WATCH: AIKIDO: Ikkyo with Shoto: Don't push!

Do you have difficulty with Ikkyo sometimes? I find that so many of us get caught up in fighting uke’s arm and trying to demand that it move this way or that way.

Using shoto is really helpful for this.

Today’s video is from our Aikido Summer Seminar in Los Angeles last May.

The main points I was emphasizing in the class were to not push and also to follow the spaces in between obstacles, rather than fight the obstacles themselves (like uke’s arm, for example)

The shoto helps illustrate where these spaces are and how our entrance lines can be drawn either over uke’s arm or under.

I hope today’s video will give you some insight, inspiration, and motivation to help you make the most of your training and take your Aikido to the next level.

Let’s check it out.