On the 30th September 2017 the martial art groups form NTNUI in Trondheim gathered for a practice. The represented groups were Aikido, Judo, Ju-Jitsu, Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Tenshi Tsume.
The practice started at 15:15. The aikido group started with warming up and some falling techniques – forward roll, backward roll and high falls. It was impressive how well the guys picked up rolling , even those who come from disciplines that are not used to falls, such as karte or tae kwon do. Next we had a taste of tenshi tsume, the teacher showed us a hip throw, which is somewhat different from aikido and as we found out later different from judo as well. The second technique was strangling from behind and how to break free in a smooth and efficient way. After that we had a short water break, then we sat in a circle and each group and instructor introduced themselves. So we heard a brief history of the clubs and the disciplines. It was interesting to see the similarities across the different martial arts.
The second third of the practice was held by the karate and the tae kwon do teachers. We studied a sequence from a karate kata with a very efficient and final ending for the attacker. I guess I wouldn’t be able to stand up even after the first punch, but you know, you should always be rigorous. Next we learned two basic kicks from tae kwon do, a “front” kick and a “backwards” kick. We were able to try out our kick skills on our partner, using kick shields.
The last third was held by the judo and ju-jitsu group, coming, once again, down to earth. The instructor from judo showed us another, but similar way of rolling as we do it in aikido, which was fun. As I mentioned earlier we also saw another version of the hip throw using the leg in addition to the hip to throw the partner. Ju-Jitsu completed the practice with a ground fight, which was something new for us. As far as I know there is no ground fighting in the sword based traditional martial arts from Japan. This might have been added to the far eastern martial arts later on. It was an interesting new experience for us. When in a fight you never know if your technique works well and where you will end up when it fails.
Thank you all very much for this nice afternoon. It was very refreshing to see that our martial art is not that different from the others and to see that we can come together and learn from each other.
ntnui-aikido.com 