New Student Intro to Aikido, Part 1: Stance and Turns

Welcome to Traditional Aikido of Sarasota!
Your New Student introduction will give your Aikido training a strong start.
Sensei Janice Bass introduces two basic stances - shizentai (neutral) and hanmi (half body,) and two turns - tenkai (shift stance) and tenkan (rotate foot and hip behind you.)
As you practice this footwork, you will develop a relaxed and stable posture as you shift positions, so you can move effectively off the line of an attack without tensing your body or giving up your balance.

[@derekknight9789]

I trained in AIKIDO 25 years ago for 6 months.
You commit to being in AIKIDO STANCE and AIKIDO WALK early on as a Practitioner.
I have been in Half Stance almost all times when standing still in 1 position always.
As I maneuver in the mall or the store around other people I always have used these basic motions.
I would say that Neutral stance is not a natural stance for 24/7 AIKIDO standing in 1 position stationary at all in my experience of a beginner who has maintained these basic movements for 25 years. The philosophy of AIKIDO has also changed my life so much.
Thanks for these lessons, they look well prepared and you can see the feet which often you can't on video.

[@aikidosarasota7794]

Hi Derek, thank you for noticing - stance and weight shift are very important! I agree the neutral stance is not used in Aikido, we found it useful to emphasize as a contrast to hanmi. Also, it can be useful for beginners to shift thorough a neutral stance as they begin stepping and turning. I appreciate the comment!

[@user-qb9cj2pi6d]

Thank you

[@bjorndag2497]

thank you, exellent stuff! greetings from europe

[@outofthebox7]

Can you do those or any steps ballistically, explosively? If not, you and your system are wasting people's time.

[@Bee-gg5mk]

What she is demonstrating is a fundamental stance. It's to get your body used to moving within a framework while keeping a good centre of gravity and allows you to move uni directionally.
This is a beginning step and evolves fluidly into more complex movements over time once it has been mastered.
Not every movement you make has to be ballistic or explosive. Sometimes balance and coordination can be integral to what you want to eventually achieve.

[@outofthebox7]

@@Bee-gg5mk What she is demonstrating is obvious and I agree with what you are saying. My point is just building on it, to bring something else to light. Can you handle that?

[@Bee-gg5mk]

@@outofthebox7 What you said was that if those or any steps can't be done ballistically or explosively then aikido is a waste of time.
You didn't say anything about building on what is presented in the video.
My point is that when this stance which is a beginning fundamental is built upon with later work it can become incredibly effective but as this video is just an introduction to this stance don't expect miracles.
Can I handle what?

[@outofthebox7]

@@Bee-gg5mk Again... If those steps are only taught for that speed, your system is a waste of time.
Having said that, of course aikido is a waste of time, its senseis have destroyed a great - in potential - system. A tragedy. Just for demonstration that make you think it's for real attackers. It's not only useless against trained fighters, but any streetfighter can smash an aikidoka if he attempts to use his techniques.

[@aikidosarasota7794]

Thank you for finding these videos, which we made to support beginning students and get them to build a solid foundation.
To answer your question yes, I can do them explosively.