so it's a different and interesting way of training, always good to see how others like the Shodokan and Yoshinkan do things. My main 'influences' have been the Ki Society and Aikikai. jo kata, ken suburi, etc), and not so much on movements with empty hand. When I said 'focus on empty handed kata', what I meant to say is that schools I've seen, and which taught a wide-range of pre-set forms, tended to do so in weapons practice (e.g. Our fundamental kata, the Randori no kata is really based on a sword but is executed using tegatana or tanto. There is no 'focus on empty handed kata' however as you put it. Kata is a preset movement routine with a preset form, so in that light I'd say that Unsoku and Tegatana Dousa are kata, but the exercises that they operate as the foundation for are not preset, since they are designed to build reactions based on the unknown. strikes, thrusts, turns and twists) while using proper footwork, which then becomes the foundation for tegatana awase (moving ma ai, metsuke and footwork practice using tegatana) which then leads to sei chu sen no bogyo (metsuke, attack, reaction and entering exercise using tegatana and footwork) and onwards to the other kihon exercises. All of the base movements found in Unsoku and Tegatana dousa are expanded upon to create the movements commonly seen when executing tai sabaki, waza and other movements of Aikido.Īll the kihon kozo exercises build on each other, Unsoku (footwork) is the foundation for the next exercise, tegatana dousa (handblade movements e.g. We do them as exercises to build the base fundamentals of motion for Aikido waza and for correct movement and posture in a kata and randori environment. I'm not sure if I'd designate the stuff we do in Kihon kozo (Basic Practices?) as kata per se. although the Aikikai schools I've visited do not seem to focus on empty-hand kata. I guess it boils down to the school's emphasis on kata. 'Unsoku undo' is quite similar to what I was taught, but the range of movements was more extensive. I remember doing lots of ashi sabaki drills during my tenure as a Shodothuglet (TM). And by the way, Judo ashi sabaki syllabus is more limited relative to Shodokan. I think these basic practices are a major similarity between the 2 methods. Similar to Yoshinkan's Kihon Kozo, Shodokan also has a few basic drills that deal with proper footwork, postural alignment, power generation etc. The second part is an exercise in using tegatana (handblade) along with basic footwork. To add visuals to the concept I found this vid on youtube - The first part - Unsoku Undo is the basic footwork and posture practice. Jujutsu folks I've encountered also do these sorts of exercises apparently. I've never done the Judo Ashi sabaki exercises in my little bit of Judo training but since Tomiki was very high ranked in Judo I can see where the similarity would come from.

Tai sabaki ashi sabaki