TIME FOR SOME ACTION.

I know that I have been rather quiet lately, but it is with good reason. Basically, the city I live in is becoming a cesspool. People are getting beaten up and raped while riding their bikes out at night. Little girls walking home from school are getting kidnapped and murdered. It’s getting out of hand. I have been quietly working on updates on the AJNM, but my main focus has been trying to raise awareness in my community by offering self defense discussions and martial arts lessons. You’re going to hear more about that from me than anything else.

AIKI JO’S HIDDEN SECRET: ROKU NO JO.

Big things do come in small packages. While I have been working on the AJNM, I have also been sorting what exactly needs to happen to make Aiki Jo a proper fighting method. I have so far concluded that mastery of the various Kamae is the first part, and understanding how and why the Kamae changes, offensively and defensively. Certain options and variations naturally lend themselves to a particular posture, yet the postures are all fluid and interchangeable. That’s when it hit me that Roku No Jo is just that, a way to practice the various changes from each Kamae. Here’s what Roku No Jo is:

1. Starting in Hidari Tsuki No Kamae, thrust with Choku Tsuki
2. Raise the jo with the Jodan Gaeshi movement
3. Step forward and strike with Migi Uchikomi
4. Draw the jo back to Migi Gedan Gaeshi No Kamam
5. Step forward and strike with Hidari Gedan Gaeshi Uchi
6. Turn the jo with the Chudan Gaeshi movement, which puts you back in Hidari Tsuki No Kamae, and starts the practice again

This is the first stage. Later, you combine the counts of the movements, eventually making this a two count exercise. I find that if you use this as an exercise to practice Kamae, instead of strikes, you will find a key ingredient to using the jo flexibly in a combat situation. Here is what I’m talking about:

1. Start with Hidari Tsuki No Kamae, which is the basic Jo Kamae
2. Prepare to change with Jodan Gaeshi
3. Make Migi Chudan No Kamae, the basic striking posture, same as when holding the Ken
4. Draw the jo back to the rear to make Migi Gedan Gaeshi No Kamae
5. Bring the forward and make Chudan Gaeshi No Kamae
6. Turn the jo with Chudan Gaeshi and return to the first posture

And there it is. Right there in front of me. A drill that teaches you the all of the basic postures: Tsuki No Kamae, Uchi No Kamae, Ushiro No Kamae, Chudan Gaeshi No Kamae. It also teaches the basic jo changes: Jodan Gaeshi, Gedan Gaeshi, and Chudan Gaeshi. Note that there is a definitive high, middle, and low in the Kamae and the jo switches. Think about that.

THE VARIOUS METHODS OF DEFENSE IN AIKI JO.

As a birthday present from me to you, and since I’m not sharing the notebook for now, I’ll at least let you see a bit of what I have been up to.

1. Choku Barai – Direct Parry. Barai is the principle of warding off. Usually with Barai, you will stay on the line, or cross the line in such a way to dominate the line and space. With Choku Barai, the jo is used to ward off thrusts and strikes using a semicircular motion that is controlled with the rear hand holding the jo. When you use this parry, you do not change your kamae. For example, if you were attacked while in the left thrusting stance, you would stay in the the left stance to parry with Choku Barai.
2. Kaeshi Barai – Reversing Parry. With Kaeshi Barai, you take a step away from the attack and bring the rear end of the jo up to ward off strikes and thrusts.
3. Kesa Barai – Diagonal Parry. This parry has the final form of Kaeshi Barai, but does not use a reversing movement. The name comes from the angle that the jo makes when parrying.
4. Kaiten Barai – Rotary Parry. With Kaeshi Barai, you reverse the jo while stepping back to parry, and then rotate the jo a half turn with the right hand. This is practiced on both sides, and no matter which side you practice this on, the right hand is the hand the controls the rotary movement. Plenty of practice with Hachinoji Gaeshi and Hasso Gaeshi will prepare you for this.
5. Age Barai – Rising Parry. Here the jo is raised over the head to parry a strike or thrust. This is usually followed by Maki Waza. Maki Waza means that you use your jo to knock away your attacker’s jo and then finish with your own thrust or strike. There are many instances where instead of hitting your attacker’s jo, you would hit their hands. This is actually the case with most parries and it is worth the time to discover some of these ideas in your practice.
6. Jodan Gaeshi – High Jo Reversing. Jodan Gaeshi is a Nagashi movement. It is not a firm parry, but a way to deflect an attack while moving off of the line. Usually, in a Nagashi movement, you yield the space.
7. Gedan Gaeshi – Low Jo Reversing – After a strike or thrust, the jo can be moved to your rear and swept forward for a parry. This type of parry is done as an
8. Awase Dome. That means that you are parrying a similar attack, such as Gedan Gaeshi Uchi.
9. Chudan Gaeshi – Middle Jo Reversing. This means that you hold the jo with the Gyakute grip, and release with the rear hand while turning the jo with the forward hand. You finish the movement with the Choku grip. As a parry, it can done as a Barai movement or as a Nagashi movement. When done as Chudan Gaeshi Barai, there are several Maki Waza that can be practiced. When done as Nagashi, there are several Kaeshi Waza, or Jo switches, that can be practiced. The final form of Chudan Gaeshi, minus the turning of the jo, is often used as a parry in several of the Kumijo.
10. Uchi Barai – This is the case when a movement such as Uchikomi is used to parry an attack.
11. Uchi Dome – This is the case when an attacker’s strike or thrust is forestalled by a strike or thrust of your own.
12. Nuki Waza – Here, you let your attacker strike or thrust freely, but they miss.

OK, FOR REAL THIS TIME, NO MORE MANUAL.

It’s not personal, my friends! I have a major revision to do that will make the text of the manual complete. At that point, I will be working hard on my Aiki Ken and Ken Jo no Riai manuals. To those of you that received a copy, I hope that you enjoy it as it is, and keep swinging your Jo, as I will be swinging mine!