Blending with your opponent’s movements and taking advantage of the opening and energy presented by an attack is central to Aikido. This general principle is captured and trained into the Aikidoka through awase practice. There are a number of awase practices in both weapons and empty-handed training and are an important component of every Aikido dojo.

In this video, Saito Sensei demonstrates the moves of the Ki Musubi no Tachi and then explains the meaning behind each of the awase movements in detail.

Notice how even though Saito is being attacked he defends himself by blending with his opponent taking control of each offensive movement and of his attacker. A beautiful and fluid practice kata offering a lot of insight into the nature of Aikido and a great way to practice the skill that is awase.

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Yours in Aikido

AA