The third anniversary and the path not taken

Am I really a martial artist?

I was introduced to regular training as a university student.  I always trained throughout school, whether there was clinical or classroom work going on.  But, my school made training possible.  Before school, I had a job where violence was expected and practice opportunities where plentiful.  

I didn't want that life. 

I graduated with my first degree, and I taught Tai Chi during that time in the town where I went to high school.  I had an opportunity to enlist after that, and I went in another direction again.  I had a chance to open my own dojo, and I did not do that either.  I went into nursing, which got me closer to my first dojo instead.  I moved to another town for a semester as nursing school required it, and I inherited a dojo there - then I left to finish schooling though I had an opportunity to stay.  I never returned there, because I didn't care for the hospital there.

I went to my first summer camp when then Waka Sensei, the grandson of the founder of Aikido, was teaching in North America.  I made nearly every class and pushed through the pain.  I kept waiting for something to make the whole experience - I don't know what.  Enlightening?  Consciousness expanding?  Something special, not just more of the same.  Something Fulfilling.  I remember the seminar coming to an end and spending a day in a street cafe in Toronto, feeling depleted.   I had just had the week of my dreams, all training and dedicated to  martial arts - and I felt empty. 

My own enlightenment:  I had thought I wanted to travel to Japan or China, drop out of life and train for eight hours a day.  If 100 breakfalls felt good, then a bazillion had to be a near religious experience.  I had heard so many comments about how total dedication to severe training was a transcending experience.  I tried it, and I didn't enjoy it very much.  I was disappointed in myself to realize it.

I could push myself harder and further; I could eat bitter.  It didn't feel meaningful.  I had held a baby in the first minute of it's life, I had saved someone's life, I had hugged a woman whose husband had just stopped breathing.  I had experienced how cancer was a life changing experience for an entire family, and I knew it was a privilege to do this work.  This was meaningful to me.

I took a shift work job to stay in the town where my dojo was, and I found a position in Oncology.  It was a great fit, but there was a lot of general medicine work.  I left that dojo where I was a senior to go to a town where I could work at a cancer center.  

I decided I hated that cancer center job, but I didn't have a full time job waiting for me at any of the cities with large dojos in my association.  I could have taken other jobs, or lower paying part-time jobs.  I could have done something else to pay the minimal Uchi Deshi bills, like flipping burgers or driving a cab but I was looking for something in Oncology.  I probably could have made it work, but I didn't really try.  I wanted to work in a good facility, in my chosen field.

I knew my teacher was in Western Canada, but I took the full time medical oncology position on the US southeast coast.  I was always going to be there temporarily - but my Sensei died long before I ever made the effort to return home.

I do train every day - meditation, contemplation, endurance training, stretching, researching - but not all the same things every day.  Another facet of my life might get more focus than the others for a day, and over months things balance out.  I enjoy training and I embrace it, but when I come across issues in my daily life I think like a nurse - I do my own assessments, and I take the responsibility of thinking for myself.  I advocate for a course of action when I see the need, and I develop my own plans.  I hold myself and others accountable.  I work to my standard; the standard I have to live with.  

If the physician says, orders, or does something I find questionable; my loyalty and duty is first to the patient, my profession, and the facility.  I don't change my mindset just because someone is wearing a black belt instead of a white lab coat.  It has made for more controversy than I want as a student, but loyalty and honesty are two very different things.  Given the choice, I will be honest.  I do the work to back up my questions, and I find a supportable plan based on research. 

Like many people, I tried to stay on Sensei's good side.  He was careful to never reward loyalty and dedication.  It caused frustrations all around him, because people believed they had "earned" better from him.  I think he was making sure we were aware that there were no rewards in the life he chose for himself.  He lived very simply and on his own.  He took many gifts of money, but never seemed to spend much.   After his death it was found he had willed thousands of dollars back to his association - he never took payment so much as he saved the money to give back to his students.  Even given the opportunity to live a better life, he denied himself for his students. 

He kept his secrets in the open.  You want a good Yonkyo?  Do Yonkyo 100 times a day to a partner for a hundred days.  Better stances?  Standing meditation, start with ten minutes a day, then work up to 30 minutes a day while working up to narrower stances.  You want to be good with a sword?  Cut with a sword a hundred times a day, every day for 100 days.  Strikes?  100 a day for a 100 days, work up to adding resistance.  There were no secrets - if you wanted an ability, there was a recipe to acquire it.  He shared the recipes freely, knowing quite well how few would even try them.  He did not demand it, we had to make the choice.  And, he always knew who made the choice to train.

