Tandoku and the Way of the Sword (Do Nothing Different)

Our shared art is said to be descended from sword work. Specifically, a Japanese in origin sword style that has little resemblance to modern Kendo nor Iaido and no resemblance to Korean, European or Chinese sword work. Definitely, this is not supposed to resemble any movie sword work - as much as I loved The Matrix, the movie did a disservice to us mere mortals.  We can never look as cool as what the public has come to find boring.

I have often wondered if the reverse was true - that our juijitsu came before our weapons.  Takeda Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba's teacher, was to my understanding mostly a Juijitsu teacher.  Takeda was not trying to gain popularity for his sword work, but rather his empty hand techniques.  Many Aikido teachers in different associations will have something probably called Shihonage, probably have something looking like Ikkyo with a variety of names, Iriminage by a variety of names and styles.  The devil is in the details.  Our empty hand forms have movements in common, though our language does not reflect that from association to association.

Basic sword and Jo work from Birankai, to New England Aikikai, to Iwama, to the students of Nishio and Shirata - very little resemblance.  Some do weapons daily, some very seldom.  Their empty hand work has more in common.

Of course, regular weapons training feeds and informs empty hand work.  But, when I look at the Tandoku clip of Tomiki Sensei, or the Iaido of Kanai Sensei - the weapons work follows the empty hand.  At one point in time for the Samurai, this might have been reversed.  Many decades if not centuries have passed since the sword was the default weapon.  Today, we learn to use our hands first.  The Samurai class was all but banned from wearing swords and guns in public in 1876.  The Founder of Judo would have been a teenager; Morihei Ueshiba would not have been born yet.  Post WWII, the sword would have probably been subject to heavy restrictions.

Kanai Sensei was a very impressive and powerful man.  I am friends with a number of his students.  His empty hand work was gorgeous and unique in the details.  His own Iaido system to look at it either came simultaneously or the empty hand Aikido came first.  The Shiho Omote movement in particular - the empty hand technique is the same, and unique.

http://youtu.be/cabwIuuKYSs

(bonus points for anyone who can tell me how to put two Youtube videos in a single blog entry)

At the start of this exercise, we were given several source videos one of which was Tomiki Sensei doing the same movements as appear in his Tandoku kata/exercise, but holding a bokken and swinging it.  He's doing nothing different.

Chicken or Egg?  Swords or Empty Hands?  Why care?  But if our empty hand is what taught us to get off the line and bring a weapon to bear to bear with mobility, power and stability - then who cares what tools we adopt into Aikido next?  Just do nothing different.