Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Some More Kuzushi Waza Tips
Let me now describe how to do the 7th and the 14th of the kuzushi waza sequence. At shodokan, they normally practice eight of the 14 total techniques in this sequence. They practice all 7 of the omote (forward versions) and then the last of the ura. That is, they do 1-7 and 14.
Number 7 of the Kuzushi Waza
To try to make it more clear what’s going on, imagine that you and uke are standing on a north-south line. You are facing north and uke is facing south.
You are waiting in a right-foot forward stance. Uke wants to run around you and grab both your wrists, ending up standing behind you holding your arms behind you. To do so, he runs to your right side to get around you. He first grabs your right wrist with his right hand before running behind you to grab your left wrist with his left hand.
Here’s how you do the waza.
As he runs towards you, turn 90 degrees to your left while sliding a small amount forward with both feet (you remain in a right-foot forward stance.) That’s right, both feet move towards uke. This does two things. First it disrupts his timing. Second, it pulls him slightly off balance. In particular, since your right wrist moves forward when you slide forward with both feet, his grabbing you by that right wrist will tend to pull him off balance (to his own right.) But also please understand that the sliding motion is small, definitely less than a foot and more like six inches. Notice that since you turned 90 to your left, you are now facing west.
Next, you will turn 270 degrees towards your right so that you end up facing south. I have to describe this in stages since several things happen almost at once.
First, take a narrow little step forward with your left foot. It will end up just in front of your right foot, which is still facing north. It’s actually kind of a penguin step so that your left foot is facing north-east. It is important to realize that this step puts the left foot very close to the right foot. Your left foot should only be maybe four to six inches away from your right foot. By taking this step you will once again be facing north.
Second, simultaneous with taking this left foot forward step, you need to slide your left tegatana along your left hipbone and then down the inside of your left thigh towards your knee. If your timing is good, you don’t have to go very far down your thigh. What doing this accomplishes is to really pull uke off balance. Since uke’s left hand is grabbing your left wrist, the simultaneous effect of stepping forward with your left foot and sliding your left tegatana down your left thigh is to pull uke significantly off balance.
Third, also simultaneous with stepping forward with the left hand and sliding the left tegatana down the left thigh, raise your right tegatana straight up your center line. As you do this, make sure your right upper arm is flush with your torso. Your elbow should not be pointing horizontally to the right! Raise the right tegatana all the way up above your head.
Next, turn around 180 degrees. This will get you pointing south. As you turn, keep your tegatana arms stiff. By doing so, you will be able to pull uke further off balance using both arms.
Once you have turned around, slide forward with both feet, pushing through your right tegatana blade into uke’s right arm and using that pressure to move him. If you timing is good, uke will want to take a forward roll.
Also note that as you do this, you should lean with your whole body weight. Don’t just try to move uke by cutting downward with your right tegatana. Instead, use your body weight. Lean, and as uke starts to move you’ll find your right tegatana dropping down your center line rather naturally.
Tomorrow, tips on the 14the technique. But for now, yet another…
Ki Phrase of the Day
Ki ga tatsu literally means that your ki is standing up. What it means idiomatically is that you are irritable, on edge, or irascible. Even a trifling thing can send you into a rage. Think of it as equivalent to having your hackles up.
Number 7 of the Kuzushi Waza
To try to make it more clear what’s going on, imagine that you and uke are standing on a north-south line. You are facing north and uke is facing south.
You are waiting in a right-foot forward stance. Uke wants to run around you and grab both your wrists, ending up standing behind you holding your arms behind you. To do so, he runs to your right side to get around you. He first grabs your right wrist with his right hand before running behind you to grab your left wrist with his left hand.
Here’s how you do the waza.
As he runs towards you, turn 90 degrees to your left while sliding a small amount forward with both feet (you remain in a right-foot forward stance.) That’s right, both feet move towards uke. This does two things. First it disrupts his timing. Second, it pulls him slightly off balance. In particular, since your right wrist moves forward when you slide forward with both feet, his grabbing you by that right wrist will tend to pull him off balance (to his own right.) But also please understand that the sliding motion is small, definitely less than a foot and more like six inches. Notice that since you turned 90 to your left, you are now facing west.
Next, you will turn 270 degrees towards your right so that you end up facing south. I have to describe this in stages since several things happen almost at once.
First, take a narrow little step forward with your left foot. It will end up just in front of your right foot, which is still facing north. It’s actually kind of a penguin step so that your left foot is facing north-east. It is important to realize that this step puts the left foot very close to the right foot. Your left foot should only be maybe four to six inches away from your right foot. By taking this step you will once again be facing north.
Second, simultaneous with taking this left foot forward step, you need to slide your left tegatana along your left hipbone and then down the inside of your left thigh towards your knee. If your timing is good, you don’t have to go very far down your thigh. What doing this accomplishes is to really pull uke off balance. Since uke’s left hand is grabbing your left wrist, the simultaneous effect of stepping forward with your left foot and sliding your left tegatana down your left thigh is to pull uke significantly off balance.
Third, also simultaneous with stepping forward with the left hand and sliding the left tegatana down the left thigh, raise your right tegatana straight up your center line. As you do this, make sure your right upper arm is flush with your torso. Your elbow should not be pointing horizontally to the right! Raise the right tegatana all the way up above your head.
Next, turn around 180 degrees. This will get you pointing south. As you turn, keep your tegatana arms stiff. By doing so, you will be able to pull uke further off balance using both arms.
Once you have turned around, slide forward with both feet, pushing through your right tegatana blade into uke’s right arm and using that pressure to move him. If you timing is good, uke will want to take a forward roll.
Also note that as you do this, you should lean with your whole body weight. Don’t just try to move uke by cutting downward with your right tegatana. Instead, use your body weight. Lean, and as uke starts to move you’ll find your right tegatana dropping down your center line rather naturally.
Tomorrow, tips on the 14the technique. But for now, yet another…
Ki Phrase of the Day
Ki ga tatsu literally means that your ki is standing up. What it means idiomatically is that you are irritable, on edge, or irascible. Even a trifling thing can send you into a rage. Think of it as equivalent to having your hackles up.
