Intelligent training: weapons - Dax
Weapons work is the part of aikido that I enjoy more than any other.
The jo and bokken form a good testing ground for stance, posture and technique
as well as developing commitment and trust in your partner.
However I think that when practising with weapons it is worth remembering a few points that
will enhance the practice. First and foremost is the attack. Often it will be observed that
many people make weak or unfocused attacks. This may be for many reasons, including not knowing
how to attack properly or a fear of hurting their opponent. However a weak attack may actually
have a greater chance of causing injury due to its hesitant nature than a strong focused attack.
A cut or thrust should be done at a speed with which the person is comfortable, (unless they
deliberately want to pressure themselves) so that they can respond to the attack. As the aikidoka
develops and practises, the speed at which he or she can receive an attack increases until a
full speed attack can be dealt with. Yet if the attack is made without intent of focus the
exercise can quickly degenerate into just hitting each other with sticks and no progression is made.
The problem lies in the fact that a slow attack is often confused with a weak attack. It is
possible to make a slow but strong attack just as it is possible to make a weak and unfocused attack.
So what defines the strength and focus of an attack? In my opinion a good attack will comprise
several components. The first is that the attack, if not blocked or avoided by the defended will
hit the defender squarely in the specified target area. This means that the attacker must identify
the target and then aim to hit the target. For example if a shomen attack is made wide of the head
the defender does not need to move their head, in fact if they do move to the wrong side they will
be putting themselves in danger! In aikido we are usually presenting a pre-set attack to the
defender so that a certain technique may be practised, thus there is no requirements in normal
training for feints or deliberately wide strikes to distract or confuse the defender.
A second point that makes a good attack is the cut or thrust itself, irrespective of whether
it hits the target. The cut should be made so that the sword falls under its own weight in a
smooth arc with no wobble finishing with either a forwards or backward slice- achieving this
is a lot harder than it sounds. A thrust should make the tip of the bokken or jo travel in a
straight line from its start point to its destination.
The third thing that makes a good cut or thrust is its motion. This should be smooth and flowing,
not just compromising of the weapon but of the whole body and weapon in union. The weapon should be
thought of as an extension to the body, not as a bit of wood attached to the body and so you should
be able to control the weapon as well as you can control your own arm.
When using a weapon it is worth thinking about the design and construction of the weapon. For
example the sword has its sharpest edge at about six inches nearest the tip but even here it
will not cut if used in a chopping motion (as dramatically illustrated in a BBC 2 program Arms
in Action when a curator of the Royal Ordance weapons collection bought a katana down on his
own hand). However a slicing motion will produce a cut that can go through armour, flesh and
bone, thus when cutting the cut should have a slicing motion either forwards or backward;
(this traditionally varied in sword schools with the style of swordsmanship). Also the swords
cutting edge is quite brittle and so when blocking or deflecting an attack it should be ensured
that the side or back of the sword is used.
The jo has its origins in the spear and the bo in the six foot staff. Martial arts mythology has
it that legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi was challenged to a duel by a warrior wielding a bo
staff. Musashi defeated the challenger and told the man not to challenge him again or he would
kill him. The challenger went away and meditated in the mountains (as they always seem to do)
and cut two feet off the end of his staff, thus making the first jo. He then sought out Musashi,
challenged him again, this time defeating him.
The swinging strikes with a jo are, as with all forms of staff or cudgel, intended to cause
crushing damage and thus a great deal of force is required at the tip of the weapon. Due to the
length of the jo it should not be used as the quarter staff i.e. held firmly in the centre, but
allowed to slide in the hands. This allows the user to apply the full length of the jo to strike
and increase the distance between himself or herself and the opponent. Also the strike should
start with the hips and use the whole body to generate a whipping motion at the tip and not, as
is often seen, movement coming just from the arms.
A point worth remembering if you want to do any light freestyle work with the jo and bokken is
that the jo is approximately twelve inches longer than a bokken.
The thrusts of the jo are related to the spear and thus if you think about the jo as a short
spear the most economical way of embedding the tip into an opponent is in a straight line from
the hips current position to the target. Also the target, tip and yourself should be in line at
the moment of contact (if you think of trying to hit a nail with a hammer, striking the nail at
a 45 degree angle you will see why).
These are some of the points I think are worth considering when practising with weapons, and I
am sure that by thinking about your weapons practice you will think up many more. Some may
disagree with some of my points and you may have good reason for doing so as no one thing is
applicable to all situations. However the main thing is to think about what you are doing and
to practise in a way that makes sense to you, in effect to train intelligently.