Thursday, March 17, 2005
The Logic Behind the 8th, 7th, and 6th Kyu
Nakagawa Sensei was teaching last night. He pointed out something about the logic behind the 8th, 7th, and 6th kyu techniques that I had never noticed before, although it is obvious once pointed out.
Each of those three belt tests has three techniques. What I never noticed before was that each one contains an atemi waza (striking technique), a hiji waza (an elbow technique), and a tekubi waza (a wrist technique).
So when these three kyu were added to the curriculum by Nariyama Sensei about ten years ago, they had a very good logic to them. Indeed, I had wondered in the past why they seemed to be such an effective introduction to aikido. It's now apparent to me that it's because each test covers a lot of ground and introduces students to a wide variety of aikido principles.
Each of those three belt tests has three techniques. What I never noticed before was that each one contains an atemi waza (striking technique), a hiji waza (an elbow technique), and a tekubi waza (a wrist technique).
So when these three kyu were added to the curriculum by Nariyama Sensei about ten years ago, they had a very good logic to them. Indeed, I had wondered in the past why they seemed to be such an effective introduction to aikido. It's now apparent to me that it's because each test covers a lot of ground and introduces students to a wide variety of aikido principles.