I am not him.  He left his home and everything familiar in Japan to live his dedication to his art and his students.  I do not have that singleminded devotion.  I sleep in on my days off.  I like to eat.  Some days I get lazy.  Some aspects of me, I am not proud of.  I am not driven to continue his art and his lineage - and I am disappointed to realize few are in the world.  His style will vanish, and I will mourn that and him, while I make no effort to rectify the situation.

Some decisions I can live with.  If a patient is suffering, but staying later means I will be late for class, I will stay at work.  I missed training with an 8th degree black belt from Tokyo in the last year because I was to receive a nursing award the same day.  If I start to drive myself in training, I will remind myself I have a clinic to run in the morning.  A hard Kotegaeshi or Nikyo could interfere with my ability to start an IV, or do a dressing.  I have not forgotten what I, not so much decided, but rather discovered was meaningful to me years ago.

I remember watching a Zatochi movie with Sensei one night.  He was excited, and told me it was one of his favorites.  He got particularily excited at one scene and let me know it.  "Listen!"  Zatochi was facing off with a samurai who was sworn to kill an artist who had been kidnapped and forced to make pornographic art.  The artist was being killed for staying alive by capitulating.  Zatochi had freed him and killed his captors, and was going to return the father to his young son.  "They have a chance for happiness!"  The samurai refused to budge - his honour, no matter how badly directed, was at stake.

Zatoichi's sword came up.  "Samurai are selfish.  They care only about their honour, and nothing about human beings."  

Sensei sat up straighter, he smiled and his eyes glittered.  "John, you understand?"

Kaitenage Omote and Ura and the simple genius of Gozo Shioda

We had a visitor at the dojo today who was asking about Kaintenage Ura.  I have written a little about the history of this language before, which is really a statement about the political acrimony of our shared Art.

While I can teach variations that I could call Kaitenage Omote or Ura (mostly because other people call them that, not because I understand them to be) the majority of times I see someone do a Kaitenage Omote they are moving fully behind Uke and doing a Tenkan - all the prerequisites for an Ura movement any other time.  Kawahara Sensei wanted us to distinguish between Uchi and Soto, and I learned to do a linear cut or a spiral cut later.

Yoshinkan never had this problem.  There was no attempt to make every technique fit into a rigid dichotomy.  Some techniques have two important variations, some have five, some have one.  In trying to find out how they treated Kaitenage, I went to a Yoshinkan website and the name Kaitenage does not appear.  Tenchinage is only asked for in one way.  While we ask for extra variations, not everyone is clear what is being asked for.  I realize there is a larger body of knowledge studied by the Yoshinkan system - test requirements are usually minimum requirements in any association.

http://www.yoshinkan.net/03images/_pdf/2013%20Yoshinkan%20Test%20Syllabus.pdf

My understanding is that Shioda Sensei created a syllabus for a security firm in post war Japan, and there was no effort made to achieve spiritual enlightenment.  People had to learn to function usefully in a fight, and in a set period of time.  Then, as now, while martial arts schools will have people train for several years before Shodan, police departments, soldiers and security officers have a matter of months to weeks to be trained.  So, fewer techniques drilled more frequently with fewer diversions and deviations.  The list has techniques repeated, showing that the basics are very much tied into the advanced techniques and not just learned and discarded.  Furthermore, there are very specific versions requested by numbers.  Omote and Ura do not get used, nor does the Tohei lineage Irimi and Tenkan.  While Ikkajo (1) and (2) bear some resemblance to Ikkyo Omote and Ura, this is not true across the board.

I like this treatment of Suwariwaza Kokyudoza (Kokyu Ho).  I never learned this nomenclature, so I know I am falling back and forth between unfamiliar and familiar terms.

Suwariwaza Kokyu Ho (1):  http://youtu.be/7Kkg7nYWL6Q

Suwariwaza Kokyu Ho (2):  http://youtu.be/ww2Pk-mz4TM

Suwariwaza Kokyu Ho (3):  http://youtu.be/U41m9LK9gVk

Suwariwaza Kokyu Ho (4):  http://youtu.be/6fPSevG3KOQ

Suwariwaza Kokyu Ho (5):  http://youtu.be/2IhHmPPfVDc

A basic name that I always called one thing (but did a number of different ways) was a minimum of five separate exercises for a group that really pared their syllabus down to the minimum.  The different versions are all distinguished in terms of Uke's specific variation of the same attack:  Uke pulls, pushes or holds firmly in one spot defines the first three variations.

