ETAF - Foot & Hand Movements

BASIC FOOT & HAND MOVEMENTS
INTRODUCTION Although we practise the Foot & Hand Movements formally in a class situation in lines, these exercises could, and in fact should, be practised individually, at home, by oneself. Primarily they teach us to move in a "Shuffle" or succeeding feet manner (Tsugi-ashi), in keeping with good posture, balance and co-ordination. Furthermore, they help us to maintain a right or left defensive, yet natural posture, whilst moving. Normal walking (Ayumi-ashi) is a succession of right & left defensive postures and the retention of balance can be difficult, particularly if large steps are taken. Simply they are about natural and efficient movement. They are basic building blocks and once mastered they can be applied to any discipline.
	As an example, if we take tennis, here we have backhand strokes, these relate to our inside sweep and outside turn action. The forehand strokes in movement are similar to our outside sweep and inside turn. To be able to control the ball, first the player must develop full control of his or her own body. In short the basic foot & hand movements of Tomiki Aikido form the basis of many other disiplines and that the study of Tomiki Aikido is a good way of learning any Martial Art and a large number of what would initially appear to be non-related sports.
FOOT MOVEMENTS (Unsoku) This is the basis of our system of Aikido and also Judo. It reinforces the eight directions of movement. It relates to eight directions of balance breaking (Kuzushi) or the eight throwing directions. When practised whether alone or in a group, the individual is setting neuro-muscular response patterns, which are developing stability, central alignment, control and balance through regulating the centre of gravity. At this stage it has little to do with avoidance and timing, in the Martial Arts sense. By definition it excludes any movement of the hands and arms. There are eight directions of movement in the Foot movements.
Their representation can be clearly seen in the Tomiki mon and our badge. The centre circle represents the individual and the eight points of the star are the directions.

As an exercise these are practised in sets of three. Starting with the left foot, each set is performed to the count of eight. Start and finish in basic front posture. The movements should be quick, light and relatively small, ensuring that both feet are fully contacting the mat during pauses. During the movements the feet must maintain a shoulder-width-apart distance and be kept close to the mat; use a gliding or sweeping action. When performing these exercises, practise by counting then swiftly moving.
BASIC FRONT POSTURE (Nami-Shizentai) Stand upright, knees soft, with the feet in-line & shoulder width apart, hands resting lightly on hips with fingers extended, pointing slightly downwards. 1 ) STRAIGHT, FORWARDS & BACKWARDS COUNTING "ONE": Step forwards with the left foot, immediately bring forward the right foot behind it. COUNTING "TWO": Step backwards with the right foot, immediately bring backwards the left foot. Maintain the relative feet positioning (left in front of right). COUNTING "THREE": Take a further step backwards with the right foot, immediately bring backwards the left foot. Maintain the relative feet positioning (left in front of right). COUNTING "FOUR": Return to basic front posture by stepping forward with the left foot then immediately bringing forward the right foot. COUNTING "FIVE, SIX, SEVEN & EIGHT": Repeat the sequence starting with the right foot. 2) SIDEWAYS, TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT COUNTING "ONE": Step to the left side with the left foot, immediately move the right foot towards the left foot, maintaining the correct distance between the feet. COUNTING "TWO": Return to basic front posture by stepping sideways with the right foot then immediately bringing the left foot towards it. COUNTING "THREE": Step to the right side with the right foot, immediately move the left foot towards the right foot, maintaining the correct distance between the feet. COUNTING "FOUR": Return to basic front posture by stepping sideways with the left foot then immediately bringing the right foot towards it. COUNTING "FIVE", "SIX", "SEVEN" & "EIGHT": Repeat the sequence starting with the right foot to the right side. 3) CORNERS, FRONT & REAR, LEFT & RIGHT COUNTING "ONE": Step forward and turn the body through 90 degrees to the left, immediately move the right foot towards the left foot, maintaining the correct distance between the feet. COUNTING "TWO": Return to the starting position, basic front posture, by stepping with the right foot then immediately bringing the left foot towards it. COUNTING "THREE" & "FOUR": Repeat the sequence starting with the right foot and turning the body through 90 degrees to the right, before returning to basic front posture. COUNTING "FIVE": Sweep the right foot in an arc to the left rear, turning the body through 90 degrees to the left. Immediately move the left foot towards the right foot, maintaining the correct distance between the feet. COUNTING "SIX": Return to the starting position, basic front posture, by stepping with the left foot then immediately bringing the right next to it, still maintaining the correct distance between the feet. COUNTING "SEVEN" & "EIGHT": Repeat the sequence starting with the left foot and turning the body through 90 degrees to the right rear, before returning to basic front posture.

