Redlands Aikikai

AIKIDO WEAPONS INTENSIVE

Curriculum: Draft

12/27/2005

Items required: Bokken, jo, shinai (preferably the Bujin Design Yagyu shinai) and shoto for two-sword practice. For the kumitachi, it is preferable, though not essential, to have bokken with tsuba (guard). Note: This Curriculum does not include weapons take-aways, throws and pins, for which there is a separate Intensive.

In any given Intensive only a portion of this Curriculum can be covered

Motivation

Purpose of Aikido weapons training. Aiki and combat training in the spirit of Katsujinken (sword that let's live): to refine one's spirit and skill. This is combat training but is not a sport and one must remain ever vigilant against the sport mentality of winning/losing in order to enter deeply into the art.

Kamae

Standing and sitting: Position of hands on weapon and relation to body in seigan-no-kamae and other kamae. Holding the sword and staff with ki-extension. Basic stances (kamae): Seigan, gedan, hasso gedan, jodan, hasso jodan, gyaku gedan hasso. Centered movement from one stance to another, revealing no openings (suki) with ki test.

Reigi

Etiquette with sword and staff: Respecting our own and other's weapons. When to treat sword as if bladed. Awareness of nearby people and objects. Bowing to shomen while standing, sitting. Placement of sword while watching or training. Bowing to partner before and after each role with sword in (virtual) scabbard. Iai: bringing sword from scabbard into seigan-no-kamae without wavering.

Kumi Kamae

Facing the partner: Position of the hands and tip. Accessing and holding to the centerline. Paired exercise of walking towards and away from the partner. Changing kamae without openings while faced with a partner. Where to look.

Suburi

Basic Movements: Shomen and Yokomen cuts. Tsuki. Saito Sensei's 6 sword suburi and 30 jo suburi. Sword suburi as on Saotome Sensei's video. Eight-Direction cut/tsuki and variations. Using these movements to make effective attacks in Tai-Jitsu, including the various grabs and strikes [6th kyu requirement is knowledge of material up to here]

Kata

Solo Practice Forms: 31 jo kata of Saito Sensei. Note: Parts of the subsequent awase, kumijo and kumitachi movements can be blended and remodeled into kata, or new ones can be generated [5th kyu requirement is knowledge up to here.]

Awase

Paired blending exercises: Saotome and Saito Sensei's awase with sword. "Farmer Dance" jo movement.

Musubi, Kokyu Ho, Ikkyo

Deflection cuts and thrusts with sword: Spiral deflection of attacks as integral to one's own thrust or cut. Implementing Musashi's "There is only Cutting." Recognizing openings. Owning the space and "putting the weight on." Revisit: Centered movement from one stance to another, revealing no openings (suki) with opponent's tsuki at openings.

Deflection cuts and thrusts with jo

Spiral deflection of attacks as integral to one's own thrust or cut. "Sansho," interactive jo movements as demonstrated by Chiba Sensei. Saito Sensei's interactive 31 jo kata.

Kumi Tachi 1-5 as awase

Kumijo 1-6 as awase

Kumi Tachi 6-15 as awase

These are as on Saotome Sensei's videos. Paired partner blending movements exploring some basic combat possibilities for katsujinken. [4th Kyu: first three kumitachi and kumijo; 3rd Kyu: first four kumitachi and kumijo; 2nd Kyu: first five kumitachi and all six kumijo; 1st Kyu and Shodan: kumitachi 1-12, first 12 Sansho and all kumijo.]

Kumi Tachi 1-15 as combat

These are as in Saotome Sensei's and his senior students' teaching in various camps and seminars. The purpose is to understand deeply the state of "no-opening" in the midst of fast, controlled kumitachi movement. Here is where musubi (connection), perception, ma-ai and de-ai (distance, timing) and inner peacefulness become refined. [Nidan and above are required to have taken the curriculum up to here]

Two-sword Arts

Saotome Sensei's Two-sword, from kamae sequence to kumitachi.

Variations. Jo-no-tachi, Tanin Su Gake (multiple attacks), Kumi Iai etc.:

Includes all variations of Kumi Tachi 1-5 on Saotome Sensei's videos as well as his "Patrol kata" and Ikeda Sensei's variations on his "Buki" tape. Anything else!

Acknowledgements:

Inadequacies and immaturities in my research and sharing of weapons arts are squarely my own responsibility. I can only promise to commit to continued study and refinement.

I am grateful beyond measure to Saotome Mitsugi Sensei for setting the stage and giving the direction, based on his own study with O Sensei and of the art of Musashi Miyamoto and others. His teaching of the psychological dimension of sword is worthy of the deepest attention. To Ikeda Sensei for continuing the work, making it his own expressive art and for showing us how to make it our own. To them and to Saito Sensei (personally) and Chiba Sensei (on video) for the inspiring beauty and precision of their movements. To my early teachers of weapons arts: Adachi Sensei who taught me how to hold a sword and much more; Atkinson Sensei for transmitting his understanding of the teachings of Tohei Sensei; Kevin Choate Sensei, Patty Saotome Sensei and Tres Hofmeister Sensei for sharing their own remarkably deep understanding of Saotome Sensei's and Ikeda Sensei's teachings. To Frank Doran Sensei for his exemplary transmission of the relation of sword arts to body arts from both Saito Ryu and Nishio Ryu. To George Ledyard Sensei for his brilliant and transfiguring exposition of sword arts, most notably at the annual Weapons Intensive at his Seattle dojo and his videos, on which these Intensives are modeled.

Last, but not least, I thank all those who have studied with and taught us at Redlands Aikikai and helped the training grow.
 

Chetan Prakash                                                                                                                                      Chief Instructor