We went through the basics of Omote. Now a bit more detail on the motodachi side of things. The Motodachi sets the tone of the exercise.
Pay special attention to the footwork used by the motodachi.
As the strike lands a tiny step backwards is taken and the upper body receives the impact. The concept of receiving the impact is important. Do not fight against it as this will encourage the striker to not do a correct strike, arms won’t be straight, shoulders won’t be wide etc. Do not run away from the impact either; this will encourage beginners especially not to commit to the strike as the lack of resistance will leave them off balance while they are learning proper shime (locked and tight final position, tanouchi for the body basically).
Encourage the person striking to perform the exact same strike every time by attempting to be at the correct distance for the strike to land cleanly.
Think of the strike as being targeted an inch inside your kata. As the mokuju tip connects make space for that inch of further distance. Terada Sense often refers to this like “catching a baseball”.
Don’t allow your upper body to be knocked backwards. This will almost certainly ruin your posture and positioning for the next strike. Also don’t allow your body to be knocked a lot away from the side-on stance of hanme. If you get in the habit of receiving and allowing your shoulders and / or hips to open out of hanmi you are likely going to be hit a lot on the second strike in shiai.
Retreating steps are small and smooth. Don’t allow your centre of gravity to move up and down as you take the steps into position to commence / complete the exercise or the steps away during the exercise.
We generally do chokutotsu san bon with the lower grade person receiving first however if there is a rotating group training or groups of three this can be changed.
At 00:51 you can see how Terada sensei has the target “wide open” for his partner. He is not holding a centre line to protect himself. Keep in mind jukendo “wide open” may be different to other budo. Maybe 2 or 3 inches off the centre line. Still very close, if not touching, the other mokuju.
As the strike comes in Terada sensei’s mokuju moves out to the side more until the final part of the strike where it is at maybe 15 or 20 degrees off the centre line. He does not drop it right down on his hip or out to the side. He is basically still pretty close to kamae.
During the two steps back his mokuju moves back to the center on the first step then to the 10cm overlap distance on the second step.
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