基本的技術
入身一足 ／ Basic Technique - Irimi-Issoku
The Sword of Purification
杖の立ち方 Standing with the Jo
杖も構えない、そのまま 杖の延長線上を相手の目線へ合わせる
The staff also takes no stance. Hold the jo so that a line extending from the end of it would intersect your opponent’s eyes.
The sword of aikido is not for cutting. You can always cut. But to cut is to commit a sin. The sword of aikido is not used for such wrongdoing, but for helping one another to remove the impurities that are within us. It is enough if we can avoid using our swords for conflict and instead come to realize the absurdity of fighting. The sword of aikido makes no sound. If your sword makes a sound, it means that you have received your opponent’s attack. In aikido we aim to control the opponent from the instant before his attack, always a step ahead of him, so that in fact there is never any attack to receive, and therefore no sound. With the ken and jo alike, not taking a stance makes you faster than if you did take a stance. Without a stance, in the time it takes your opponent to raise his sword and bring it down again, simply by raising your own sword you can easily reach him in half the time. As your opponent cuts downward on one line, you can take another line and enter to
his side. While you can cut your opponent into two if you wish, you control him by stepping forward without touching his sword with yours. You can control your opponent at will. Such sword and staff techniques are very characteristic of aikido. In aikido you bring the situation to this state, time and time again, finally leaving behind conflict and clashing as you seek a unified direction. The photos show the basic ways to stand when holding the sword and staff. Just as empty-handed aikido uses no stances, we don’t adopt a stance when using the ken and jo either. However, while you may not take a stance, you do still need to create a “set-up” (tsukuri) that will elicit your opponent’s action. In some cases, for example, you might open the line of your sword with a small, quick, dropping motion to create an opening and a give yourself a slight “build-up,” then wait for your opponent’s responding attack and enter when it comes. How you work with such set-ups will vary from moment to moment depending on how you intend to meet and draw your opponent in. Throughout history, the most famous exponents of arts such as karate and judo have typically employed set-ups well matched to their own bodies, taking advantage of their particular physical characteristics. Anyone who does budo, aikidoka included, needs to think about how to work with such set-ups. There are certain differences in the ways the ken and jo are used. The sword is primarily for cutting, and so relies heavily on centripetal force. To cut, you draw your extended sword inward toward your own front. Generally your targets include softer areas of the body, such as the neck and sides. The jo, on the other hand, is primarily for striking and thrusting, and thus relies more on centrifugal force. Typically, you are pushing the 27
