Aikido Techniques

In a flash of brilliance, a friend of mine decided to put together a set of Aikido training videos.  Here are some samples from the initial trial.

In the first, you'll notice her chin tucks down to avoid a possible strangling while easily twisting the attacker's hand to loosen his grip.  The twisted arm tenses and the small force transfers up the arm through the shoulder and drives the attacker off balance.  When the attacker is off balance, a quick cut of the hand would drop him to the ground quite painfully, but the sensei, instead, gently lowers her hand to avoid causing pain while remaining in control.

I was asked if this was real.  The attacker was not intentionally trying to stab the victim (for his own safety, since slower defenses are much less painful), but the rest is real.  From the moment the attacker's hand is grabbed, he has no control.  Since this was a casual and friendly environment, the sensei did not pay much attention to control once on the ground so you'll see the attacker try to take advantage and attack with his left hand.  Any hope was short lived as the sensei simply used his right arm to block his left, then pushed the sai towards his neck.

This was clearly my best idea of the night.

These three videos may not make the final cut.