03b Ki: Transferring Power

Transfer of power from nage to uke is critical if techniques are to be effective. Having learned from the previous section (03a Ki: Generating Power) how to generate power, we must now establish a connection to uke to allow the transfer.

One we are connected to uke center power can flow. Sometimes we call "this taking up the slack". Taking up the slack is not so easy as uke is not an inanimate object (05 Fridge Aikido - an analogy). Uke can can move and respond to anything we do. While its difficult to show here on the printed page there are a number of points worth mentioning – though they are not so rigorous.

•    A moving uke can often take up the slack if we lead them and allow them to over-extend their attack.

•    By making contact with a limb of uke's and turning our one point we can take up the slack easily. Uke would have to move an enormous distance to catch up since they are on the circumference of our circle.

•    Ikkyo, nikkyo - in fact all joint locks - allow us to progressively lock uke's joints all the way to their tanden. (e.g. they allow us to take up slack in uke's wrist, elbow, shoulder and even spine.) In this position uke cannot close the distance to us nor can they move away.

From here we now apply our power... 3c Ki: Applying Power