inside sweep - uchi mawashi
outside sweep - soto mawashi
inside turn - uchi gaeshi
outside turn - soto gaeshi
major sweep - o mawashi

The idea of relating the hand movements to Aikido attacks causes a watering-down of the hip-action it also has conceptual weaknesses. Take hand movement number three for example. This relates to inside-turn and then outside-turn. As we go on through the sequence, further flaws are apparent when we apply the attack theory. So to return to the start of the hand movements, 1 & 2 appear to be attacks, they could be? But if you look closer they are setting body movement routines for use in future applications of techniques. For example, hand movements 2 then 1, we use in that order in Dai San Standing 6. To understand further, we must consider the original hand movements. There are eight sets of hand movements in the original "Old-style" system. Here, the use of the hip-action is emphasised far more than in the current version, which appears to relate more to sword cuts.
BASIC HAND-BLADE MOVEMENTS ORIGINAL SEQUENCE
1. Basic Centre (Shomen) 2. Inside Sweep 3. Outside Sweep 4. Inside Turn, Outside Turn 5. Inside Sweep Turn 6. Outside Sweep Turn 7. Arm Hip Turn 8. Big Sweep
Starting with the left hand, each set is performed to the count of eight. Start and finish in basic front posture (Shizentai).
1) BASIC CENTRE (SHOMEN) COUNTING "ONE": Extend the left arm forward to shoulder level. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "TWO". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "THREE". Repeat with right arm and foot. COUNTING "FOUR". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "FIVE". Hip-turn to the left, Extend the left arm forward to shoulder level with palm facing outwards, fingers pointing up. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "SIX". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "SEVEN". Hip-turn to the right, Extend the right arm forward to shoulder level with palm facing outwards, fingers pointing up. At the same time take a step forward with the right foot. COUNTING "EIGHT". Return to Basic Front Posture. 2) INSIDE SWEEP COUNTING "ONE". Extend left arm so that it is down, palm facing outwards. Take the arm upwards, palm up, in an arc towards the right shoulder. Continue the circle downwards, palm down, extend the left arm forward to shoulder level with palm facing outwards, fingers pointing up. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "TWO": Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "THREE", Repeat with right arm and foot. COUNTING "FOUR". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "FIVE". Hip-turn to the left and execute inside sweep with the left arm and foot. COUNTING "SIX". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "SEVEN". Hip-turn to the right and execute inside sweep with the right arm and foot. COUNTING "EIGHT". Return to Basic Front Posture. 3) OUTSIDE SWEEP COUNTING "ONE": Extend left arm so that it is down, palm facing inwards. Rotate the arm in a circular movement, starting to the right, going over the head, continuing round to the left. Extend the left arm forward to shoulder level with palm facing upwards. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "TWO": Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "THREE". Repeat with right arm and foot. COUNTING "FOUR". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "FIVE". Hip-turn to the left and execute outside sweep with the left arm and foot. COUNTING "SIX". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "SEVEN": Hip-turn to the right and execute outside sweep with the right arm and foot. COUNTING "EIGHT": Return to Basic Front Posture. 4) INSIDE TURN, OUTSIDE TURN COUNTING "ONE". Move the left arm up in an arc so that it is extended forward at shoulder level, with the palm facing outwards, thumb down. