happo giri

[hiroyuki]

This is how I perform happo giri:-

-I start from Chudan, R foot forward, stab Tsuki.
-Now from hidari Waki no kamae, I strike gyaku-kesagiri, bringing L foot forward.
-Now from migi Hasso no kamae, I strike kesa giri, bringing L foot to the rear.
-Back to hidari Waki no kamae, I strike hidari yoko giri.
-Now in migi waki no kamae, I repeat the same procedures in the reverse, ending with a Shomen uchi from Chudan.

Does anybody practice a different type of happogiri? I will be glad if somebody could explain a different happo giri to me.

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by hiroyuki
Does anybody practice a different type of happogiri? I will be glad if somebody could explain a different happo giri to me.

This is a little different. Also technique names may vary.

From chudan-no-kamae (right foot forward): step in with right foot, (1)tsuki.

Step back with left foot, withdrawing the sword, then step to the right with a (2)yokogiri.

Step forward with the left foot while executing (3)kiriage.

Reversing the direction of the cut, immediately follow with (4)kesagiri along the same line as the kiriage, but in the opposite direction.

Step to the left with the left foot and execute (5)yokogiri.

Step forward with the right foot as you do a (6)kiriage, followed by (7)kesagiri. (This is the same as 3 and 4, but to the opposite side.)

Step forward with the left (back) foot, into a "straddle-legged" jodan-no-kamae and execute (8)shomengiri.

Return to right-foot-forward chudan-no-kamae.

Except for the beginning and the end, there really are no kamae as the body and the sword are in continuous fluid motion.

Hope this helped.

[hiroyuki]

Originally posted by Yagyu Kenshi
This is a little different. Also technique names may vary.

Thank you. In fact the cuts are the same, only the footwork changes. I'll definitely try this version of happogiri. Thank you very much Yagyu Kenshi.

[Gil Gillespie]

Many years ago I was taught (and still practice) a different version of happo-giri. There is no tsuki, which is a thrust, not a cut. The 8 cuts are envisioned as a giant wheel or pie cut in eight sections in front of you. Cut #1 then is vertical kiri-oroshi right foot forward. Followed by cut #2, migi kesa. Then return to cut #1 followed by cut #3, migi suihei. Do cut # 1 followed by all 7 other cuts. Once the series is complete, begin again with cut #2, followed in turn by all 7 cuts. Then start with cut #3 and so on throughout. In the end you will have performed 64 pairs of cuts with every cut following every other cut. Footwork must be changed and adapted to the up or down, left or right. It's exhausting and (at first) confusing, but it's great solo training. My goal is to someday hear the tachi-kaze on each cut. Not yet. . .

[ghp]

Happogiri

[kinopah]

i'm impressed by the diversity. it probably goes without saying that the aikido happo-giri i practice is significantly different as well. it is taught as our first bokken kata and it mirrors our empty-handed happo undo irimi to the four walls, then the four corners. all of the cuts are shomenuchi and all of the tsukis are sliding, save the first which is a step. i know this isn't a koryu version, and that of course it will be different, but i'm surprised by how much.

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by kinopah
i'm impressed by the diversity. it probably goes without saying that the aikido happo-giri i practice is significantly different as well.

I've done that version as well. Started with shihogiri, then moved on to happogiri. Very definitely an "eight directions" form.

Originally posted by ghp
Happogiri

Guy, thanks for the great picture! Is that scroll hung regularly in your dojo, or is it in a tokonoma in a private room?

[ghp]

Hi Brian,

Nakamura sensei painted the kakejiku (hanging scroll) for me in 1993. It hung in my dojo before the landlord (US Gov't) recalled the building for demolition. I moved everything into my garage where they are stored. We still practice in the same building -- that was over a year ago -- but they can tear it down anytime.

Sigh!

--Guy

[chrismoses]

Originally posted by ghp
We still practice in the same building -- that was over a year ago -- but they can tear it down anytime.

--Guy

That'll keep you on your toes while training!