Also "Shihonage," Sam Combes, Aiki-do, Volume 1, Black Belt Video, 1999.
Also, "Shihonage," page 206-215 of A. Westbrook and O. Ratti, Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere: An Illustrated Introduction, Tuttle, 1970.
Also "Ude Guruma Ushiro," George Kirby, Black Belt Budoshin Jujitsu, Volume 1, Panther Productions, 1992.
After step 6 (turn and downblock with left hand), the Shotokan practitioner performs a left, open-handed upblock (shuto age uke). We then step forward with the right foot and do a right age uke, fist closed. Sugiyama presents these two techniques together as a single "step 7."
I was taught to do this shuto age uke slowly and deliberately, but a review of Shotokan videos and books makes it clear that this is unusual. It also makes two other things clear:
- Shotokan practitioners (masters demonstrating on DVDs) do this technique poorly. They just raise the extended arm from the downblock position, without engaging any of the basic principles normally performed in an upblock. They are mentally throwing the move away as unimportant. (To give credit, Kyoshi Yamazaki did it correctly in his 1996 Robukai video of Heian Shodan from Black Belt Productions.)
- Non-Shotokan styles either don't do the open-hand upblock at all, or they do a normal (closed-fist) upblock that goes by so quickly that it amounts to a stackup for the following fully-formed block. You have to study their videos frame-by-frame to see it. They're throwing it away, too.
The traditional Shotokan explanation of this move is that we "block a kick" with the downblock, and then use the same hand to "block a punch." We use an open hand so we can grab his wrist. Then we step forward and upblock. We teach a progression of applications for the "upblock:"
- Holding the captured arm low, scoop the right arm under the captured arm and start to perform the upblock. You get him in an arm bar (or break the elbow) with his arm caught in the fold of your right elbow... contact takes place just at the bottom of your right bicep muscle. Snap.
- Depending on distance, size, etc., and whether he instinctively flexes his arm to protect the elbow, you can direct the same joint-popping technique at his right shoulder joint instead of the elbow. Simply slide in a little farther so the fold of your elbow catches him under the armpit. This should dislocate the shoulder.
- Same as before, but if the arm isn’t conveniently situated at the critical moment, drive the fully-focused upblock under the chin instead.
- Variation #4: If the opponent is taller than you, you can lift his captured arm high with your left hand and drive in under it to perform a fully-focussed upblock into the armpit against the shoulder joint. Nakayama loved this technique.
Those applications are fine for traditionalists, and breaking the arm does satisfy the Waldow Principle. Any application that puts the opponent out of the fight is worth teaching.
Here's what I teach for this move. I use it to introduce Te Kagami and Shihonage. Both are beginner techniques appropriate to the yellow belt student, so they fit with H. Shodan.
The shuto age uke, properly executed, derives a lot of its "snap" from the principle of futi. The rising block turns the open hand so the palm is toward your face at first, and then the wrist snaps palm-forward when you focus at the top of the block. Any time you find yourself looking directly into the palm of your open hand, you should try out Te Kagami (the hand mirror) to see if it fits the kata.
Imagine that your left downblock was caught at the wrist by the opponent's right hand. Swing your left hand up in front of your face so you can look into your palm. Bring the right hand up to grasp the back of the opponent's right hand, using the jujutsu "pistol grip" around the base of his right thumb. Pull your left hand free.
At this point you would normally apply a variant on the Te Nage or Kanoha Gaeshi hand throw, and drop the enemy on his right side. However, if you follow the kata and step in with a right age uke, a peculiar thing happens. The Te Kagami grip on his hand, combined with the driving power of the upblock, spins him a quarter turn to his left (your right), ending in the classic setup for the Shihonage (four-direction) throw. A relatively slight throw-down gesture spills him on his back.
If you follow the lead of George Kirby, this throw is "Ude Guruma Ushiro" and ends in a painful shoulder-lock submission on the ground. I teach that part, too, even though it isn't in the kata.
I do not propose that this is the original or "real" application for this part of the kata, but it is a useful one for teaching purposes. The upblock turns into the four-direction throw almost like magic, which amuses the students. They need to become familiar with that throw, so finding it in H. Shodan amuses their teacher. Everybody's happy.