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "TWO". Move the left arm down in an arc, so that it finishes centrally across the stomach, palm up. At the same time, step back with the left foot. COUNTING "THREE". Hip-turn to the left and extend the left arm forward to shoulder level with palm facing upwards. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "FOUR". Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "FIVE", "SIX" and "SEVEN": Repeat with the right hand and foot, hip-turning to the right. COUNTING "EIGHT". Return to Basic Front Posture. 5) INSIDE SWEEP TURN COUNTING "ONE". Extend left arm so that it is down, palm facing outwards. Take the arm upwards, palm up, in an arc towards the right shoulder. Continue the circle downwards, palm down, extend the left arm forward to shoulder level with palm facing outwards, fingers pointing up. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "TWO". Spin on the ball of the left foot to the left, following round with the right foot. Bring the left arm up through centre. COUNTING "'THREE". Bring the left arm down to the side in an arc. Finish facing the opposite direction to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "FOUR": Return to Basic Front Posture (opposite direction). COUNTING "FIVE", "SIX" and "SEVEN": Repeat with the right hand and foot, spinning to the right. COUNTING "EIGHT". Return to Basic Front Posture. 6) OUTSIDE SWEEP TURN COUNTING "ONE"; Extend left arm so that it is down, palm facing inwards. Rotate the arm in a circular movement, starting to the right, going over the head, continuing round to the left. Extend the left arm forward to shoulder level with palm facing upwards. At the same time take a step forward with the left foot. COUNTING "TWO". Spin on the ball of the left foot to the right, taking the right foot round behind the left until facing the opposite way. The left arm is stretched straight up in front at shoulder level, palm up. COUNTING "THREE". Extend the left arm straight up above the head. Bring the left foot back beside the right foot and stretch up on toes. COUNTING "FOUR". Bring the left arm down and lower heels to the ground. Finish facing the opposite direction to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "FIVE", "SIX" and "SEVEN". Repeat with the right hand and foot, spinning to the right. COUNTING "EIGHT". Return to Basic Front Posture. 7) ARM HIP TURN COUNTING "ONE": Raise left arm straight out in front at shoulder level, palm up. At the same time take a step forward with the right foot. COUNTING "TWO". Hip-turn to the left, rotating 180 degrees, to face the opposite direction. The hand-blade cuts down through centre, in an arc, rising up to shoulder level as the body swivels. Finish with palm facing outwards, thumb down. COUNTING "THREE". Hip turn to the right, rotating 180 degrees, to face the front. The hand-blade cuts down through centre, in an arc, rising up to shoulder level as the body swivels. Finish with palm facing upwards. COUNTING "FOUR": Return to Basic Front Posture. COUNTING "FIVE", "SIX" and "SEVEN". Repeat Arm Hip Turn, starting with the right hand and left foot. COUNTING "EIGHT". Return to Basic Front Posture. 8) BIG SWEEP COUNTING "ONE". Take a step forward with the right foot to the left front, forming a right angle with the left foot, transferring the weight on to the ball of the right foot. COUNTING "TWO": Hip-turn to face the opposite direction. At the same time, circle the left arm, starting palm down and near to left hand, taking it up and round the top of the head then down the left side. COUNTING "THREE" & "FOUR". Repeat the movement in the other direction with the right arm and left foot. COUNTING "FIVE" & "SIX": Circle the left arm as before, but step back, turning through 90 degrees to the right rear with the left foot, then back to the front again. The left hand finishing at the left side. COUNTING "SEVEN". Repeat on the other side with the right arm and left foot. COUNTING "EIGHT": Return to Basic Front Posture.
	From an article first published by Kikusui Kai in 2003 Adrian Tyndale 5th Dan Aikido, 1st Dan Judo