Comments on: Christmas Party

By: MM

MM — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:48:15 +0000

Every year my dad used to have me watch an entire 24 hr of that movie… it was always on in the background!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:17:17 +0000

Even more awesome.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:03:43 +0000

It gets better every year. I'm in hour five of the marathon. Merry Christmas!

By: MM

MM — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:41:52 +0000

Yeah, it was sweeeeet!

It had almost a lunge-like quality when a Shihan did it…meaning that is most likely the right way to do it dynamically lol

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:24:35 +0000

MM: I’ve given this explanation before. But, I can (obviously) see the greater meaning you would attach to your lesson at Winter Camp, given the context.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:21:34 +0000

Dichotomy: Last paragraph is key, as well as the last paragraph on shomenuchi.

Thereby conclusively proving what I always knew to be correct.

You people shouldn’t doubt me. Seriously.

But for now, my sweet, sweet victory dance.

Merry Christmas!

By: MM

MM — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:18:30 +0000

To my embarrassment, it felt as though I was the only person training at winter camp that didn’t know what this attack was. lol

When I took Shibata Sensei’s class the Shomanate did not resemble his raise for shomanichi. He made a distinction.

Shomanate was not simply a raise into the helm, it was a gradual raise, that was more horizontal in trajectory than a vertical, with a slight upward slope. It was a slash to the eye opening on a helm. It was either intended to knock the helm off to be followed with a shomanuchi, or it was meant to slash the eyes and into the skull for a subtle kill blow.
As described by my partner during this class, the Shomanate can be the hilt of the sword knocking the helm off(or breaking the nose)in close range. It was also the same motion done subtly in a longer range with the very tip of the blade towards the eye opening of the helm.
It was not a big movement in Shibata Sensei’s class, it was a very committed as far as body motion, yet subtle in the arms and hands.

By: dichotomy

dichotomy — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:03:34 +0000

Here is a link to a site authored by Mr Stefan Stenudd, the Vice Chairman of the International Aikido Federation (IAF):

http://www.stenudd.com/aikido/aikido-attacks-aihanmi.htm#shomenate

He puts it better than me, probably because he knows what be is talking about

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:59:09 +0000

This also ties into my discussion on Tonya's blog about empty handed attacks being a direct analogue to weapons attacks. Rather than "street" attacks, like a "slug" or haymaker. And it supports my conclusions as well. I'm glad MM heard this from a shihan. *feeling vindicated*

By: dichotomy

dichotomy — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:51:56 +0000

Yes I remember, like I said, it is in almost all of your shomanuchi strikes with a boken. We do it all the time, just usually don’t use the term shomanate. We also do that strike empty handed whenever we do a direct iremi entrance into shomanuchi or yokomanuchi strikes as an attemi to the face, but the term is specific to an opening that the uke does.

MM had seen it done as an opening in one of Shibata Sensei’s classes and I thought she was talking about Jodantsi for the longest, but apparently it is a separate and unique opening for empty handed as well as armed.