Shōmenuchi ikkyō, Jō 1

2020-03-19

shōmenuchi ikkyō (suwariwaza)

irimi and tenshin
in the exam for 2nd kyu

suwariwaza (座り技, techniques while sitting)

Jō 1

hitoriwaza
in the exam for 1st kyu

Takeda Sōkaku

Takeda Sōkaku (1859-1943) - Takeda is the surname - was a samurai of the Takeda clan and a well-known martial arts teacher in Japan.
He became known as a master of Daitō-ryū and as a teacher of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikidō.
As a result of the social and political upheavals in Japan, the samurai had lost their special status in 1876. Takeda earned his living by teaching unarmed self-defense techniques. Since samurai were no longer allowed to wear swords in public, there was a demand.
Takeda only taught individuals and not groups.

Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu

Aiki is an important principle in Daitō-ryū. According to his own understanding, Takeda described it like this: The secret of Aiki is to overpower the opponent at a glance and thus win without a fight.
The forerunners of the techniques practiced in aikido can often be found in Daitō-ryu, which from 1922 was called Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu 大東流合氣柔術.

  • Daitō 大東 is the name of a city ("Great East") in Osaka Prefecture, and should not be confused with the Daitō 大刀 (long sword).
  • Ryū 流 means "school, style".
  • Aiki 合氣 is the principle explained above.
  • Jūjutsu 柔術 means "soft technique", whereby "soft" here simply means "unarmed".
Ueshiba Morihei studied with Takeda from 1915 to 1922 until he received the teaching license, the highest level in that period. Ueshiba first taught Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu for years, and then developed his Aikido mainly based on these techniques.
Because of Aikidō's popularity, Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu has also been known since the 1990s. The video from 2019 shows a demonstration, i.e. it is not a competition. The similarities to aikido techniques can be seen.