January 3, Sensei Stephen

1.) Iremi-Nage ( from face punch )
-Mirror punch ( parry ) with same hand ( uke strikes with right, you parry with right )
-Tenkan ( Tai-Sabaki ) behind uke cutting their striking hand down and into your center
-As you finish your tai-sabaki the moment uke whips around your center extend your arm through their neck and roll your arm, keeping your fingers pointing down

I like Iremi-Nage because it looked so good in "Above the Law." I remember when I was a kid my step fathher putting "Above the Law" in the VCR and I think Steven Seagal starts every fight with Iremi-Nage. It's just that cool. The thing that i remember when I studied Aikido is that it's not a "Clothes Line," it does not attack the throat as much as it rolls the head back. When working with Youval, he showed me that by attacking the throat he can drop and make a throw out of it, so it seems important to roll the arm, and keep everything in your center.

Being that this is on the syllabus for Green Belt ( Face punch ) it's important for me to remember that this can be turned into a number of techniques from the entry.
From the inital parry this can become :
- Strike to the ribs
- Strike to the ribs + Pull Down
- Strike to the Ribs + Hidaka Jime
- Strike to the Ribs + Ko Soto Gari or Garuma

- Garuma Nage
- Kotegaesh
- Ikkyu

2.) Block to Rib Strike ( from face punch )
- Block ( like Tai-Sabaki Kata )
- Strike to ribs

3.) Pull Down ( from face punch )
-Mirror punch ( parry ) with same hand
-Tai-Sabaki behind uke pulling down

Bonus! "Locking Up"
Working with Youval I have to be sure to lock him up real good, so I worked on tweaking some locking techniques.
- Soften Uke up with a strike to head or body ( this will move their hands into that area instinctively )
- If hand moves to face for uke, drop a knee into the floating rib, then into the head, finish the lock

As uke is on the ground...
- Stomp to the head with closest leg, plant foor on opposite side of face
- Sit down for Juji-Gatame

...Fast Fast Fast!

4. Escape from Gaurd
- Both hands post off the navel
- Grab a big chunk of the inner thigh by the knee
- Hop up on one knee, pivot and trap uke's knee
- Pivot 80% then drop weight locking the knee, OUCH!

In talking to Sensei with this technique, the object is to do this fast. You fall or are pulled into uke and bam! you post and rise!
Also, The post is a strike, both hands strike into the side of navel area to thrust you up. De profundis!