This seems to be how most of the variations of other Yoshinkan Aikido techniques are handled as well. Techniques like Katate Mochi Tenkan (1) and (2) seem to be divided up by whether or not Uke pulls or pushes.  Katate Mochi Nikajo (1) and (2) are distinguished in the same way.  In contrast, I learned Katate Dori Nikyo Omote and Ura were done off the exactly identical attack:  turning or entering was done as a response to the larger environment and not because of Uke until later when we did freestyle.  

I think avoiding a Heads-Or-Tails Aikido is correct and logical.  Freedom of movement and spontaneous creation of technique should not be shackled to Black-Or-White approaches.  That one of the oldest styles does not adhere to dichotomy also seems to say this is historically valid as well.

That being said:

The only definite Kaitenage Omote movement seems to be a Henka Waza of Ikkyo Omote.  Step outside, go behind and turn should be an Ura but that is not how the name is used anymore in the USAF.  The defining feature seems to be if Uke travels in a spiral path or a linear one.

To make a more linear Kaitenage, I led Uke's face right on to my knee.  I either go to Uke's front outside edge of his strength, or I cut straight down.  My footwork moves away from Uke at anywhere from a ninety degree to a 45 degree rearward angle in front of Uke.  Stepping off the line behind Uke makes Uke spiral, stepping off the line in front makes Uke fall on me.  I can launch my rearward knee right into his ribs when his head hits my forward thigh.  I push the arm straight, I take the head straight down.  

My wife teaches a Birankai variation that leaves the leg back causing the throw to happen from the shoulder and neck lock instead of the stepping through.  I consider it an exercise to improve my atemi. Most of the Kaitenage atemi benefit from a clash of Uke's body against me when the technique cuts linearly.  The movement creates the opportunity for the atemi.

To make a more spiral Kaitenage, I use a series of exercises.

From Shomenuchi, take Uke's head with the lead arm from behind and lead Uke is a downward spiral (just the head).  I find entering much deeper and stepping behind Uke helps this.  The atemi comes to the base of Uke's neck and knocks his head forward instead of downward.  The atemi creates the movement.

From Gyaku Hamni Katate Dori, do Uchi and Soto movements and lead Uke in a downward spiral.  I find going to the outside edge, entering deeper and then stepping behind helps this again.

Bend Uke over into the position just before the final cut.  Don't move the hand on Uke's head, just keep it in the same position in space.  Don't step.  Just play with the movement of Uke's shoulder while you extend.  A more vertical movement is a more linear roll.  Moving the arm across Uke's back at more of a 45 degree turns his body.

The head brought to the knee atemi is possible, but much less powerful and the neck lock is more of a neck lead.  I rarely manage to pull off the knee to the rib atemi, but it will be much less powerful as well (Uke isn't going into the strike, but rather in the same direction) and there is usually no need to step as the weight shift in the spiral has already finished the throw.

Leverage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lever

Archimedes once said something to the effect of, "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum and I will move the world."  So many variations out there, but I wasn't there so I won't challenge anyone else's version.

A lever is a stick.  By coincidence, so is a Jo.  

When I started to work on Jodori and Jonage, I started to pay attention to mechanical advantage, or the benefit of leverage.

There are three types of levers.  With a Jo, we get to pick a fulcrum ( the still point that the Jo rotates around) and we can change the fulcrum easily, even in mid-swing.

A class 2 level provides the greatest mechanical advantage.  An example of this type of lever is a pry bar.  The end that Uke holds is the end left in place, and Nage can move around that point.  The fulcrum is at the end held by Uke.  It happens to be the principle of katate dori tenkan done at the start of every class.  Nage allows Uke the part of the Jo that is grabbed, and relocates and finds a new angle to push from.  A number of Aikido finishing pins like the standing Kotegaeshi pin use this type of leverage.  

