
Kote 小手
The techniques of kote gaeshi, nikyo and sankyo are not ‘wrist lock’ techniques, as is too often said.
Philippe Voarino studied at the dojo of the Founder of Aikido, in Iwama. Master Saito passed on his method to him, encouraging him to discover, beyond this teaching tool, the true art of O Sensei.
The techniques of kote gaeshi, nikyo and sankyo are not ‘wrist lock’ techniques, as is too often said.
A solitary figure, that is how you lived your life, like the modern rōnin you had become, alone with your art...
The origin of action is energy itself, ki, which is located in the lower abdomen. And the action of the human body is limited to its role as a vector of this energy.
When the movement of Aikido is performed correctly, it is connected to DNA, to the great cosmic serpent that unites all living beings under the sun.
Tenkan is impossible without irimi, but irimi is powerless without tenkan. There is a tenkan effect on uke which moves him.
‘Kata mo hiji mo koshi mo kimochi o sagete’, which means ‘lower your shoulders, elbows, hips and feeling’.
Every time you do shiho nage, ikkyo is there, and every time you do ikkyo, shiho nage is there. They are like two sides of the same coin.