My mom's gingerbread recipe that I use for houses and cookies

I owe people an apology I guess.  I gave all props to Alton Brown for his sugar cookie recipe as I used it for decorating a gingerbread house.  From the traffic I get here, I think people are looking for Alton Brown's recipe.  To my knowledge, he hasn't published one (though I am sure it would be great).

This is the recipe I usually make:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of butter, left at room temperature for a few hours.  Not melted in the microwave, this changes the consistency.  My wife swears margarine is unhealthy, so I stopped using it.  But, margarine tends to make a harder cookie if you find the dough too crumby for a gingerbread house.  I definitely use butter for tree ornaments with no problem.

Beat the two together until fully combined.

For eating:

1 tsp of ground cloves

2 tsp of powdered ginger

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of salt

Mix well and fully combine again.  I just leave this mixture in the mixing bowl.

For a gingerbread house, the dough is being used for it's aroma as much as anything.  I double the ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

I use a 2cup Pyrex measuring cup for the next step.

2/3 c. hot strong coffee

2/3 c. molasses

Stir the molasses and coffee together until fully combined.  Then add this to the butter, sugar and spice mixture and mix further.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine

4-3/4c regular flour
1 tsp. soda

I like the dough better when I have sifted it.

I used to add a handful of flour at a time in the mixing bowl, then mix, then add more flour, until I had a solid dough.  I now have a wonderful power mixer with a dough hook, and it works just fine to add a little flour at a time while leaving the dough mixing.

Wrap in saran or put the dough in an airtight container, then chill it for a few hours (though I usually leave it overnight in the fridge).

When ready to bake, take a chunk of dough and knead it until it isn't as stiff and feels uniform.

Set oven to 350.   

I roll the dough out on Baker's Parchment - much easier to pick up and put on the cookie sheet.  No need to grease the sheet either.

Depending in the thickness of the dough, 17 minutes is usually enough.

Roman Sankyo

So, the picture is from a museum in Florence, Italy.  It is interesting for me because if I saw a student doing this variation of Sankyo, I would correct them for doing it "wrong."  I can expand my understanding of what Sankyo can be with this example, and that gives me some freedom.

On the other hand, no one is saying O Sensei lived 2000 years ago, or that he ever saw Rome, or that he enjoyed public nude wrestling.  There is no saying Roman soldiers taught Japanese martial artists. There is no reason to see two similar ideas and force a direct correlation.

Aiki-Truthiness

"Did you hear the story about O Sensei on the train?  When he talked down the angry drunk man?"   I groaned a little inside.  This comment was from a senior practitioner.

The story is from Terry Dobson.  He was on a train in Japan when an angry drunk man started to frighten people.  Dobson was ready to respond with his size and martial prowess when an old man walked up and talked the angry drunk down.  The frightening man quickly collapsed into tears, the situation was immediately diffused without violence, and Dobson appeared to have a moment of enlightenment.

The old man on the train sounds like someone who was fearless, and compassionate.  He sounds like someone we need to have more of in the world today.  This old man on a train in Japan had an influence on Dobson's Aikido, and the story resonates with many people in Aikido today.

It just never was O Sensei.  Dodson gives no indication he even knows who the old man was.

I only heard one story about O Sensei on a train, and it was in a book of Shirata Rinjiro's translated by John Stevens.  O Sensei ordered a stranger who was sitting quietly on a train off.  O Sensei, according to the students, who told the story to the translator who wrote it down and submitted it to the publisher, told his students it was because the man was a thief.  So, I have several degrees of separation from this one story.

I spent a few years having read everything (bloody little) with O Sensei's name or a direct student's name in the title (if it has been translated into English - a huge barrier I regret).  I wish this story was the only one of it's kind.  When I come across a quote I never heard before, I don't get excited.  I get cynical.

Like this image from Shihan Essence.  There are several otherwise beautiful posters that they have fluffed a bit.  "Life and Death are decided in an instant" maybe became translated as "Winners and Losers are decided in a flash."  In asking the people running the site, this was a translation of Shioda Kancho paraphrasing Morihei Ueshiba, then misattributed as Morihei Ueshiba himself directly.  There are many quotes from other sources where O Sensei asked us not to focus on the Good and Bad of our fellow man, or to not focus on Winning and Losing.

Morihei Ueshiba is well known as a devote Shinto practitioner, but in some posters like this Ueshiba is quoted as though he worshipped the Judeo-Christian God.  I believe the original might have referred to Kami, and a number of similar quotes probably refer to "The Universe." 

It is hard to blame the site, as O Sensei wrote little, his image was deliberately modified for marketing purposes, and many students have gone on to spread stories they think should be true or they feel is true.  Their next generation of students in turn respond with further truthiness, misguided loyalty or misplaced trust.  As Aikido rapidly became multinational, multiple languages seem to be in play.  What was maybe in Japanese gets translated into Russian is then translated to Spanish, and then to English or whatever.  The translations are playing the Telephone Game with our art.

It shouldn't be so easy to confuse a generation of students. 

Why do I as a Christian get the joke?  Because I cared enough about my religion to read, and listen to people who deserved to be listened to.  I questioned what I heard, and I corroborated what I read, heard, and believed.  I challenged my beliefs, and I researched them.

YouTube Jo Dori and Jo Nage

Thanks Dave.  I'm new to YouTube, thought I would share some stuff here.

My first foray into YouTube Koshinage Basics

Thanks Ross.

I had started before to follow up with Kawahara Sensei's basics and I called Ushiro Ryotedori Koshinage a separate type.  For basic work, I realized this is an Ai Hamni Koshinage, with Shihonage and Jujigarami being later examples.  Ai Hamni is just a way to practice giving Uke support for the fall.  Later versions, I am holding the second hand at first.

Reconstructing Omote and Ura: Aikikai's Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the Second Doshu

I've read up on other styles and tried to be fair and accurate - despite never having been there and never having met the principle players.  Now it is the turn for my own style, and I think I had more difficulty with the research.  While outsiders refer to Aikikai as a style, this is not really the truth.  Aikikai is a loose organization comprised of many teachers of many lineages who date their association with O Sensei (or one of his students) to a variety of differing times or locations.  This is not a homogenous, tightly controlled, clearly identified "style."  Many groups that have their own clear identity still come under the Aikikai umbrella, and some of these in-house factions openly disagree with other Aikikai factions on matters of technique, philosophy, and the importance of weapons use.  A wide variety of expression is tolerated.  

