Morihiro Saito’s Morotedori Kokyuho:
“Envelop uke to prevent his escape!”
“O-Sensei taught this technique without fail in every class!”
MOROTEDORI KOKYUHO 諸手取り呼吸法
1 – From gyaku hanmi, your partner grabs your left hand with both his hands.
2 – Lower your elbow and hips while extending ki through your arm.
3 – Pivot in place, shifting to ai hanmi; look in the same direction as your partner.
4 – Raise your hands upward, pulling your partner off balance and enter behind him with your left foot.
5 – Shift your weight to your left foot and extend your arms towards your partner’s head to execute
the throw. Be sure that your eyes continue to look forward to avoid a possible kicking counter.
Commentary
When your partner stands in right hanmi and grabs your left hand, move your left foot to your partner’s right foot and turn your hips to change from left to right hanmi. Do this movement with the feeling of dropping your shoulder, elbows, and hips slightly. Turn to a position beside your partner, looking in the same direction. This is basic for all kokyuho exercises. The spacing, or maai, between you and your partner will be wrong if you look at him. If you face the same direction with the feeling of enveloping him, you will stay close to him and he will be unable to escape. If you look at your partner even slightly, his body will separate from you and there will be too much space between you.
Excerpted from Takemusu Aikido, Volume 1 — Background & Basics by Morihiro Saito and Stanley Pranin
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