Ryu On Demand

Hi ! Good evening!
This is first time I join the forums!
In the 極意シリーズ３, you've mentioned "straightening the knee slightly and change the angle of the hips.. ..transfer the power from your centre to this point..."
I'm not quite understand that how to drop my weight with "straightening the FRONT knee", I thought I should drop my centre with bending my front knee(in order to keep my centre low and stable), straightening my back leg and push my Hara forward/downward ? My question is 1/. How to straighten the front knee with the weight drop?
2/. "Change hip angle" is that meaning to rotate the pelvis to left ( toward to same direction as left- front foot) while you straightening the front knee?

Good morning! Thank you for commenting!
1. Usually in the Yoshinkan, a lot of stress is placed on bending the front knee to drop the weight and keep low but in some cases this can cause us to drop too low and lose the connection with our partner. It is quite difficult to do but sometimes we need to straighten the front knee slightly WITHOUT allowing the hips and butt to move backwards or upwards. This requires quite a lot of strength in our center and we need to develop this strength through practising hiriki no yosei and shumatsu dosa. By straightening the front knee slightly and still maintaining the strength in our center this will allow us to absorb our partner's power and then transfer and focus power in a particular point.
2. I'm not quite sure which part of the video or which technique this refers to so could you give me a time reference to check? It could refer to rotating the pelvis horizontally (to left or right) or it could refer to rotating the pelvis vertically (downwards.) Recently, Ando Sensei has been emphasising vertical movements a lot in our training so it could be a vertical rotation.

Very difficult to explain verbally - I hope you can join the ZOOM classes soon so we can explain visually as well!

Thanks for prompt reply! That's what I've done now ! just drop too low and lose connection with the uke.
Yes, I'll should increase the intensity on "hiriki no yosei and shumatsu dosa" in order to develop the strength of centre core and stabilities.
Time reference is "Gokui Series 3" at 2:37. It seems the pelvis twisting to left side with straightening the left knee . Also the back bone align with the right back leg. Finally, not sure that is the knee bend again(2:47)? ....
Vertical rotation! I wish to see it! Many thanks!

Thanks for the time reference! I checked the video (fun to see again after many years haha) and at 2:37, yes the hips are opened slightly with the straightening of the knee but specifically here the rotation of the center is a vertical one where the center (or the knot of your obi if it helps you to visualise it) is tilted to face slightly downwards. Ando Sensei will definitely teach it in his ZOOM classes. We are currently looking at the best way to make the ZOOM classes available to view after the class for students who can't attend the classes due to time difference or schedule conflicts!
At 2:47, yes he bends the knee again to drop uke.

Yes! the hip rotation can be seen at 2:38, slightly downward(seems a bit backward as well).
First, I drop the centre weight, then slightly bend the elbow. When the hip(pelvis) rotate vertically, naturally it will lead to straightening(drawback) the front leg slightly. And the space between the body and elbow will be open up.
Thanks!

Yes and if possible don't let the hips move too far backward! Quite difficult to do!

Well noted with thanks! Osu!

I was always told to .."relax" , "soft", "never against the uke/opponent force".....etc. However, when we apply the "pin" during we make the connection with uke ( as per discussion above). Is that the force will against the uke.( in order to gain their reaction force or momentum for the next movement). If we apply the force with the same direction as uke, so there is no "pin" will be happened! Is that right? Or actually we are not using the force, but the body "weight" with the "alignment of the body structure"! So the shite "force" is coming from the "Earth"! Not the pure physical strength. It looks like struggling with uke during the pin.( it can be seen from Uke's expression).

I think we apply force maybe not so much the same direction as uke but rather that their power is absorbed into yours so that they go in the same direction as you? Or in the direction you want them to go?
Depending on the technique, we may be using the body weight with our stability coming from our kamae like a tripod planted firmly in the earth.