Chapter 36: Tori using Tanto for defence...now this could prove interesting...

At our last session, we were told to try something different...Tori was to defend themselves using 10 different techniques from the Randori kata but using the tanto. Hmmm...Okay, this could prove interesting-I'm not used to defending with a Tanto, only against it-so here goes.
After 20 minutes, of 'Yeah, no, yeah- that might work', we were asked to show what we had come up with to the rest of class. I like this idea, it gets you used to an 'audience' as it were, so its less nerve racking at gradings when all your fellow club members are watching. It was quite interesting how we each interpreted the techniques differently-but if you think about it, if Aikido is developed from Samurai techniques, then you would always have a weapon in your hand whilst executing a technique and therefore in the middle of battle you would constantly change technique to keep yourself alive as everyone knows all the techniques that you know. A frightening observation was everyone's anatomical knowledge of where the vulnerable points of the human body were to hit with a knife-the kidneys, intestines and jugular. But as martial artists, I suppose that knowledge comes as part and parcel of your training, even in a 'peaceful' art like Aikido.
Towards the end, I chose to work on counters for my next belt as I hadn't worked on these for quite a while and was quite rusty. An interesting method of learning was suggested by a Dan grade who basically told me to shut my eyes, attack and then counter. I kinda wondered what the point was...how can I counter? But I soon saw his point-you don't see the technique to counter with,you 'feel' it-in fact practising counters was easier with shutting the eyes then just doing them normally, you can feel the right times when to move and counter. An interesting experience and one I would recommend trying.