Ki no nagare
The first thing to acquire in Aikido, before mobility, is stability of the hips. It is only after the hips have been stabilised by the study of kotai that the study of ki no nagare can begin.
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 first thing to acquire in Aikido, before mobility, is stability of the hips. It is only after the hips have been stabilised by the study of kotai that the study of ki no nagare can begin.
If you don't understand the suburi you can't understand the kumitachi, if you don't understand the kumitachi you can't understand Aikido.
The multidirectional reality of Aikido exercises has been contracted into a false but necessary unidirectional pedagogical form.