In North America, we are used to considering Toyoda, Yamada, Kanai, Akira Tohei, Chiba, Saotome, and Kawahara and many others as all separate.  All of these men and their lineages are allied with the IAF and Aikikai Hombu!  It is possible to instantly recognize differences between New England Aikikai and New York Aikikai lineages, but the head teachers were students together. 

For around 50 years, the Second Doshu was the administrative head of Aikido's largest organization, a prolific author (around 20 books on Aikido), and a regular instructor.  He was the primary teacher for most of the shihan who were deployed - and the man who deployed them.  He is the one who brought the first foreign students into Aikido.  Kisshomaru was the one who arranged for the first public demonstrations and opened the art to the general public.  I understand these accomplishments required Kisshomaru Ueshiba to take a stand against his father. 

The dojo he built became the platform for the career of other teachers, even those who left the Aikikai.  His efforts revived Aikido after the war and made our collective art a household name.  He is still damned with faint praise by people in his own organization.  He is portrayed as the principle villain of the story of Koichi Tohei by Ki Society students.  Kisshomaru Doshu is portrayed as the peacemaker who was able to bring many Aikido schools back into the fold. He never apparently kicked anyone out of Aikikai, and kept an environment where people could always return.  He oversaw the most turbulent times in Aikido (if not the most difficult times in Japan and the world). It is easy to blame people outside my association for the problems, but I do believe it takes two people to fight. I have written about how Shioda, Tomiki and others became unwelcome during Tohei's Head Instructor time in Hombu but the truth is Kisshomaru Ueshiba was there too, and not without influence.  Mr Goldsbury's (IAF Chairman) excellent obituary still describes a man of conscience:  "I think he deeply felt the divisions and discord within the Aikido world and grieved very much at the split between himself and Koichi Tohei, for example."

In making an effort to research the second Doshu, I found I don't know much about him for all that I probably owe so much about my Aikido to him.  As a foreigner learning Aikido in a foreign country in a standardized fashion under a Hombu Aikikai deployed Shihan, the Second Doshu did indeed have a huge influence on my Aikido.  Kawahara Sensei was very polite and deferred to Doshu and never spoke ill of him in any way - and truthfully spoke of Kisshomaru Doshu seldom in his broken English.  None of my research was influenced by Sensei.  Training at the only dojo in the entire province before the influence of YouTube, I had practiced for years before I was really aware there were different styles. Kawahara Sensei was everything Aikido.

I started training in 1990, and I tested for Shodan in November 1998.  Two months later, I heard Kisshomaru Doshu had passed away.  I had been reading his books for a few years, and had some vague poorly formed plans of traveling to Japan that ended up being put on hold as I was just starting my nursing career.  So, I never met Kisshomaru Doshu either - when I would travel to major seminars like the 30th anniversary of the USAF, it was Waka Sensei Moriteru Ueshiba, the eventual Third Doshu, who was traveling to teach.  My Shodan certificate still identifies me as a yudansha under Kisshomaru Doshu according to a Japanese visitor who translated my certificate, though I was never even in the same city as him when he was alive.

When the Second Doshu died, I asked if it was appropriate to put a picture of Kisshomaru Ueshiba in our dojo and Sensei asked me to please do so.  And, I did.  While Tohei lineage students will tell me about when Tohei's pictures were removed from dojos, I saw very few dojo ever post a picture of the second Doshu - O Sensei's picture is posted instead.

Having never met Kisshomaru Ueshiba, I did have a chance to get to know him through books.  I ate up the information.

My first Aikido book was The Way of Harmony.  From Shirata Rinjiro, translated by John Stevens who now appears to be the primary translator for the Ueshiba family:

Kisshomaru remembers well an incident that occurred when he was a primary school student.  He got into a fight with an American boy who lived nearby; the boy started throwing stones, and Morihei, who sensed something wrong, ran out into the street, but slipped in a puddle, allowing the boy to escape.  To this day, Kisshomaru is unsure whether Morihei was furious at the American boy for hurling rocks or at his son - then a rather weak and spiritless child - for shrinking from the challenge.

I eventually bought a copy of Kisshomaru Doshu's The Spirit of Aikido.  I fell in love with the language and the philosophy.  

"Accompanying the dramatic developments in science, technology, and material civilization in modern times is the aggravation of the human spirit which experiences restlessness, insecurity and loss of direction... Mankind today stands on the brink of global disaster."

"Behind the advances in scientific knowledge and technology, as well as the attendant economic prosperity, exists the hollowness of the human spirit...We see in the midst of material abundance, artificial comforts and the massive bureaucratization of life a growing dissatisfaction and frustration underscoring the malaise that is spreading throughout the world.  More than ever before in history we need to recover what it means to be truly human and truly caring."

I loved the quote as soon as I read it, and I do keep this as a guiding principle at work.  I was left with an impression of a man who was much more functional in English than he ever apparently was.  I also found out years later he was a student of Economics and Political Science which I found a little incongruous with his comments that appeared to call for spiritual growth over economics and politics. The poetry of the language is probably due in part to the translator's skills, but it does show Kisshomaru Ueshiba to be a learned and thoughtful man.  He is also quite freely writing about Ki, which led me to not understand the Tohei lineage Ki Society statements that Kisshomaru was opposed to Ki in Aikido training.  Tohei's full list of specific exercises is not taught, but Ikkyo Undo and Funakogi Undo are very commonly done.  

I had one sempai tell me, "grabbing Doshu was like grabbing smoke!"  For every one such compliment to his abilities that I heard, I had heard many more that dismissed his abilities.  In Angry White Pygamas, Twigger describes seeing a demo by Kisshomaru Ueshiba and he declares it was fake.  In Goldsbury's obituary, he refers to the surgical precision of Doshu's technique and describes a man dedicated to his father, his duties and his ideals.  Comments by Stanley Pranin surrounding the "Official History" of the Founder, his writings and the Founder's history as a Daito Ryu student essentially call the Second Doshu a liar.  Other writers declare Kisshomaru Ueshiba the "true father of Aikido as we practice it today." 

Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the second Doshu, was born in Ayane, Kyoto.  He was the fourth child and third son of Morihei Ueshiba.  His two older brothers died in childhood.  He lived in the Omoto Kyo compound when O Sensei was teaching Daito Ryu at the Ueshiba Juku, and as a young boy Kisshomaru would have been in contact with the prewar generation of students, ultra-nationalist politicians, military leaders, and the Omoto Kyo pacifist sect leadership.  Kisshomaru was partly raised in the Omoto Kyo compound, and likely steeped in this religious tradition. 

Kisshomaru Ueshiba was born in 1921, so when the Kobukan dojo was established Tokyo in 1925-1927 he was still a child, around 4-6 years old.  He would have been 9 years old when Manchuria was invaded.  He would have been 11 in 1932 when Shioda Sensei started to practice; the same year when Nakakura was married to Kisshomaru's older sister and being groomed as the lineage holder.  Kisshomaru Ueshiba was not the first choice of a successor.  

In 1937 when the schism between Takeda and Morihei Ueshiba became official, he would have been 15 to 16 years old and this is when Kisshomaru started to officially train.  Kenji Tomiki had left for Manchuria the year before.  1937 is also the year that Nakakura divorced Kisshomaru's older sister meaning this succession plan for Morihei Ueshiba had failed.  

Beyond his sword practices as a boy, I find little saying Kisshomaru Doshu studied other martial arts.   He was perhaps the most pure student of Morihei Ueshiba during the war, with a resume that mentions his father's influence almost exclusively.  Most of the other students of Ueshiba did cross train openly, or they drew on their other previous experiences freely. 

The second Doshu started training in Aiki-Budo earlier than Koichi Tohei, who arrived three years after Kisshomaru had started to train.  The two young men would both be around 19 years old when they met in 1940.  Morihei Ueshiba would be 57.  By 1942, Koichi Tohei was conscripted into the army, Morihei Ueshiba quit his teaching posts, and Kisshomaru was given the responsibility for the Hombu dojo at the age of 21 while he was still in university.  Mr Goldsbury has posted that young Kisshomaru was exempt from military service because of his poor health.  Many other students left for the war.  There are anecdotes on the web of him saving the dojo building from fire during bombing raids.  It does not sound like Kisshomaru Ueshiba inherited his father's teaching posts in the military.

Was giving the dojo to his son a compliment on his abilities?  Kisshomaru writes, 

""If you own a dojo, you will be pressed with various business matters such as management and other affairs, and become less devoted to Budo.  Then your skill will decrease."  This was the Founder's cherished belief...managing a dojo was a secondary matter.  As soon as the Headquarters in Tokyo was established, he sought new land free from the administrative problems of the city training place."

This paints a very rosy picture of O Sensei's decision to leave Tokyo in 1942 - but it may be accurate.  The implicit warning above is that being an administrator meant Kisshomaru would be less of a martial artist.  Certainly, this is what people like Tohei and his followers say is what happened.

Three years later in 1945, Japan surrendered and carrying on the family business in the Japanese capital became a crime until 1948.  He still graduated with his degree in Economics and Political Science from Waseda University in 1946.  After convocation, conditions were poor enough that Kisshomaru Ueshiba left Tokyo himself and moved to Iwama for three years, only returning to Tokyo the year after the ban on Aikido was lifted.  After the war, the dojo was damaged and now housed 30 homeless families.  The last of these families only left in 1955.  

On his return to Tokyo with a wife and children, as well as needing to support his Uchi-Deshi (I always thought it would be the other way around), he was forced to take a job at a securities firm to pay the bills (Per Mr Goldsbury's post mentioned above, O Sensei was horrified at this turn of events.)  The Hombu dojo still taught a minimum of three classes a day for the beginning.  The current Doshu is quoted as saying his father started working in 1949 and stayed for seven years, meaning he left the job around 1956 when he was about 35 years old.  Kisshomaru taught early morning and evening classes during this time, and even occasionally in the middle of the day.  When possible, he travelled to Iwama to train with his father.  

Tohei started to travel to Hawaii in 1953.  In 1955, Shioda was able to start his own dojo and system and a sense of competition apparently lead to Tohei being asked to take the Head Instructor title soon after.  O Sensei would have been around 67.  Kisshomaru would still be working at his job, but did manage to publish his first book on Aikido two years later.  Tohei was then traveling frequently and not a consistent presence at the dojo according to many students.  Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Koichi Tohei would have had sporadic communication being on opposite sides of the world much of the time.  They diverged in their experience in Aikido, martial arts in general, and in the rest of their lives.

Kisshomaru Ueshiba was a wartime student but not a Daito Ryu student.  The link to Daito Ryu was marketed as being less relevant - but Kisshomaru personally was not a Daito Ryu student, and his own viewpoint would have been informed by a father who felt justified in separating from his master.

When did Kisshomaru's training start?  In an interview by Stanley Pranin:  "Asked in an interview in 1983 when he began training in the martial arts, he (Kisshomaru Doshu) responded, "There is a Japanese proverb which says, 'A shop boy near a temple will chant a sutra untaught.' In just the same way, I had already begun my practice when I was a boy without even realizing it..."  

From the same interview, "By around 1936 it had become my duty to take sword ukemi for my father when he went places to give demonstrations. I practiced a little kendo... and [also] old-style Kashima Shinto-ryu."  This is a year before most sources say he started to officially train in Aikido.  In 1936, Gozo Shioda and Kisshomaru Ueshiba took the Ukemi in O Sensei's "Budo."

A source of confusion for me is that the second Doshu actually seems to have more sword practice from an early age than some of the Shihan who were deployed in the world under him, but he is associated with Hombu Aikikai pulling away from weapons practice and even discouraging weapons practice in Aikikai associations.  For all the pictures of Kisshomaru Doshu with a weapon and quotes like above, weapons work in Aikikai Hombu played a much more secondary role when compared to other associations.  Kisshomaru Doshu was a student in Iwama and running the Hombu Dojo for four years before Saito Sensei started in 1946, but Morihiro Saito is definitely openly considered the more advanced weapons practitioner.

All of the pictures of weapons work aside between father and son did not prevent a big disparity in the role of weapons in Aikido between Aikikai and other organizations.  Requests to Aikido Journal to hold back on translations of O Sensei transcripts, and requests to students like Shirata Rinjiro to not promote their weapons work; all of these things were done under Kisshomaru Doshu's tenure and requests to the Saito family to suppress their weapons curriculuum continue under the current Doshu.

