As Hugh was teaching basic techniques to the class on Sunday, he brought us through the key elements that one needs to keep in mind when doing them, in what he likes to call “Nihon Tai Jitsu by numbers”.
What is in a basic technique?
All of the techniques share common elements:
- Atemi – all techniques start with an atemi to distract Uke
- Tai Sabaki – At the same time as giving an atemi, Tori is going out of the line of attack
- Te Hodoki – Tori is freeing his hand and breaking Uke’s balance
- A technique – which could be:
- Series 1 – Strikes (atemi waza). 11 techniques (3,4,8 have variations)
- Series 2 – Locks (kansetsu waza). 8 techniques
- Series 3 – Throws (nage waza). 8 techniques
When moving from basic techniques to goshin jutsu (self-defense), a 5th element is added: the finish. This could be an atemi, a lock/immobilization or a choke.
Later an additional series of basic techniques is learnt, composed of 4 chokes and 4 sutemi, but these are not performed on wrist grabs.