I believe that in Japanese kihon 基本, kiso 基礎, display some ambiguity in that (a) they tend to be done first and (b) they are the foundations of a structure. I think that Morihei Ueshiba reflected this ambiguity in aikido by following an intensive regime of basic training with weapons such as the spear, bo, jo, ken, which he always went back to, but also by intensively practicing waza 業, 技 and always coming back to these. I also believe that he saw the few waza that are seen in the Budo text, for example, as vehicles or containers for doing something else. So I think you need to do both.
Peter Goldsbury,
Forum Administrator,
Hiroshima, Japan