Can an Aikido master catch a Karate punch? [Hiyori Kanazawa learns aikido from Ryuji Shirakawa]

0:03 Hiyori Kanazawa is learning Aikido from Ryuji Shirakawa.

0:06 She is an instructor at the headquarters

0:09 of the Shotokan Karatedo International Federation.

0:12 She has studied under various Budo masters to grow as a martial artist.

0:20 Today's theme is “Can Aikido catch karate punches?” and “How to do "irimi”.

0:30 Can you catch the "tsuki"?

0:33 Catch?

0:34 I wanted to ask you about that too.

0:36 There is a karate technique called

0:45 “nagashi-uke.” Do you grab while parrying "tsuki"?

0:50 It's difficult to grab the arm directly, isn't it?

0:55 I thought you were grabbing while parrying.

0:58 We don't grab tsuki.

1:00 This is how we deal with it.

1:08 Just move forward and touch it.

1:13 After that, you can do various moves.

1:15 And prevent this attack.

1:17 You can sense the next attack by touching the arm.

1:23 You can read the next move just

1:25 by touching without grabbing the arm.- Thats right.

1:31 I want to grab it.

1:32 Of course, if you can grab it, you should.

1:34 But normally you can't grab it.

1:35 That's right.

1:36 It's too fast.-Yes, it's fast.

1:38 It's also fast to pull the hand back.

1:39 So stick close to tsuki.

1:42 Touch once and move forward.

1:44 This is fast!

1:45 Just move forward first.

1:47 When you wait for tsuki and try to grab it, so...

1:52 Just touch the arm for a moment and go in at the same time.

1:56 I was caught in an instant.

1:57 If you get close to your opponent, you may be able to catch the arm.

2:01 You don't have to grab the arm, just hook your finger somewhere.

2:10 It's difficult to grab the arm, but it's easier to grab the clothes.

2:16 You can't grab the bare arm, but you can grab clothes anywhere.

2:27 Take back your hand.

2:30 Then, do this.

2:33 Follow the pulling arm.

2:37 It's impossible to grab the tsuki, but you stick to it and gather information.

2:48 How much "maai"(distance) do you practice?

2:52 We start with our hands touching each other, or we start very far apart.

2:58 We always start in “hanmi.” For example, we do “uchikomi” like this.

3:09 This distant "maai" is similar to karate.

3:11 For example, if you use a sword, the distance would be like this.

3:24 When not using a sword, practice at arm's length.

3:40 It's farther than I thought.

3:46 But in actual fighting, you get much closer.

3:50 If you're far away, your opponent can attack freely.

3:55 In an actual fight, it would be advantageous to close the distance, right?

3:59 Yes.

4:00 At long distances, karate attacks are definitely faster.

4:06 So I close the distance.

4:08 But with a sword, it would be over the moment you touched it,

4:11 so you have to keep your distance.

4:13 In particular, “jo” (stick) is

4:19 surprisingly invisible because it changes vertically.

4:25 It is very difficult to deal with the “jo.”

4:35 It's totally different from dealing with hands.

4:37 It's completely different.

4:40 It's better to practice both.

4:41 Attacks from below are completely invisible.

4:43 This comes from a blind spot.

4:51 It is more complicated than a sword.

4:52 Do you practice “jo” at every dojo?

4:57 No, not all of them.

5:00 It is long and difficult to handle.

5:04 In practice, we do simple movements.

5:23 It's coming from above at an angle.

5:26 “Jo” is longer than I thought.

5:29 This is quite difficult.

5:40 There are also attacks from the side like this.

5:47 How do you deal with them in karate?

5:55 Diagonal?

5:56 Yes, this is called "yoko-men", and I think it's a unique practice in Aikido.

6:01 It's like cutting with a sword.

6:03 I can handle attacks from the front, but....

6:05 This is attack line practice.

6:08 This isn't in karate, is it?

6:10 No, it isn't.

6:12 This is also a sword movement.

6:14 It's difficult to do “irimi” against a diagonal attack, isn't it?

6:17 You do “uchi-irimi.” How do you do it in Aikido?

6:22 In Aikido, you either go in while striking or strike from the inside.

6:29 It's scary from the inside.

6:30 We go in at the same time as the atemi (strike).

6:32 Grab the arm and hold it here?

6:35 Yes.

6:36 Go in like this, or go in directly like this.

6:51 The power goes somewhere.

6:55 My power is gone.

7:00 Let's try it.

7:01 I'll hit you, so you do “irimi” in this direction.

7:14 Then you can do this.

7:18 After this attack, please knock me down to the floor.

7:37 Let's try it.

7:41 When he starts to move, don't back down, but step forward.

7:46 Then gently lay him down on the floor.

7:54 Objectively speaking, it's a simple movement, isn't it?

7:57 Yes, it is.

8:00 Step forward a little more.

