Kataude dori - release#1 ushirowaza

Here is another example (time 1:25-1:35) of release#1 being used from an ushiro position - this time, uke has tori in kataude dori - a locked-arm come-along.  Tori gets in synch with uke's stepping and steps away, drawing uke offbalance.  To further disrupt uke's motion, tori "kicks" uke's leg.  I use the quotes here because you don't really have to kick, just touch his leg to stop it and stick it to the ground.  From there tori does a large release#1 motion and finishes with wakigatame.

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We played with this interesting little tidbit during this past weekend's ABG.

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Giant release #1 from ushiro

Here is an old video of Yonkata.  Not a bad example at all.  I particularly like their interpretation of the first two techniques.  Very similar to some ideas that Henry Copeland showed us at a Yonkata seminar a couple of years ago.  I also like the (fast) pacing of this demo.

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But the reason that I posted it is as an example of the first ushirowaza that we played with this past weekend, which is the seventh technique from this collection appearing between time 0:20 and 0:22.  This is a good example of what I was mentioning in my previous post about it being very difficult to prevent release #1, even if uke gets behind you.

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Later in this exercise (technique #14, time 0:52-0:55) you see this idea repeated.  Tori tries to do #1 release from an ushiro condition but uke succeeds at preventing R1, so tori slips under the arm (release #5) and finishes with maeotoshi.

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Ushirowaza as releases

In our particular flavor of Tomiki aikido, we have a set of movements called releases that sorta act as beginnings.  Then we have the basic kata techniques in Junana and Owaza that act as endings.  You can, to a large extent piece together most any technique in aikido by starting with one of the releases and ending with one of the kata finishes.

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So, where does ushirowaza fit in with respect to the releases?  Easy.  Most of the ushirowaza are about the same things as releases #1, 2, or 5.

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In fact, at the beginning of ABG 2010, I posed the question, "In our system of aikido, what is our first exposure to ushirowaza?" Folks mumbled and stumbled around and finally came up with, "Koryu Dai San."  Well, actually it is at white belt, not quite the first day of practice but soon thereafter - Release #5 is usually introduced to beginners by saying, tori is trying to do #1 but uke is trying to turn the corner and take tori's back, so tori steps under uke's arm.

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It turns out that Release #1 is very hard to stop tori from doing.  There are several kata variations (like Yonkata #7) that illustrate a release#1 from an extreme ushiro position - deep in the hole.  But every so often uke grabs your back with sufficient vigor that you can't get #1 to work, so what are the backup plans for release #1?  Release #2 and Release #5.

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Why ushirowaza?

The thematic focus for this past weekend's abg was ushirowaza (attacks from the rear).  "Why ushirowaza," I was asked. Well, besides the fact that it is a part of aikido that we mostly neglect, I had a handful of reasons...

To improve randori.  Ever get into a situation in randori where you hesitated to do an otherwise appropriate move because the guy might get your back? I bet if you hesitated then he got your back anyway.  More exposure to ushirowaza should reduce that hesitation.

Rory Miller made the observation in a recent blog post that we tend to tell students to attack from the back, and we teach them how to do it, but when we spar or randori, we revert back to toe-to-toe.  I think greater exposure to ushirowaza will have a positive effect on this.

Thirdly, I have been thinking lately about what a gruesome hodgepodge the advanced kata in Tomikiryu are.  If you want to study ushiro (for instance) you have to search thru all the kata because these techniques are scattered here and there.  To facilitate studying specific attacks, I've been disassembling the advanced kata and cataloging the techniques in lists sorted by attack.  Since it was already on my mind, we took the ushiro list and worked it.

...so that's why ushirowaza.

Doshu doing ushiroryotedori iriminage

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Ushiro Ryotedori Iriminage

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Ushiro ryotedori kokyonage

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Ki-Aikido Ushiro Ryotedori

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Shaun Hoddy ushirowaza

A large chunk of the ushirowaza that we will be working on at the October gathering comes from the Koryu Dai Ni.  Here's a film of Shaun Hoddy demonstrating these ushirowaza (starting at about 0:45)

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Yoshinkan ushirowaza

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Seishiro Endo ushirowaza

 This is outstanding - both his explanation of the principle in the first 3/4 of the film and the beautiful, fluid quality of the motion in his demonstration at the very end.

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Because of the structure of the teaching system in Tomikiryu, we rarely get much concentrated practice on ushirowaza, so this fall at the Aiki Buddies Gathering in October I will be teaching ushirowaza with an emphasis on the principles and structure of the ideas underlying the ushirowaza. Look for more details on the ABG here in the upcoming weeks.

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Attack the attacker from behind

I thought this was pretty interesting. Today, Rory made some observations on his blog about getting behind the opponent.

...there are things that are obvious, so obvious that you feel stupid mentioning them. For instance, it is easier to beat people up from behind. Obvious, right? Then we look and see that the students generally don't have tools for getting behind, so we give them the tools, right? And then, despite the fact that it makes common sense, they have the tools and it is the freshest thing on their minds, the minute the tension levels go up the slightest bit... boom. Fighting face to face again. I'm hoping "fight like a criminal" might be the magic words that give people the permission to step up to the predator's level.

My initial thought was, "What sort of students would have trouble getting behind the opponent?"  I mean, from day #1 in aikido, we teach folks to get behind the attacker as part of nearly every technique.  It's part of the mental process that we go through constantly. We try to get students, when attacked, to:

1. get out of the way
2. get your hands up between your face and theirs
3. take a step away from uke (while figuring out whether to engage or run away)
4. get behind them
5. move with them to stay behind him while you figure out what to do...

That is pretty much the beginning of every technique that we teach in aikido.

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But then I got to thinking about it some more.  It is pretty common to see people forsake this strategy when we start doing randori.  It's pretty common to get stuck in front, inside ma-ai, trying to figure out what to do.  I bet if we watch for it now that Rory mentioned it, we'll see a lot more of this toe-to-toe nonsense in our randori.

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So, what do you do to fix this in-front problem?  There are several pretty good options...

• hit him in the face and drive him backward off of you (shomenate)
• push yourself backward 1-2 steps out of his reach (aiki brushoff - also step 3 above)
• grab an arm on the far side of his body and turn him away as you pull yourself behind uke (release #2 or 4)

And I agree, thinking, "Fight like a criminal" might get you into more of that predatory mindset, giving you permission to attack the attacker from behind.

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More ushirowaza

In karate we had it pummeled into us that you, "never turn you back to the opponent."  Sure, there were rare exceptions.  One sensei used to like to feign fleeing from us and then hammer us with a turning back kick as we stepped in - a Parthian shot.  But the exception to that rule was very rare.

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In aikido and judo we learn that there are times that it is appropriate and effective to turn your back, including hipthrows and under-the-arm techniques - and sure you can get these things to work pretty good with a compliant partner, but then you try it in randori and you get beat up whenever you turn your back.

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A lot of this has to do with hesitation.  You start to turn your back, knowing that it is the right time and place, then something in your mind says, "better not!" and you hesitate and your momentum and synchronization are spoilt.  The folks who can smoothly and in synch just go ahead and walk under that arm or just do the hipthrow more often than not are successful.

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One possible solution for this - get more experience at ushirowaza.  Get used to having an attacker behind you restricting your motion.  Learn how to walk out of this most terrible of mistakes.

[Photo courtesy of Wontolla]

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