Before Practice

The kumitachi came originally from an old sword school. They were modified to include the concept of Aiki by the Founder, Professor Morihei Ueshiba, who left them as a legacy.

There are many possible variations of the kumitachi. The Founder, when he taught, called these first attack and second attack variations. These variations are naturally used with the ken but are soon adapted to taijutsu. Consequently, the kumitachi are considered to be the personality of ken, jo, and taijutsu basic techniques. If one does not have a good understanding of suburi, it will be useless to practice the kumitachi. If practice is done everyday on the kumitachi and partner practices, stability of the hips will not be attained, and an important point of practice will be missed. Therefore begin each practice session with the suburi as shown in Volume I. Uchitachi (Attacker) and Uketachi (Defender)

The kumitachi are not to be considered competition. They are practices, and the partners do not vie for an attacking or superior position. It was said that one should be uchitachi for 10 years before being allowed to become uketachi. It was felt that this was the proper way to learn.

Morihiro Saito