The early additional years of training Kisshomaru Ueshiba had on other students ring hollow given his inability to enter the army for poor health reasons.  While the Founder apparently became a pacifist, I wonder if his son always was one.  Kisshomaru wrote about nearly being moved to tears seeing the pain his father put himself through in training.  He also referred to himself as a bookworm.  He sounds like a very humble and self-effacing man. 

I can only assume Hombu Dojo was far more subject to scrutiny by the Allies than Iwama, and largely removing the weapons, atemi, and initiating techniques from Aikido made Aikido more palatable to the occupying forces.  The Juken definitely left Aikido practice; so did the Yari.  This also would have served to remove the samurai military class and wartime focus.  Really, Kisshomaru fully exemplified the Omote, the Public Face, and so did Aikikai Hombu under his care.   

This all started with exploring the language of Aikido.  The Second Doshu's book, "Aikido" was published in 1957.  I have an english translation from 1985.  While there were more techniques in this than any other book I had seen before, the names were very different than what I was being taught.  Ryokata-Dori Iriminage is a Sokumen Iriminage.  Nikyo techniques are referred to as Kote Mawashi.  Sankyo, Sankyo Kote Hineri.  Yonkyo, Yonkyo Tekubi Osae.  Gokyo, Gokyo Udenobashi.  

One version of Iriminage is referred to as Kaiten-Iriminage - a technique I was asked for on my Sankyu test that none of my sempai ever really were able to define.  One technique is called Yonkyo Tekubi-Osae Kote Hineri-Ho (the name seems to refer to being both Yonkyo and Sankyo at the same time). There are two versions of Kote Hineri Koshinage: one called Omote and one called Ura.

Kaitenage is referred to as Uchi and Soto, but not Omote and Ura.  Kotegaeshi is referred to as having a Gyaku Kotegaeshi version, but not Omote and Ura.  And, when Omote and Ura are used, the difference is very much usually Irimi and Tenkan. 

In other words, the book has definitions I thought were Yoshinkan only, with language I thought was Shodokan only, and divides the techniques into the same catagories in the same fashion as Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.  One of my sempai who had been to Hombu Dojo and spoke Japanese was dismissive of my questions, "the book is full of mistakes."  As Kisshomaru Ueshiba was tasked with encouraging a correct understanding of Aikido and it's development (his words) I don't doubt his language changed over time.  The only real strange admission I can point to is in Kisshomaru's 1985 edition of "Aikido" when referring to the international spread of Aikido and the introduction to Hawaii, the text makes no mention of Tohei.  Just about every other teacher of other styles was mentioned.  The book also says O Sensei named his art, "Aikido" which apparently isn't accurate but these things might be the fault of the translators.

Having been told by people who were at Hombu Dojo after O Sensei's death that the school was referring to Irimi and Tenkan then, was the use of Omote and Ura in "Aikido" added for the reprint?  This book was initially published in 1957, long before Tohei's break from Aikikai.  For several techniques, the Omote version is shown in pictures and the other Ura version is just described in the text.  Sumiotoshi, Aiki-otoshi, and Tenchinage mention Omote and Ura, but only Omote is ever demonstrated.  Jujigarami (jujinage) is not defined in terms of multiple variations.

Kisshomaru made many changes to how Aikido was taught, and is credited with the formalized system that many dojos in the world use today. While there is evidence to suggest a wide variety of expression used to be tolerated in individual students under O Sensei, Aikido techniques became codified under Kisshomaru Doshu.  The rift between Koichi Tohei and Kisshomaru Ueshiba was much uglier than I would have expected from two men teaching about harmony and spiritual growth for a living. When Tohei left the Aikikai after O Sensei's death, Kisshomaru used the terms Omote and Ura to differentiate between the two main variations of Aikido techniques. So, Omote and Ura are old terms, but they are also used to communicate "We're not Ki Society, We're not Yoshinkan, We're not Shodokan." Schools like the USAF, CAF, and ASU followed this change in terminology.  We're still not uniform.  

Maybe for a native Japanese speaker, this issue doesn't exist and the terms we use to communicate what we do are completely interchangeable.  For Kisshomaru Ueshiba Doshu, I wish I had met him if only to have a clear sense of who he was for myself.  

Iwama Ryu and the language of Morihiro Saito - reconstructing OmoteandUra

This is a reconstruction of an earlier essay exploring the history and politics behind Aikikai's use of Omote and Ura.  Saito Sensei was a giant of the post war era - the master of the internationally recognized AikiKen and AikiJo, and the teacher behind more Aikido books than any other Aikido practitioner.

During the remaining decades of his life, O Sensei was mostly around Iwama Dojo and Morihiro Saito was his primary student.  Saito was not a Daito Ryu student, nor did he serve in the war.  He did serve as an uchideshi and lived in close proximity to Morihei Ueshiba longer than any other student.  He was the caretaker of the shrine where O Sensei's spirit was interred.  He travelled extensively as a teacher, but he also put his own dojo on the map as an international Aikido destination.

There are several terms and names used in the Iwama Ryu that are not found in most Aikikai dojos or used differently. Saito used the terms Omote and Ura and had this to say:

On the subject of Omote and Ura:  Just as an object has it's front and rear surfaces, so has an Aikido technique its front (Omote) and rear (Ura) or turning variations.  A front technique call for entry forward of your partner, while its turning version is characterized by entering at his rear. These two techniques are distinguishable primarily in the basic exercises but not in all of the exercises, including varied versions.

Such distinction is sometimes difficult even in some of the basic exercises.  For example, Ura-waza (turning technique) is practically inapplicable in the basic forms of Yokomenuchi Shihonage and Hamni Handachi Katate-dori Shihonage. 

The bolding above is my own.  It is strange for me to see one of the foremost and most influential Aikido masters in history saying that Omote and Ura don't really have meaning for some techniques.  I keep wanting to protest that I was ordered to learn the two types of Shihonage listed above that he declares are "inapplicable."  On the other hand, Iwama Ryu is not even attempting to put all Aikido techniques in two neat catagories and that just makes so much more sense to me. 

Omote and Ura are not used by Iwama Ryu as Obvious versus Secret, nor Basic versus Advanced, nor are they just another name for Tohei's Irimi and Tenkan.

