http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp0s6vxD1vQ
One of the best things people can do with their IMA is to build up a practice in which they can play with others without hurting them. When the fear of getting hit is taken out, sticking and sensitivity can be brought to the forefront without losing a focus on techniques. Also, it gives you a method by which you can communicate with other IMA people. Push hands is a natural field for this type of play. It’s particularly suited for it. But which of taiji’s techniques should you cultivate for this? Naturally, the grappling aspects of taiji are more conducive to this type of endeavor.
Thing is, what you wind up with might look a bit like aikido. When you take the grappling aspects of taiji, especially qinna, and drill them over and over with an emphasis on sticking and following, you get an aikido-like result. But one that DOES NOT require your opponent to come charging at you with obvious attacks from 10 feet away.
With that in mind, I give you the clip above. this is an attempt to blend aikido and taiji. I feel this might benefit aikido people a lot more that taiji guys, but it gives an idea of what moving in an aikido-like way might entail for a single person. It would make a lot more sense if it were in a push hands format but this is the clip that is available.
3 responses so far ↓
1 tim // Jul 20, 2007 at 12:07 am
That’s Sugawara Tetsuka. There are some clips of him demonstrating jin “tricks” somewhere on a Scandanavian website.
He does have some skills.
2 tim // Jul 20, 2007 at 12:10 am
http://aitekai.dnsdojo.org/jak/film.htm
Go to “32 Sugawara”.
3 Patrick Parker // Jul 20, 2007 at 1:34 am
Cool video. Interesting motion. If you like this then you might like some of the video at http://www.aikitaiji.com/theater/
I understand what you are saying about aikido needing 10 feet of running start for uke, but I’d like to throw in that not all aiki is always like that. The mode of randori that we do most often is essentially similar to the videos you and Dojo Rat posted recently of moving push-hands.
I have some randori on video that I have to get onto the computer, but I’ll post it for y’all soon.
Leave a Comment