By Simon Larsen and Emily Jackman
This is the full exercise which follows on from the work in the previous 3 lesson videos. Again, if you’ve not practiced the techniques from the earlier lessons it’s advisable to get those under your belt before adding this all together.
The full technique consists of the shuugisha making a mae tsuki mae attack and then repeating that again. In order to make the second strike cleaner the shuugisha should be putting pressure on the motodachi’s kote after the first strike and that way the movement back into chudan maintains downward pressure over the motodachi’s mokuju.
After the second strike, the motodachi responds with their own mae tuski mae attack and the shuugisha responds to them with a final set of mae tsuki mae.
Key points to bear in mind for this is that both motodachi and shuugisha need to be taking two steps for the attack and receival. When on the receiving end the back foot needs to extend far enough behind you that you have room to take two steps forward when it’s your turn to attack.
Motodachi needs to make sure that they are receiving properly – ie the shuugisha’s tampo should stay in contact with motodachi’s kata as they absorb the strike. The receiver needs to guide the attacker’s mokuju into the correct position so that the barrel rests on the receivers kote. That way for the shuugisha’s second attack they can continue to pressure downwards as the mokuju moves into chudan.
Lastly, you should focus on speed not strength. Get the feet and arms moving quickly and nimbly about and it doesn’t matter how strong the other person may be if you’re faster than them!
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