A class 1 lever has less mechanical advantage than a class 2.  An example of this type of lever is a teeter totter.  The middle of the Jo is the fulcrum.  This movement is easily applied to a Jo - the forward hand becomes the fulcrum.  Ikkyo typically uses this type of leverage.  A circling motion is easy to do, even when Nage is not able to step much.  This type of leverage is used in continuous nagare motions too.

A class 3 lever offers the least mechanical advantage.  An example would be a fishing rod.  One of my wife's favorite techniques uses this type of leverage, but I don't know the name of it.  It is a type of higikime.  The fulcrum is close to your body and still while you affect Uke through the elbow.

I found this interesting to play with in Jodori and Jonage.  Which lever does the technique make use of, and at which point?  And, which lever am I actually doing?  What is my mechanical advantage, how and when do I use it, and how do I improve on it?

Are They People Or Not?

People can be defined as corporations for tax purposes.  Lee Iacocca’s $1/year salary as the CEO of Chrysler is a great example.

Corporations can be defined as people when it comes to handing out large volumes of money to a political campaign as money equals free speech.  This is apparently not unfair influence, nor akin to bribing a public official; but rather an issue of the individual person’s right to free speech.  And, corporations are “people,” so they can be free in their speech and their “speech.”  ($$$)

Say I build sharp steel bear traps and leave them laying out on the street.  I might hurt a few people.  I would not necessarily hurt absolutely everyone that walked on that street, but I could be sued or charged for creating a dangerous situation.  I would face a number of charges and sanctions with each person I hurt.  

I could argue that I didn’t know bear traps were dangerous for the first couple of people, but after repeatedly setting out bear traps, eventually the pattern would be obvious to me and everyone else.  I could not argue ignorance forever, and in time me leaving a bear trap on the street would arguably be a premeditated attempt to harm someone.

Say my response to hurting someone is to deny there is anything wrong with the bear traps.  I could blame the person who got caught in the trap.  I could hide my involvement, and lie about the situation.  I would be in trouble for lying.  If I obstructed investigations and lied about my involvement while throwing even more bear traps on the street, my penalties would be much harsher.

The Beltway Sniper kills 10 people.  He is incarcerated, and executed.  He gets the serial killer label.

General Motors Corporation hides a defect in their vehicles that kills 12 people and harms 31 others.

Is GMC still a “person?”  

In the mental gymnastics of the business world, a company can “close,” change names, keep all staff and board members and materials but no longer be liable.  I cannot change my name and say, “Bob did that, my name is John now.”

We cannot execute a piece of a person, nor incarcerate part of a person.  We cannot incarcerate or execute only the brain of a person.   We kill or incarcerate the whole person.  

We cannot in good conscience treat GMC as a person in that we should not incarcerate everyone from the janitor, cafeteria worker assembly, line worker, the accountant, and so on.  We should however deal  with the people with the actual knowledge and decision making power to affect the situation, and we should treat this as more than board room politics.  People were dying, GMC did not take responsibility in a timely fashion.  As long as it is cheaper to settle lawsuits than fix known issues, and less costly to get caught suppressing information than it is to suffer a recall, this crap will continue.  

Corporations are people when they can gain freedom, power and influence.  When there is even a shadow of a consequence, then the legal system very clearly and blithely does not consider a corporation a “person” at all.  “Too much harm to the community, lost jobs, too big to (be allowed to) fail.”

Is a company closing now a “death?”  Buying a corporation a form of “enslavement?”  Hostile takeover a form of “assault?” Certain departments and employees in the corporation, are they “Tumours?”  Marketing strategies, are they “cosmetic surgery” that medical insurance companies can now pay for?  If money is speech, then are imposed price tags, fines and bills violating my right to free speech?  (“I prefer Rolls Royce over Hyundai, but I don't have enough money to buy one.  My right to free speech is being suppressed!”)

I am uneasy with some of the vague definitions of “person” and “corporation.”  It is becoming worrisome that we have given the power to sufficiently rich enough entities to become either one, whenever and however they wish.  

I hate weapons practice

I love Aikido.  I'm nearly at 25 years in the Art.  

And, weapons scenes in movies are always very cool to watch.  High level weapons work is inspiring to watch.

Weapons are just so divorced from my usual practice.  In empty hand, a partner attacks, and I try my best to do what is being taught.  I try to join, and feel up/down, expand/contract, open/close, lead/blend/cut.  I get a very intimate and very creative interaction.  We're all different; all bringing our own issues to the mat, and then we come together in harmony (or various stages thereof.)