8:04 That's good.

8:25 Move forward faster.

8:26 Slow?

8:27 Yes, in this situation, you are slightly losing.

8:30 So, do this.

8:32 You don't need to use force.

8:42 Don't tense up when blocking.

8:47 Be soft.

8:48 I see.

8:51 Tighten your sides and do it softly.

9:10 It's true that the impact on me has weakened.

9:14 And he doesn't feel bad either.

9:17 Interestingly, in Aikido, there are good techniques and bad techniques.

9:21 Hard, rigid techniques make your partner feel bad and cause anger to build up.

9:24 But with soft techniques, your partner falls comfortably.

9:30 So that's why you don't feel bad even when you get knocked down so many times.

9:46 This is bad.

9:47 You were late.

9:48 Yes.

9:57 Next, let's try “uchi-irimi.” In Aikido, ‘tenshin’ is a step diagonally forward.

10:11 Karate also has “tenshin”, but...

10:32 Karate's “yakusoku-kumite” has many “tenshin” movements.

10:39 It's a great way to learn how to move your body.

10:42 However, there's no doubt that linear movements are faster.

10:46 You can also change the direction of the force.

10:49 Shirakawa sensei asked you, “Can you catch the tsuki?” At that moment,

10:53 I felt a sense of fear for some reason.

10:56 He was saying something like, “Touch the arm briefly,

11:00 and as the hand pulls back,

11:02 enter in sync with that movement.” How did you feel about that?

11:08 I think Shirakawa-sensei said that even if you can't grab the tsuki,

11:12 you can get information about your opponent just by touching their hand.

11:17 It's true that just by touching it,

11:20 you can get a general sense of their strength,

11:23 speed, and where the punch coming from.

11:26 So I understood what he was saying very well.

11:30 He said not to grab the hand that punched you,

11:35 but to grab their clothes or sleeve.

11:38 That was interesting.

11:40 When I imagine grabbing a punch, my brain tells me it's impossible,

11:46 but when I think about grabbing the clothes instead, I feel like I can do it.

11:51 What do you think?

11:52 I'm not sure if this is the right way to put it,

11:56 but it makes it easier to move forward.

11:59 I think that feeling of ease allows you

12:03 to relax your body and move more smoothly.

12:07 In that sense, I felt that it was easy to get inside and grab his hand.

12:10 If you hook your fingers onto your opponent's

12:13 clothes even slightly when they throw a punch,

12:15 you can move forward at the same time as they pull their hand back.

12:19 That's interesting.

12:20 You use your opponent's pull.

12:23 It was interesting to discover that you use

12:26 the strength of the hand when pulling back,

12:29 rather than the strength of the punch.

12:32 In everyday life, if you are suddenly attacked by someone,

12:37 you can immediately imagine how to respond just

12:42 by looking at what your opponent is wearing,

12:46 whether it's clothes or a scarf or whatever.

12:51 In that sense, winter is better

12:54 because your opponents are wearing thick clothes.

12:57 That's true.

12:58 It's much better than tank tops.

13:01 You mentioned that there are "tenshin" movements in karate "yakusoku-kumite".

13:06 Was it difficult?

13:13 It was a movement I usually do,

13:17 but since I don't normally use "bo" or "jo", I felt a little scared.

13:26 It was a little difficult, but not that hard.

13:33 I think mental preparation, or courage,

13:36 is important because you can't do "irimi" without it.

13:42 I think you said that you were

13:45 afraid of Shirakawa sensei's "irimi" from the inside.

13:47 What Budo masters have in common is that when I try to attack,

13:55 they already take my center (seichu-sen), leaving me unable to do anything.

14:02 They do it in an instant.

14:04 That's what makes it scary.

14:07 By the way, Shirakawa sensei is really bright and nice,

14:10 but for some reason he's a little scary, isn't he?

14:16 Is it okay if I say that?

14:17 -Yes.

14:17 He's a little scary.

14:18 I don't know why, but he's scary.

14:22 He has a scariness that the other masters don't have.

14:26 Yes.

14:26 But why do I feel scared?

14:30 He's the scariest of all the masters I've met so far.

14:34 Hiyori Kanazawa of Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation.

14:39 She is an authentic karateka who has

14:42 won world championships in both “kumite" and “kata”.

14:46 Her grandfather is the legendary karate master Hirokazu Kanazawa.

14:50 Her father is Nobuaki Kanazawa Kancho, the head of SKIF.

14:56 She is the third generation of a karate family.

15:00 Actual footage of her experience and a later

15:04 interview where she shares her true feelings.

15:08 Stay tuned for the next “HIYORI EXPRESS”!

15:13 Please subscribe to SKIF's YouTube channel.

15:23 Everyone is a Hero in "Kuro-obi World".

15:31 Of course you are also a Hero!

15:33 See you again in "Kuro-obi World"!