Common mistakes; Shiho nage

Shiho Nage

 

A common mistake while practicing a technique is an eagerness to move too quick. Fast movements give the feeling of better or more real.  If Shite moves too quick he may lose the connection with Aite. 

 

To compare it with baseball;  It is like swinging your bat as fast as you can while the ball has not arrived yet.  You will miss every time.  No matter how good or fast your swing.

Moving too fast usually has a bad effect  on one’s posture.  Everyone’s body posture and  - movement differs.  And your technique should fit your own body posture and way of movement.  But there are things that everyone should try to avoid.  A good example is the placement of foot and knee;  they should be in line all the time. This goes often wrong in techniques like Shiho nage, where turning the body (tenkan) is involved.

Aite needs to stay connected to Shite as well,  he should be committed to the attack and stay alive during the whole technique with the intent of looking for an opening (suki) to take over the technique.

Sometimes we see that Aite is too willing to go down;  this breaks the connection with Shite.  This eagerness to fall down may look good for an audience, but as a method of practice (keiko) it is useless.   

Shiho nage

A good technique is not defined by the manner in which Aite falls. A high fall does not mean that it is a good technique !

correct alignment of front knee and foot

 Here the arm of Aite is folded in a natural way. Fold the arm in an unnatural way (gyaku) and the risk of injury becomes very great.

Photo with O Sensei;  as he completes the turn his foot and knee are aligned, the arm of Aite is folded in a natural way. The upper body of Aite is already in an arch, the whole body of Aite is about to fall. 

Compare the position of the hands in this photo with the first photo. 


Tom Verhoeven

Auvergne, winter 2014