(Updates from a Cheltenham-Martial arts-dojo!)
It was this week’s sword class that captured Tim San’s imagination, as faced with some quite experienced swordsmen (and women), he quickly realised a basic lesson on resheathing wasn’t going to cut it!!!
Instead Tim San borrowed the footwork from the first reflective aikido kata to use as a template for some rather testing but highly fluid sword play.
One of the great things about both aikido and sword work is in the way both these graceful forms move ‘through’ stances as opposed to the ‘point to point’ method in the slightly more static combative fighting arts.
Tim San’s pattern this week required a very fluid motion throughout, giving a near continuous element to the footwork. Literally there were no points at which the students could lock in as their feet had to keep up with the twists and turns of the sequence. In particular, he tried to encourage a lightness in the lower legs and ankles, promoting a very flexible responsiveness between the feet and the floor. Come the finish the experienced class had an advanced routine that had them floating across the dojo!!
In direct contrast, Wednesdays training had a more physical feel this week, encouraging the more familiar concepts of combative stability, holding and taking ground. There are dozens of concepts pertaining to how we move in combat and everyone has their favourites, so we have to explore them all to give an individual the choice.
Nice and easy one week, nice and hard the next – our aim, as always, to keep you on your toes…see you in the dojo!!
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