Check out the return of the weapon at 48 seconds.
While I was taught to treat the bokken as a sword; it isn't one. I have had many loud lectures given to me by many people over the years about what was the correct way to hand a bokken back. I have had outraged low ranked people stop the entire class so that they could lecture on what they had seen on TV, in a movie, in a Kendo or Judo or Karate or Kenjitsu or Iaido class.
This is Hitohiro Saito, the son of Mirohiro Saito. Saito senior was the longest serving direct uchi-deshi of O Sensei, and he became the world's most recognizable Aikido sword expert as the author of Aiki Ken.
This is not how I was trained, and I teach in a way that respects my teacher and I try to not offend anyone. But, for anyone who wants to get hyper and pick a fight over sword returning etiquette - this is the clip I think of when I tell them to settle down.
The point being what? That an opponent flying at you whose sword you incidentally end up with is example of a proper sword transfer?
ReplyDeleteMore in reference to grabbing a "blade" by the tip and holding it out for the Uke to grab. I was always told to treat a bokken like a sharp blade. This very capable and high ranked teacher treats the bokken like a piece of wood.
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