Had a bit of fun with a game of rolling tag for a warm-up. Followed by some light grappling practice to work on posture and balance. After that, it was an introduction to Osoto Gari, again really focusing on the need for good posture and how to mess with theirs.
Kamae were Ichmonji, Hoko & Doko
Introduced sword and the proper grip, showed the 9 basic cut angles and let them have a go. It started off a bit wild, so I added in a series of visualisations, one at a time.
- You are cutting a basketball.
- It’s really solid, so you have to slice instead of hacking at it
- You are cutting the ball in a corridor and don’t want to put dents in the wall.
- You are now on a slippery surface, so you need to slide your feet and not stomp.
Got a few laughs out of that, but the cuts did look better. The last part was to focus on each cut and try and see it as an exercise in control, each cut travelling on the best arc, not losing one’s balance and checking the posture for tense shoulders or neck.
West Auckland Bujinkan Ninjutsu 