AIKIDO: Shomen uchi attack - Stay centered.

Does shomen uchi attack sometimes feel awkward or unnatural to you? Especially if you’re new to Aikido, it can feel kind of strange and contrived.

Today’s video is another from our New Year’s seminar in Los Angeles a couple months ago. I was so happy to have a high ratio of white belts to black belts at the seminar. One had never done a martial art before. For a couple others, it was their second or third Aikido class ever.

So I wanted to help them with their ukemi - especially the ukemi for shomen uchi ikkyo, which seems to be so challenging for people.

After a brief introduction to shomen uchi ikkyo, both sitting and standing, we took a deep dive into the attack, using bokken and also shoto, or wakizashi. Then we worked on being flexible enough in our core to absorb the ikkyo technique.

I hope today’s video will give you some insight, inspiration, and motivation to help you make the most of your training and take your Aikido to the next level.

Let’s check it out.