Kokyunage

Saito Sensei defined Kokyunage very broadly.  It is one thing to call Aigamaeate/Sokumen Iriminage/Sayunage "Kokyunage," but then Kokyunage is also applied to many other techniques that bear zero resemblance.  His book entitled Kokyunage shows techniques I learned as Sumiotoshi, Tenchinage, Iriminage, Udekimenage... 

Saito Sensei wrote, "Kokyunage are the most numerous and important techniques in Aikido...If Kokyunage techniques were to be removed from the art, it would no longer be worthy of being called Aikido."  In reading Saito Sensei's book on Kokyunage, the majority of the book is dedicated to variations on the Shodokan Aikido Atemi-Waza.

Maybe the book does not truly reflect his language and he had more specific terms available.  I've had instructors (my wife) tell me everything is Kokyunage - while I agree on most levels, I can't help being a little perverse:  if a Sensei says do Kokyunage but doesn't demonstrate something specific, I will do anything and everything to my training partner as "everything is Kokyunage" anyway.
 

Modes of practice

 

From Traditional Aikido, Volume 5 by Morihiro Saito:
  

"Aikido exercises are classified into four methods, each called "Solid", "Flexible", "Flowing", and "Ki".  However, I have combined, in this volume, "Flowing" and "Ki" into one.  The four methods of training are based on the fact that all phenomena in nature are possessed of solid, flexible, liquid (flowing) and gaseous (Ki) characteristics.

Solid or basic exercises are purport to train you "to the marrow".  For this reason, the beginners are advised to concentrate on these exercises until they attain the three-Dan rank.  In the meantime, continued exercises will enable them to have a feel of what flexible and flowing (Ki) exercises are like.

Two classification suffice for some of the exercises, while three to five groupings, all of them exclusive of Ki exercises, are required for others."

While Saito mentions four catagories of practice above, I usually see mention of three:  Kihon or solid, Oyo or flexible, and Ki-no-Nagare (literally Ki Flow).  It seems Omote and Ura, and Irimi and Tenkan can be present in all four catagories of practice?  Coming up through the ranks I learned some practices for testing structure, alignment and connection for developing power which I tend to now call Kihon.  I learned other practices for developing placement, timing, and continuous motion which I tend to now equate with Ki-no-Nagare.  I know the real technique is an expression of both.  I'm not clear on the other catagories, or which techniques warrant which number of catagories.  These two variations are practiced if not named in most dojos.  The terms Kihon and Ki-no-Nagare are not widely used outside of Iwama Ryu sources in my experience.

This demonstration by Saito Sensei shows 8 variations on Shomenuchi Sankyo.  Some are clearly Omote, some are clearly Ura.  Some are probably neither.

Saito Sensei did stay loyal to the Aikikai despite a friendship with Tohei.  He spent a significant period of time training with O Sensei, Kisshomaru, and Tohei in Iwama.  Tohei, Kisshomaru and Saito would develop very different weapons practices and different views on weapons practice.  In later life, clips of Saito teaching Jo Dori have him contrasting his teaching to Tokyo, and saying the Tokyo method would not work.  After Morihiro Saito's death, his son, Hitohiro Saito Sensei, inherited his dojo and was apparently asked to stop teaching AikiKen and AikiJo.  Certificates for Aikido weapons were no longer to be handed out if Iwama was to stay with the Aikikai.  The result was Iwama Ryu became a separate style of Aikido with Hitohiro Saito becoming Kancho of his own group.  Some of Saito's students have remained with the Aikikai.  

 

 

The language and practices of Koichi Tohei: Reconstructing Omote and Ura

One of my longest standing essays was exploring the history in Aikido of the use of the terms, "Omote" and "Ura."  These are the terms used to distinguish between the two basic variations of most techniques in Aikikai and other organizations.  There appears to be a definite timeline. 

Blogger had the essay revert to it's original uncorrected crappiness, and I took the opportunity to rewrite and expand on the ideas of the initial post.

 Language should be a tool for communication between teachers, students and systems.  Language should be a platform for growth.  Instead, language in Aikido appears to be more about loyalty to a specific teacher.

Koichi Tohei was the head instructor of Aikikai Hombu from 1953 to 1974.  He was a prolific writer, and by all accounts a skilled practitioner and teacher.  He was the greatest single influence on the world of Aikido, especially from a North American standpoint.  I would prefer I could go forward with a discussion of his use of Irimi and Tenkan, and leave it at that.  Unfortunately, his admittedly innovative and revolutionary teaching method is actually a small part of his legacy on this art.  Wikipedia has good articles on the man and his art.  Stanley Pranin has a very good interview on his blog.

 

I always find out things I didn't expect when I do some research into Aikido.  For example, Shodokan Aikido is not the only style that has competitions:  Taigi is a Ki Aikido form of performance competition, graded like figure skating or synchronized swimming.  There are 30 Taigi, and they seem to take some inspiration from the Kito Ryu, Shodokan Aikido, or Judo kata.  Here is a link to Taigi #1 as an example.  The techniques in the Taigi are recognizable Aikido techniques, but the names of the techniques are different.  Suenaka Sensei in his book, Aikido Complete, identifies the name changes as something that happened as part of the 1970s schism - perhaps a deliberate effort by Tohei to distance himself from Aikikai and Kisshomaru Doshu.

Tohei's approach to training was fundamentally different from previous systems but it was very regimented. Tohei used the terms Irimi (entering) and Tenkan (turning) to differentiate two main variations on techniques, and this terminology is still used in Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (Ki Society) and most of their offshoots like Wadokai Aikido and Aikido Associations of America. Ikkyo Irimi and Tenkan do equate with Ikkyo Omote and Ura, and Shihonage Irimi and Tenkan are the same as Shihonage Omote and Ura. I don't know what Tohei would call any of the additional variations. Techniques like Jujinage Tenkan are still not Ura to my understanding.  It is possible to do Tenkan Ikkyo Omote in Aikikai.

Other language changes seem to date back to Tohei's tenure.  Instead of names that refer back to  Daito Ryu techniques (ie Nikajo, Sankajo, Yonkajo) with variations distinguished by variation 1, variation 2, etc (Shioda Sensei), or rudimentary literal descriptions (Kote Mawashi, Kote Hineri, Tekubi Osae - Tomiki Sensei) the names become more familiar.  Nikyo, Sankyo, and Yonkyo come into use and become principles.  Irimi becomes a concept in and of itself that lectures and poems get written about; so does Tenkan.  These changes carried over to Aikikai.

