From 2011 Shochigeiko
by Nick Lowry
The original walking developed in the late 40’s — filmed in the early to mid 50’s–17 walking waza —
taught at Waseda to develop skill sets of aiki for judo players
Unsoku — foot work
1- forward shuffle — square not angular step — quick cycle– back foot floats and makes possible a rapid vector change in a push
2-side shuffle — large step — leads with hip — with lateral tilt for okuri ashi kuzushi
3-rear shuffle — identical dynamics with forward shuffle but applicable as a pull
4- goblet step — close to line- slight forward pitch or tilt that makes possible immediate loading without sacrificing mobility in the feet — rear actions repeat in both large (more tilt) and small (shallow tilt) forms
Tandoku — solo hand/footwork
5-forward atemi– same hand an foot back foot stationary so it is all a body drop vector– hand extended like spear to work at full range for contact — makes body drop avalible at fingertips
6-inside sweep atemi — same as above but adding a downward diagonal vector for non symmetrical body drop loading
and edge of hand loading as in tegatana
7-outside sweep atemi — same as above but to the second diagonal vector
8-vertical/horizontal atemi — same as above but extends the working surface down the entire length of the arm in tegatana
9-outside diagonal atemi — paired with body drop step of the rear leg for a turning dropping vector
10-inside diagonal atemi – paired with side step body drop and hip turn — sharp turning dropping vector and also sasaetsurikomiashi kuzushi
11- four direction tsugi ashi atemi — alternating left and right and 180 and 90 degree turns to cover the cardinal points emphasizing the centered neutral body rise relationship at each transition -potential for hip throw and tai otoshi forms
12-inside shoulder coil/outside shoulder coil atemi –( aka pet the dragon) with body drop step forward on inside– lateral body drop on outside emphasizes coils for grappling application and weight load in dropping vector
13-rear shuffle into peak with alternating coils — hand starts close to hip and same side foot withdraws– outside shoulder coil and hand swings up palm up to the peak at body rise as the same foot comes forward and descends in a inside shoulder coil — unusual in that it steps with same foot twice, back then forward — — action is body drop back, body rise forward , body drop forward — excellent grappling extension and compression applications
14- small lateral hip switch — open hip and square turning away then immediate shallow hip switch hand rising from hip into the horizontal plane — excellent for close contact grappling
15- downward inside sweep same hand an foot to 180 turn at peak then neutral (50/50 ) descent hand centered with inside shoulder coil
16- standard vertical hip switch — for swing through kuzushi effect at arms length
17- standard opposite hand and foot 180 turn (as in seionage) paired with opposite hand and foot body drop turning back step — nice vector loading for kotegaeshi etc
by 1959 the form had paried it down to 11 waza as seen in senta yamada — much close in form to our curren twalking forms
in unsoku the foward and backward shuffle had been linked — the side shuffle was now an 8 count pattern and the extra rear (large) goblet had been dropped
In tandoku body drop was still emphaized in all atemi but now with more tegatana structure in each — opposite hand and foot diagonals dropped — 4 directions tsugi ashi atemi dropped– shoulder coils ( aka pet the dragon) are paired into out standard form except for rear foot– close body grappling forms of shoulder coil (same foot twice) and small hip switch dropped — downward inside sweep to 180 and peak with inside shoulder coil descent now paired to a New upward outside sweep to 180 and peak with outside shoulder coil descent — Standard vertical hip switch – and standard opposite hand and foot 180 turn with opposite and foot rear turning step as in previous
Over all — a large number of interesting skill sets that have been largely neglected in modern play including: use of floating step to change vectors, body tilt for loading, body drop vector at extreme range , diagonal vectors for body drop, use of wider arm surfaces for tegatana, novel shoulder work, foot work and hip work for close up conditions of grappling, and various opposite hand and foot turning dropping modes including inside and outside diagonals
By the 70’s we can see that unsoku is basically unchanged except that the back foot does now come to rest at each step– thus yielding the potential for omni-directionality
in Tandoku — the back foot now moves slightly in on each action so we are seeing the bridging function potential now linked with the body drop — all the side turns are gone (perhaps due to the influence of tanto randori play?) — the inside and outside sweep are linked in cycle or pulse application as are inside and outside coil — followed by hip switch with only shallow dropping in chudan — the final opposite hand and foot 180 is the only large turn still used and it includes an emphasis of the hand at jodan at the piviot — the final opposite hand and foot back drop turn is unchanged