As we use solid weapons, safety issues become a concern.  We never get free form in partner practice.  Some exercises use a Maai that makes contact impossible.  As an Art, we don't employ padding, or strike pads or any practice that would give our weapons work feedback for control, accuracy and power (though there are clips of O Sensei doing exactly that with posts and bunches of sticks).  Then, the partner practice is joined by people who do not have sufficient control, accuracy, or power.  In empty hand, Uke provides very valuable feedback constantly.

Weapons really trigger some visceral emotions for some people, more than any empty hand technique would.  People who know how to choke someone, break an arm, or break a neck will refuse to touch a blade, or allow a toy gun in class.  

Our history of weapons in Aikido is very much lethal.  The sword is a weapon of instant death, and even a bokken can kill with one strike.  A Tanto is a representation of a mutilating, crippling, lethal and messy tool.  Jo can be lethal but has many non-lethal applications.  Yet I believe the largest single influence on Aikido Jo is the Juken - rifle and bayonet, arguably a weapon with the broadest lethality of the three weapons we use.  The Founder's early Aikido was very much associated with handguns and rifles, but we do not as an Art associate ourselves with any projectile weapons.  While Tanto-Dori and Jo-Dori used to be easily adapted to pistol and rifle takeaways, newer techniques are becoming common that leave Nage likely to get shot.  Does it matter?  We're not practicing with guns now.  But look at what we do, and compare it to Kobudo or Chinese staff work or Filipino stick fighting - if we want to fight with a stick, we have so many techniques that we could absorb into our art that are compatible with our movements and philosophy.  Our Jo work doesn't even resemble traditional Jo work.

Shirata Sensei, Chiba Sensei, Kanai Sensei, Nishio Sensei, and Saito Sensei (and who even knows how many others) all developed very different weapons kata.  We do not treat kata like Karate does though.  There are about 50 recognized traditional Karate kata.  Shotokan uses 27, and acknowledges that Goju Ryu has 15 that are different but still part of the 50.  Shito Ryu uses all the forms, but has their own variations on the same kata.  Many teachers had to come together for this catalogue of history and methods.  

For Aikido, each weapons kata is perhaps treated as a declaration of loyalty to a specific teacher.  Few non-Kanai students train Kanai Sensei's Iaido, for example.  There has been no attempt to bring all of the different weapons kata and training methods under one umbrella that I am aware of.  If anything, quite the opposite.  There are rumors and allegations that Tokyo Hombu has been trying to suppress any weapons instruction, and this is why Iwama is now a separate style.   Weapons are perhaps more tied to politics than our empty hand work.  Later clips of O Sensei with a Jo show free form and depth - more than I have seen in his students' systems.  Aikido as I learned it is not kata based, but that is the only way weapons are taught.

Short or long weapons like baton, cane or Bo staff are very likely something the Founder could use well and things that individual teachers have developed, but we don't add to our weapons work as an Art.  People like Koga developed baton use that was not absorbed into the larger Aikido world.

Aikido likes to be a circular, soft, flowing flexible art using many restraining techniques, but we do not use a soft, flexible, circularly whirling weapons used to restrain criminals for centuries like ropes or chains.   While there are pictures of O Sensei using a fan or a variety of spears, we don't associate them with Aikido.  Our philosophy does not guide our weapons work, nor does the Founder's example.

There are many traditional weapons that were designed over centuries to compliment our core techniques (grappling and grabbing) but we do not employ them.  

See if someone is too slippery for Kotegaeshi, Sankyo, Kaitenage or Iriminage now...

Of course, these look so much nastier than a sword - though a sword is so much easier to kill with.

Weapons used to be fitted to the wielder, and this decided how it would be used.  The Okinawan Roshakubo was a six foot staff, often employed by people who were less than six feet tall.  For modern Aikido, whether you are a four foot tall child or a 6'8" adult, a Jo is of uniform length.  I was told once that if a Jo was held up beside you, a good length would come to your armpit, and a Bo should be a foot over your head.  We do not try to accomodate different sizes and weapons are now standardized.