I was told to refer to Kokyunage instead of Iriminage; Sokumen Iriminage became Sayunage.  These changes seem unique to Tohei's lineage.  I never adopted these for myself, nor are they in use with Aikikai.

In Tohei's 1974 letter to the Aikido world where he breaks from Aikikai, he writes that he "put down Yoshinkan."  He appeared to have considered himself in competition with Shioda Sensei.  Shioda used the Daito Ryu derived names (ie Ikkajo) while Tohei was the head instructor when new names (ie Ikkkyo) came into use.  This served to further separate Aikido from Daito Ryu and Aikikai from Yoshinkan.  It also ignored Tomiki Sensei's language, and any words possibly derived from Judo (ie Nage came into use, instead of Tori).  Tohei himself had never been a student of Daito Ryu like Shioda and Tomiki had been, and like Kisshomaru Doshu also started to train in Aikido after Morihei Ueshiba had separated from Daito Ryu.  Under Tohei, Aikikai became something separate, distinct, and apart.

When I trained with a Ki Society break away group I would be told Irimi and Tenkan were just the original way of saying Omote or Ura. This wasn't quite true. Tenkan and Irimi are Nage-Centric terms, describing the movement of the Nage. Like the Aiki Taiso, the movement is not a piece of a larger whole with a partner, but rather done in isolation. No relationship is implied. It is possible to Irimi in front or behind, or Tenkan in front or behind while turning away or turning towards Uke. It's possible to Tenkan with no one else there; it is not possible to be Omote by myself using the Aikikai definition. Omote is usually defined as being in front and direct, Ura is behind and turning. A relationship is part of the definition of Omote and Ura. Still, Irimi and Tenkan were the terms used at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo shortly after O Sensei's death.

 

Tohei was a product of multiple teachers.  A Judo student in his youth, he was studying Zen and Misogi at the Ichikukai Dojo during his teens prior to meeting O Sensei.  Tohei had a history of a severe illness in his youth that led to his studying health methodologies.  He was introduced to O Sensei when he was 19 years old in 1940.  He arrived three years after Kisshomaru Ueshiba had started to study with his father, about 8 years after Shioda had started to train, and about 4 years after Kenji Tomiki had relocated to Manchuria.  He was drafted into the Japanese military in 1942, and received his 5th Dan from O Sensei after starting his military service.  During the time he was a student of O Sensei, he was also attending school.  He was deployed in China from 1944 until 1946.  O Sensei had relocated to Iwama in 1942.

In the late 1940s, Tohei became a follower of Tenpu Nakamura.  Koichi Tohei's system of Aikido uses Nakamura's name for Nakamura's Yoga derived art, Shin Shin Toitsu Do.  Tohei named his art Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.  While a martial artist in his own right and a former Japanese Intelligence officer, Nakamura wanted to create and disseminate a Yogic Art that would help practitioners improve their physical and mental health.  Tohei appears to have drawn great inspiration from Nakamura, possibly more than he drew from Morihei Ueshiba.

 

With his training in Judo, Zen, Misogi, and Yoga along with his military training, Tohei did progress quickly.  He had a vision of Aikido being an art that everyone could practice and benefit from.  This is possibly the departure from martial oriented Aikido - both Tohei and Nakamura had a focus on health practices and a history of personal serious illnesses.  In the post war environment, this was an ideal image of Aikido to promote.  In 1953, Tohei started to travel to Hawaii and eventually the mainland USA.  He became a serviceable English speaker and a famous author, and encouraged the creation of many dojos abroad.  In the period from February to October 1953, Tohei stated that he established dojos in each of the Hawaiian Islands.  He would travel to 18 different states in the next 20 years.

In 1955, in part as a response to Yoshinkan's success, Tohei was asked to take on the duties of Head Instructor at Hombu Aikikai.  Tohei oversaw a sad transitional period in the history of the dojo.  Immediately after the war, the main dojo was a place where all of the teachers of the now separate organizations used to be able to come and teach.  In Tohei's tenure, this changed and dedicated longtime students found themselves isolated, locked out, or forced to make a choice.  Shioda and Tomiki are two examples of senior instructors who (?)chose to distance themselves/ (?)were distanced (?) from the Hombu during the period Tohei was in charge.

Tohei's second legacy was in the works.  Lines were being drawn.  From Stanley Pranin's own account of 1969, a few months after O Sensei's death:  (the whole article here.)

"...there was a clear division in the dojo already at that time. When Tohei Sensei would teach on Fridays it was a different set of people who would show up at the dojo. Conversely, few of those who trained during the week would come for Tohei Sensei’s classes. There were deshi in the dojo who were considered under the tutelage of Doshu and those under Tohei Sensei. Everyone knew that there were strong divergences of opinion on teaching methodology and the stage for the split that was to take place in 1974 had already been set...

... I was called to a room on the second floor of the dojo late in August. Present were Tohei Sensei, Mr. Tamura and myself. I was told clearly that I was considered to be a student of Tohei student and as such was mistaken to have trained with other teachers during my stay in Japan. Tohei Sensei also criticized the Founder’s teaching methodology and said in no uncertain terms that I should focus my efforts on his ki approach to aikido. I was 24 years old at the time and emotionally unprepared to deal with such a confrontation. Totally deflated, I left the dojo almost in trance and wondered seriously how I could continue my aikido training having heard such words about the Founder from his top student."

 

While Tohei would say the split was over his Ki Aikido, Aikikai has no problem with Ki nor do other Aikido systems.  The use of imagery combined with structure is not even a rare concept in other martial arts.  

This anecdote from Stanley Pranin hints at something much more basic to me.  Sitting in an office in the Hombu Dojo and openly trashing the Founder and all of the Founder's other students teaching in the Hombu Dojo who were Tohei's colleagues, openly reprimanding a visitor for attending classes taught by anyone else In The Same School, overseeing and insisting on a sharp and poisonous division between students of the same school; these things are far less forgivable.  How would you react to hear a colleague openly insulting your abilities and the abilities of a beloved superior?  Or, your own father?  This was five years before the separation of Tohei from the Aikikai, and O Sensei had only been dead for a matter of weeks!  None of the Tohei lineage exercises are more problematic than this to me.  How could any organization move forward with this at the helm?

