Yamaguchi Sensei had a lesson plan which was interesting and by starting small and adding new steps once the current piece was under control we ended up with a fascinating exercise that covers so many of the fundamentals of Jukendo and then shows how they are applicable in far more advanced waza and situations.
I think this could be an interesting series of lessons so here is the first part. Practice this for a few hours (or weeks) and we’ll have the video for the next part.
To begin with we did Chokutotsu sanbon without kata and with an extra step by the striker (tsugiashi).
(I have to apologise for the varying lighting but I was doing the exercise as well as filming.)
Striking with Tsugiashi
Normally in Chokutotsu sanbon we strike and stop immediately when doing basics. For this exercise the striker will do a small second step (00:11).
With the normal “stop immediately” strike the motodachi receives with a small step back to absorb the impact of the strike. With this exercise the motodachi takes a single but much larger step back but with the same timing as normal receiving.
The motodachi leans forward slightly as they receive and lifts their front hand a little as if guiding the mokuju to the target (01:00 shows this clearly).
Try not to hit each other but try to be very close. “Touch the clothing, not the person”.
00:31 This is wrong. Note how the tampo is miles away from the motodachi at the point of fumikomi and then moves in closer using the second step. We don’t want this.
What we want is the tampo almost touching the motodachi at the point of fumikomi then the motachi retreats. Note the footwork by the motodachi where the rear foot has prepared by moving back before the strike but the body is still in the same place. Only during the strikers second step does the motodachi retreat their body, maintaining as close to possible as the original separation distance between tampo and body.
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