Are you fighting in an enclosed space?  A long weapon is wasted at best - you cannot swing enough to build up momentum.  At worst, a long weapon is going to get in the way and hinder your movements.  Are you fighting someone on horseback or storming a fortification?  A short knife is not going to help as much as a spear, lance, or halberd.  A bow is very useful at a distance, and not much use in close quarters without modification.  Specific weapons could be better suited for specific situations.  Specific weapons like the Kobudo Eiku (Oar) are far more likely to be present in a specific environment too.  Aikido weapons work doesn't teach to condition or circumstance.

Teachers who could tolerate a wide variety of expressions of a classical technique get into arguments over thumb placement when a Jo comes out.  Is this kata starting with Choku Tsuki or Kaeshi Tsuki?  The correct answer, I think, is what end of the weapon do I want to deploy?  It's a non-issue for a Jo, but grab any tool out of your garden shed.  The difference between Choku Tsuki and Kaeshi Tsuki is the difference between hitting someone with a shovel's handle or head.

None-the-less, when I recently tested for my Sandan, the examiner wanted to see the candidates demonstrate an understanding of weapons.  He was right to do so.  I am part of a history and an Art.  I have ignored weapon kata for a number of years.  I never found I could be creative while trying to remember the sequence of a form.  My weapons work was not clearly contributing to my empty hand, so I focused on my empty hand.  I passed, and I did well.  Put a stick in my hand today, and I can fight with it (I have done lots of certain suburi).  Time to suck it up and learn the kata.

working towards the Diamond Pose (Seiza)

 

Diamond Pose - a Yoga approach to Seiza.

Seiza:

Head upright

Neck elongated

Shoulders down

Spine straight

Chest open and relaxed

Hip flexed

Knees flexed

Ankles straight.

Seiza, and it's Yoga counterpart the Diamond Pose or Vijrasana can be part of a healthy body and power development.  This exercise is the foundation of power from structure - balance, stability, relaxation, and support.  

That doesn't mean that it is automatically a healthy exercise for everyone.  Wikipedia has two articles from the New England Journal of Medicine on the potentially injurious aspects of Yoga, and the Diamond Pose is one of them.  

I am bow legged and active, and I like to eat, so I have a number of knee problems.  I have been told to lose weight, but it is difficult for me to lose when my favorite cardiovascular exercise (running) is painful.  Swimming is not a substitute, as the Whip Kick can aggravate knee issues.  This little bit of Yoga helped me, but get up with someone who is a Yoga teacher.  There are many great resources out there on Yoga.  I am advocating the method more than the Art.

In Aikido and Japanese martial arts, we have a relatively macho approach - "do it until it feels good."  Yoga has an approach that I find much more healthy - each of the Asanas has easier and more advanced variations, preliminary exercises that can lead to the development of the Asana, and increasingly the use of props for support.  The quality of Yoga teachers varies widely (as of course does the quality of martial arts teachers) but efforts are made to define the Asana in concrete, healthful, physical terms.  Martial artists do this for striking and throwing, but seldom for meditation postures.

For a stiff back:

Laying on the floor is a great place to start.  A blanket or Yoga mat underneath you, and maybe a blanket on top.  Bend the knees comfortably so that the pelvis tucks under a little bit.  You may need to rest them on a box.  You may need a pillow at your head - try something like a rolled up blanket that you can Very Gradually unroll.  Find where you are comfortable, and take months to unroll the blanket.  Relax and do some deep abdominal breathing (put your hand on your abdomen and feel it rise and fall with each breath).  My wife (a long time student of the Alexander Method) does this exercise every night, for about ten deep slow breaths.  Most people I know with back injuries do this as well.  Also check out Feldenkrais Pelvic Clock exercises to loosen up the back and hips from this position.  A Taiji teacher early on had me lay like this with a finger touching around the point on my abdomen that would represent my "one point" or dantien or hara.  It is easy to take the time to find your body's center of gravity when your mind isn't distracted by the pain, and later you can use this sense of your one point to help you to sit longer and more effectively.

From here, spinal twists can help to elongate and loosen up the back, neck and shoulders - lay the knees down together to one side, and the opposite arm goes above your head.  

A more advanced variation is to leave (using left and right for illustrative purposes) the left leg straight, the right leg extended from the hip and rotated to the left, and the right arm goes towards the right.  Do both sides.

A favorite of mine for loosening the groin muscles is to put the soles of the feet together and gently rock the pelvis.  Avoid this with any hip injuries. The lower back muscles loosen up for me with this one too.