Tohei is often credited with creating the Aiki Taiso.  This was, according to Okimura Sensei, developed with Morihei Ueshiba.  This is why Okimura Sensei continues to use Aiki Taiso in his own dojo while being affiliated with the IAF and not with Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.  The Four Principles are what Tohei specifically claimed patent to, but the idea of relaxation ("song"), or the One Point (Dantien), "Sink the Chi to the Dantien"/Weight Underside are staples of Chinese Internal Arts.  Extend Ki was only unique to a post war Caucasian audience.  Aiki Taiso solo empty hand practices bear more than a passing resemblance to some Qigong practices.  Aikido as a solo practice was a new idea.

 

Tohei would write about how an enlightened practitioner was less than an enlightened teacher who could impart the enlightenment to others.  I remember reading it for the first time and thinking Tohei considered himself better than Ueshiba O Sensei.  Apparently, this is true - he did.  I have heard people who were there say that they followed Tohei because "His waza was the best."  I don't know how the comparison to other teachers could even be made, given that even attending other Hombu teachers' classes was a punishable offence in Tohei's eyes.  

My own limited experience with this one Tohei lineage group left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.  I could respect the method and enjoy the practice.  The defining feature of the organization was excruciating awareness of a situation that happened when I was four years old.  Vitriolic lectures were common, and students were encouraged to take umbrage for things that they had not been alive to see.  I do not think (I sincerely hope) this is not how Ki Society Dojos are, but most of the Tohei Lineage people I have talked to have an awareness of history that most Aikikai students are cheerfully, blissfully unaware of and not concerned about.  

 

Koichi Tohei reaped what he sowed - after openly encouraging students to forget the martial virtue of loyalty as he had done, and asking them to disregard/discard O Sensei and an entire generation of their Sempai, his own new organization continued to fracture as others broke away from him in turn.  Out of the 17 notable students mentioned in the Tohei Wiki article, 9 of those students would then break away from Tohei to become independent or rejoin Aikikai. Some of those organizations have had their own internal schisms in turn.

Tohei's ultimatum to American students that they follow him alone or never teach as he taught continues to have lasting effects.  Aikido became internationally political and fractured under his watch.  His rapid creation and dispersal of schools meant some people were made teachers who had little supervision and a short period of Aikido instruction. This lead to wide ranging interpretations and practices, as well as modified techniques.  Many high ranking Aikido people in the USA first started with Tohei.  He was their introduction to Aikido, and his methods were the only methods these people had learned when the ultimatum was delivered.  Being asked to forgoe these methods, some teachers had little else to draw upon.  Following Tohei Sensei's death, exercises like Ikkyo Undo and Funakogi Undo are back on the USAF test curriculuum. 

 

Yoshinkan Aikido and Variation 1, 2,3...Reconstructing Omote and Ura

This is an ongoing reconstruction of a popular article I wrote years ago on the Aikikai's use of Omote and Ura examined from a historical and political perspective.  I found much to respect out of the different schools I researched.  

Gozo Shioda started with Morihei Ueshiba in 1932, the year after the Manchurian Incident.  Kenji Tomiki had been a student of Ueshiba for about six years, and didn't leave to open a school in occupied China for about four years to come.  Morihei Ueshiba would continue to be a Daito Ryu student in good standing until 1937.  Prior to this, Shioda's father had been a Kendo and Judo instructor in his own right and Gozo Shioda studied these arts too.

After Shioda's time serving during the war, he returned to Japan in 1946 and spent months searching for his family in Kyushu.  He did return to study with Ueshiba in Iwama for a month, but he needed to earn a living in post war Japan.  He started to teach Aikido in 1950, and worked for a shipping company in Yokohama.  In 1954, he won the prize for Most Outstanding Demonstration in the All Japan Kobudo Competition.  He was able to take this opportunity to get sponsorship to open a dojo and founded the Yoshinkan Aikido style in 1955.  He adopted the name of his father's Judo dojo for his own school.  Two years later he developed an intensive training course for the Tokyo Metro police department called the Senshusei. 

From a young man during the war, to running a post war security firm, to working as a law enforcement trainer; Shioda Sensei had views on Aikido that do not resonate with many Aikikai westerners.  From Wikipedia:  Shioda viewed Aikido as being "not a sport but a budo. Either you defeat your opponent or he defeats you. You cannot complain that he did not follow the rules. You have to overcome your opponent in a way appropriate to each situation."

For all the machismo described in Angry White Pygamas (written by a British man who took the one year long Senshusei course) and the focus on combat effectiveness, Shioda achieved something that far too few other Aikido teachers achieved - he went his own way, AND stayed on good terms with the Ueshiba family.  He continued to credit Daito Ryu and Takeda Sensei as the primary source of Aikido techniques as he became a famous teacher in his own right.  Able to give amazing demos and demonstrate breathtaking skills, he never claimed magical powers or advanced spiritual growth.  He openly stated all of his skills were attainable, and that they were the result of dedicated hard work.  Unquestioned as an authority on Aikido and as a martial artist, the development of his association was cordial and not associated with the competitive acrimony that too many other organizations would see come to pass.  In this, he achieved something that other "more harmonious" organizations failed to do.  Nevertheless, this system was not developed to be all things to all people nor a spiritual path.

The language of Yoshinkan is different than the language of Daito Ryu.  Ikkajo is no longer a catalogue of 30 techniques but instead refers to one technique.  Also, while a Daito Ryu kata apparently refers to both an attack and a response (ie Karaminage refers to a technique I learned as Mune Dori Menuchi Jujigarame, both Uke's and Nage's roles are determined by the Daito Ryu name), Shioda would name a technique in a fashion more familiar to Aikikai people - the attack, then the response, and then the variation ie Shomenuchi Ikkajo Osae Ichi.

I have not seen anywhere that Shioda referred to Omote and Ura.  He did use Ichi and Ni (1 and 2) for variations.  Calling different variations "1" and "2" is a very simple approach, but this also leaves the possibility of other variations.  Or, fewer.  I first started this bit of research over the USAF adding Jujinage Omote and Ura, Kotegaeshi Omote and Ura, Tenchinage Omote and Ura, and Kaitenage Omote and Ura to the test requirements.  While I know there are multiple variations of some techniques, I couldn't tell what variation was being called Omote or Ura, nor could I see why.  I found groups like Yoshinkan did not insist that there was a Variation 1 or Variation 2 for every technique.  Some techniques are 1 to 5, some just have one.

