Morihei Ueshiba emphasised that the real secret of Aikido is in the basics. By working hard at the basics, irrespective of style, paying attention to the detail of the movement and constantly asking yourself 'Am I doing this right?' and 'Can I do this better?', your Aikido will go up a few notches in quality.
Each style of Aikido has its own basic movements: Tomiki emphasises feet movement and coordination of feet and hands with Unsuko and Tandoku Undo (also known as Tegatana Dosa). Yoshinkan emphasises the principles of tenkan and irimi with the Kihon Dosa.
The Meikyokai Dojo uses these three sets of basic movements in its practice and this section looks to examine these movements.
(These explanations are text based but the intention is to supplement with images to illustrate certain points). It is assumed that Tomiki practitioners will know the basic form of Unsoku and Tandoku Undo. However, many Tomiki will not know the Kihon Dosa and more information on the basic forms are provided here regarding these Yoshinkan basics.
A good way to think of the basic movements is as building blocks: Unsoku is practiced and principles reinforced before moving onto the Tandoku Undo, which adds to the basic principles of Unsoku, before moving on to the more advanced Schichi-Hon-No-Kuzushi. The Schichi-Hon-No-Kuzushi will be examined at a later date.
Strangely the Tomiki system does not formally emphasise the principles of irimi and tenkan in its basics and this is why the Meikyokai Dojo has integrated the Kihon Dosa of Yoshinkan into its regular practice.
Kihon Dosa