Another favorite of mine is the Happy Baby Pose, which I learned as the Wind Relieving Posture (Ananda Balasana) which opens the hips and groin muscles a little more while.  

Feel silly doing it or want to work the hips more?  Do it upside down, try to keep your back flat.  This opens the hips and the low back, and you can put weight on your hands if you need to.  Or, crouch with your feet shoulder width apart if your knees can tolerate a more aggressive variation.

Gradual pressure on the knee:

The Cat Stretch (Marjariasana) introduces some pressure on the knee, but the knee is at a 90 degree angle.  Your shoulders are also getting a good stretch.  If you have injuries or difficulty with your weight, you can get the benefits to your spine by flexing your spine in a chair, but your knee is left out of the equation.  Listen to your body and take the time.  

The Child Pose (Balasana) has a few variations.  You can leave your buttocks higher in the air which takes less flexion of the knee joint, and you can have your arms at your sides or above your head taking some weight.  One teacher showed me a variation where the knees come together, bring your torso up to Cat Stretch and gently lower your pelvis to the left and the right.  This should be done gently, and it has many of the same benefits as the first spinal twist but works the outside of the hip more so.

The classic Child's Pose is the buttocks on the heels (difficult to do with a bigger belly), so your knees come apart.  Your neck hangs loosely, and your torso is laying forward and relaxed.  Your torso coming forward puts much less weight directly on the hip and knee.  Alternatively, I really like one variation I found online which uses a rolled yoga mat, but the support could be anything, like a firm pillow on it's side.  You can adjust the pressure to your knees very effectively.

Remember that Yoga ends with the Corpse Pose (Shavasana) - let the legs out straight, go on your back, support your arms and head with pillows if need be and let your spine relax.  Get the blood flow back to your legs - this is how the body heals!  

Working on the lower limbs a little more:

Lunges:  there are several variations.  I can put weight on the hands.  I can stretch the groin and hip muscles.  I can leave my foot flat, or stretch the balls of the feet.  Keep the knee directly above the toes, and change position for any knee pressure.

Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) lets you focus on one knee at a time.  Having had a meniscus surgery and being born bow-legged, I do not do the variations that put the knee sideways.  The outside of my own knee stretches and opens before my hip muscles relax much, and that leaves me with leg swelling for days.  I keep the one knee folded underneath me, and the other back. 

There are several variations of the Pigeon, all the way from gentle to excessive.  Take it slow.

If you keep weight on your hands and your torso leaning forward, you can take weight off the knee.  You can rock gently left to right to open the hip, but I find the can aggravate old knee injuries.  Another favorite variation of mine that also appeared in Runner's World is to lay forward on your knee - this looks just like the Child's Pose but with one leg straight.  Use your arms to take weight, and then relax very slowly.

Do the opposite:

One of theories of Yoga practice that Kawahara Sensei embraced was the idea of Forward Bend, Followed by Back Bend.  He would structure classes to have back falls alternating with forward falls, Nikkyo alternating with Kotegaeshi, Shihonage alternating with Kaitenage or with Ikkyo.  So, when I practice the Pidgeon Pose, I also take time to fully straighten the leg too.

Camel Pose (Ultrasana) while the knee never goes much more than 90 degrees, the lower leg does support the weight of the body.  The front of the hip opens and stretches, the chest opens and stretches, and the spine is kept straight.  The easier version has you putting your hands on your lower back, advanced versions have you grabbing your heels, and you can support your weight on one hand and stretch your arms over your head to further open your chest.  Rocking very gently forward and backward can loosen the hip further.  I don't always do this one, and it would be awkward to do this with tight ankles.

The actual shape of Seiza, with the benefits to the spine, hips, and legs can be supported by a meditation bench.  I have one made by a friend of mine for me - three pieces of 2x4 screwed together.  There are many versions of the bench.  Try to find one that has the seat resting flat against your butt - if your weight sits on the edge it will cut in after a while.  The bench will take weight off your knees and ankles, and allow for blood flow.

Finally the Diamond Pose, which is not identical to Seiza but has all the painful features in common.  The Diamond Pose keeps the knees together, Seiza will open the knees apart.  You can brace better to the front with a wider base, but this changes the stresses on the knees.  Again, using a rolled towel means you can slowly, over a long time, unroll the towel until the ankles sit flat.  Don't rush it.  The towel idea works with the meditation bench too.