stick. The same principle applies to body
movement; once the attacker's body has been prepared by placing
it in a "circular" position, the straight line force of
the defender's body hitting it would cause it to move. Echoing
the earlier words of Rubens Sensei, Watson Sensei emphasised that
"preparation is everything; if the technique is not set up
properly from the beginning the chances of its success are
limited".
Practice of the Kaze Arashi Ryu manner of performing Kokyu Nage
(Breath Throw) in several of its versions brought the empty hand
section of Watson Sensei's instruction to an end. After
discussion of the difference between the principles of Kokyu and
Irimi (Entering) students were shown and practised Kokyu Nage
against strikes from different directions.
This will take place over the weekend of 5 & 6 October
1996 at the same venue and will feature the same instructors.
Admission will be by ticket only so as to restrict the number of
students on each mat. Anyone wishing to be placed on the mailing
list and to receive further details, or to obtain a copy of the
seminar video tape, is welcome to contact the author at 11
Jubilee Close, Haslingden, Lancashire, BB4 4RN or by phoning
01706 219747.
for more info contact the email address below
email to (J.MELVIN1@livjm.ac.uk)
or contact Kirby Watson
11 Jubilee Close
Haslingden BB4 4RN
Tel 01706 219747