This is in keeping with other older generation non-Yoshinkan teachers like Shirata Rinjiro who had three categories of Iriminage (in addition to Omote and Ura) or five types of Shihonage (including Omote and Ura).  I see Aikikai teachers are aware of the different movements, but they either don't name the variation, or the variation in question just gets arbitrarily assigned to one of our two categories.  Some get associated with the teacher, "Today we're doing it Bill's way."  While Ikkajo (1) and (2) bear some resemblance to Ikkyo Omote and Ura, this is not true across the board for all techniques.  Aikikai does not have a way to communicate these extra variations, nor do we categorize them that I am aware of.  So, 1, 2, 3...not only is more specific but also lends itself to greater numbers of possibilities than Omote and Ura.

No particular definition is required of variation 1 or 2 in Yoshinkan.  The response is not necessarily linear for variation 1, nor necessarily turning for variation 2.  The different variations are not always intended to mirror each other.  

The defining difference seems to be how Uke is attacking.  While Katate Dori Ai Hamni is a specific attack for Aikikai, the Yoshinkan system will divide up variations based on if Uke (Tori) is pushing, pulling, opening, closing, stiffy sitting in one spot, lifting up, sinking down, etc.  This becomes an Uke-centric approach to training - throughout training, the student is learning to respond to very specific attacks from Uke.  Uke helps a very clear reflex.

The language of Shodokan Aikido: Reconstructing Omote and Ura

This is an ongoing reconstruction of a popular article I wrote years ago on the Aikikai's use of Omote and Ura examined from a historical and political perspective.  Tomiki Sensei is someone I have developed a profound respect for as I took the opportunity to correct far too many misconceptions of my own.

I mistakenly thought early on that Yoshinkan Aikido was the original Aikido.  And, in many ways it is. However, Kenji Tomiki was training with Morihei Ueshiba O Sensei before Shioda Sensei and was the first 8th Dan in Aikibudo in 1940.  Tomiki Sensei was teaching in Manchuria in 1936.  Yoshinkan, Shioda Sensei’s organization, did not open until the 1950’s.  The foundations for Shodokan Aikido are slightly older.  

The language is completely different than other Aikido systems.  Tomiki's physical distance from Ueshiba?  While a long time direct student, he was in Mongolia while Ueshiba was in Japan. 

Influences from other arts and Kano Jigoro?  Tomiki was as much if not more a student of Jigoro Kano as Morihei Ueshiba.  He was a product of two masters, and a student of Kano first chronologically.  He arrived at O Sensei's dojo already a 5th Dan.  His work to develop Aikido Kata mirrors the kata that Kano developed for Judo, as does his system of competition.  Like the other Judo students later deployed by Kano Jigoro Sensei, he had a Judo mindset and a Judo approach to things - like consistent training methods and specific, consistent language. 

While his Aikido looks very different for the beginning student, ultimately the differences start to fall away. I like the comment from Patrick Parker:  “I believe this is how Kano would have taught Ueshiba’s art.”  One possible example of Kano's influence is the use of the name Wakigatame - I learned this movement as Higikime and the USAF calls this technique Rokkyo.  This is a Judo name, and it is used in other arts but I don't see mention of this name in Daito Ryu nor is it used in other Aikido schools.

Ultimately, there was a schism and Shodokan Aikido became a separate organization.  This system of Aikido developed a system of competition, which led to Tomiki Sensei leaving/removed from the Hombu umbrella. Things did not end there. Aikido people who will talk about the importance of martial competence and pre-war Aikido often do not mention Tomiki Sensei, nor would most Aikikai students recognize a demonstration of Shodokan Aikido as Aikido (most would see the similarities in some kata, but the overall performance would have someone wondering if they were watching a performance of another art.) Shomen Ate is not a name most Aikikai students would recognize, but I use it now myself. I find this a much better approach than calling this movement (and a billion other unrelated movements) “Kokyunage.”

Aikiweb had a great thread going of research into the various correlations.  I am not here to repeat this excellent research.  I am doing something far more rudimentary.

Ikkyo Omote and Ura as I learned them would be referred to as Oshi-Taoshi and Tentai Oshi-Taoshi according to one student, Dr Lee Ah Loi (I see other Tomiki students using the spelling I am more familiar with - Tenkai).  This sounded much like Koichi Tohei's approach on first glance:  Omote and Ura are referred to usually as Irimi and Tenkan in Tohei's system.  I am used to see the variation of a technique denoted at the end of a name ie) Ikkyo Ura or Ikkyo Tenkan. Tentai Oshi Taoshi is the same technique with the opposite grammar. 

This isn't true for all Shodokan techniques when compared with Aikikai variations.  Take another basic technique like Sankyo.  Tomiki referred to Kote Hineri and Tenkai Kote Hineri for two techniques that I would recognize as Sankyo.  Variations that could still be called Sankyo Omote or Ura (or Sankyo Irimi and Sankyo Tenkan) are present in either version, and the Irimi, Tenkan or Uchitenkan initial movement seems optional outside of kata practice.  The defining feature seems to be which hand is predominantly applying the lock(?). (I learned Sankyo first as a two handed technique, and then learned one-handed variations in the CAF.)  The usage of the prefix does not imply a heads-or-tails approach.  Kote Hineri and Tenkai Kote Hineri are two ideas that are presented to stand alone.  Oshi-Taoshi and Tenkai Oshi-Taoshi are not given the same treatment, only Oshi-Taoshi is part of the basic 17.  The same applies to Shihonage and Kotegaeshi.

In transitioning from Daito Ryu sets, Ippon Dori is first technique found in Ikkajo and resembles Ikkyo closely, Kote Zumi is the first technique in Nikajo and resembles Nikyo the most closely, Ura Gote is the first technique in the Yonkajo set and most resembles Yonkyo. The Daito Ryu Hiden Mokuroku Sankajo technique Kobushigaeshi becomes the kata most Aikikai people now associate with Sankyo. I had mistakenly thought Kote Hineri was the oldest name for this movement. The actual first technique of the Sankajo series, Tsuriotoshi, is something I remember calling Dai Sankyo in the CAF, Tomiki calls Udegarami, and I now often hear called "the Nikyo pin" in the USAF.