The below video is from a seminar I taught in Krutzlingen, Switzerland last March. In the afternoon I lead the group through a jiyu waza (free/ spontaneous technique) class with several exercises for developing different kinds of ability in the jiyu waza.
This is a clip of a simple tai sabaki (body movement) free flow exercise. In our technical training there can be a tendency to get stuck in trying to control our partner by cognitively deciding what the next technique will be. And even though with training such a mental process can happen rather quickly, it is still linear and deterministic, and therefore not free. In this exercise the purpose is to help create the shift out of this “technical linear mind set” and towards being responsive in the moment. We do so by temporarily omitting the completion of techniques and rather work towards continuous movement that is spontaneous, appropriate and free. Only to re-integrate the technical aspect of the art in further exercises.
The tai sabaki here of course refers to the irmi and tenkan body movements (entering and turning) which are the active and receptive principles of aikido.
