Hello, everyone!
Normally, our Waza Wednesday videos are focused on kata applications and fighting methods, but we also occasionally show training exercises, and we recently recieved a request to show some hip engagement drills. With that in mind, this week's video shows one of the exercises we use in our dojo to help students get a feel for using their hips, by making it easier for them to see when they are doing it using a staff
That’s a very simple / clever way to get people to think about and observe their hip motion! I think that could be a very useful tool when students not quite getting any given movement. I like it!
All the best,
Iain
Thankyou very much for this. I have looking for a simple drill to help students with using their hips.
Thank you, both! It's not an exercise that we use all the time, and it doesn't get into the more subtle aspects of koshi/gamaku use, but it's a very good starting point for students first learning how to incorporate hip movement into their techniques. As Iain mentioned, this is especially helpful when they simply aren't "getting" how the hips should move for a given technique. Seeing the instructor do it is only so useful for some students, but seeing the instructor do it with a staff this way, and then the student doing the same, can help them get a better feel for it.
I can totally see that. Very simple and the action of the staff makes relatively small motions “big”; which it turn makes them easier to replicate. Very clever! Thanks for sharing!
All the best,
Iain
Love it....The Hikite is vital for hip movement as you mention in this video.
Very simple yet effective, thank you