A Sunday morning at Busto Garolfo
Maurizio opened the seminar at Giuseppe De Matteo's dojo by recalling Yoshigasaki Sensei's explanations of Aiki (合氣) and Kiai (氣合): "Aiki means harmony in a relationship. Kiai means harmony within oneself." (see also here).
And so, he had everyone perform four powerful ritual Kiai together.
After Kenkotaiso, Aikitaiso, Stretching, and Ukemi undo, the first technique was Zagi ryotedori kokyunage, formerly known as Kokyudosa.
The central theme of the entire seminar was the reasonable behavior of Uke, both during a correct attack and for his own self-protection during the execution of the technique. This was verified with ki tests in the relevant situations.
The techniques for these exercises were katatedori ikkyo, tsuki ikkyo, tanto tsuki ikkyo, katadori ikkyo, and shomenuchi kokyunage. The theory of ikkyo was also explained in detail. Finally, there was a classic bokken exercise with two attackers.
After the seminar, almost all participants went to the Ristorante Al Borgo Antico in Legnano, where the seminar concluded with pizzas and other good food.
