Class Notes
My syllabus for ichimonji no kata is a tribute to the people who have deeply influenced my taijutsu.
We started off with the basic form, which is a jodan uke against a jodan tsuki, step forward with omote shuto. Then we looked at…
Justyn’s henka
Justyn taught a henka which added a ken kudaki after the uke, followed by an ura shuto. Doesn’t sound profound, but the basic movements within this are vital to having good taijutsu. If you can’t manage this well your movement will always be stiff and slow.
William’s henka
William taught a henka that involved moving forward and using the lead hand to connect with the opponent’s rear hand. If you get this right you have used one arm to protect yourself from your opponent’s two arms. That way, whether the opponent stands there stunned (unlikely) or starts to attack with the other arm (very likely) you have a way to deal with him.
(If I recall correctly, this type of movement is what Nagato Sensei is known for teaching)
The jodan uke movement done on the opponent’s back arm disrupts his balance, the omote shuto heads up to get whatever it can get, but fundamentally it drives the opponent back and off balance so you can arm lock the fellow. Remember when to step for this one. William emphasized not stepping in with the omote shuto unless the opponent is off-balance (yup, I’m not the first to teach this idea).
Shiva’s version
Shiva (from Bujinkan India) showed ichimonji to me this way: you drop your body downwards (at a slight angle, of course) as you raise your arms upwards for the jodan uke. Regular jodan ukes may not disrupt the balance of the opponent; this version certainly will. The distance for this is quite different from the version I’ve been taught at the beginning, but I like this one. Moving in two opposite directions is very Chinese in concept and the way the arms were raised creates a very strong structure that doesn’t really depend very much on muscular strength to hold things in place.
I still had another two more versions to look at, but the time just shot past during this lesson. Looking at armlocks will do that, I guess. Hopefully, the next time I cycle through the Kihon Happo I’ll have the time and opportunity to look at them in class!
Junjie
俊傑 (Shunketsu)
Singapore
