Martial arts technique like the Lindy Hop Tick-Tock

[Joseph Tomei]

I will ask my iaido sensei about the precise name, but I won't see  
him until September, but all Japanese martial arts emphasize  
maintaining the hips moving parallel to the ground rather than  
bouncing on ones toes. Foot movements are often described simply as  
where one places the foot, (okuri ashi, tsugi ashi, ayumi ashi and  
tsuri ashi are some of the terms used by various arts) but when  
making those movements, the hips aren't supposed to move vertically,  
though no description ever mentions that. If you watch sumo training,  
you will see this emphasis on the hips moving horizontally,  along  
with the right hand thrusting as the right foot moves forward, and  
vice versa

This article discusses some similarities in Japanese buyo and martial  
arts and discusses footwork.

http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=528

hth
joe tomei
On Jul 12, 2007, at 11:45 PM, Peter Grilli wrote:

> Bruce,
>
> No doubt you're right that Nakadai's lindy-like foot movement (in  
> Seppuku) comes out of a martial-arts context.  I don't know much  
> about martial arts coreography and terminology and can't help you  
> with that.
>
> But it is also very similar to a characteristic traditional  
> Japanese theatrical movement -- seen often in kabuki, and also in  
> buyo --- where it is part of a mie and underscores a moment of  
> dramatic intensity.  At such dramatic moments, the foot movement  
> you describe is often accompanied by highly exaggerated hand  
> gestures, crossed eyes and a guttural throat sound (almost like the  
> actor is choking on his own blood).  In kabuki, the same foot  
> movement also occurs constantly in tachimawari fight scenes, and  
> that's why I expect there's also a martial-arts application.
>
> There must be a term for this movement.  I don't know what the word  
> is, but will try to find out from kabuki-actor friends and let you  
> know.
>
> Peter Grilli
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu [mailto:owner- 
> KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu]On Behalf Of Bruce Baird
> Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 9:53 AM
> To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Subject: Martial arts technique like the Lindy Hop Tick-Tock
>
> Colleagues (with apologies for cross posting),
>
> In the Kobayashi Masaki's _Seppuku_, towards the end of the movie  
> during the final fight scene, Nakadai Tatsuya's character Tsugumo  
> Hanshiro does a sliding movement across the room which looks like  
> the lindy-hop tick tock (tic toc).  In lindy, you put your hands on  
> your knees and then point your knees and feet out and then point  
> them in, and repeat for several counts (and you remain in one place  
> during this--its an accent you add to your dance).  In the movie,  
> Tsugumo is wielding a sword so obviously his hands are not on his  
> knees, but he slides across the floor by means of pointing his feet  
> simultaneously both out and then both in and then both out again,  
> and alternating weight from the heel to the ball of the foot as a  
> means of lateral locomotion across the floor.
>
> I assume this is a known sword fighting technique to allow you to  
> move laterally without having to cross your legs and experience of  
> moment of unbalance.  But can anyone picture what I am talking  
> about and corroborate my assumption and tell me what this technique  
> is called?
>
> Best,
>
> Bruce
>
> Bruce Baird
> Assistant Professor
> Asian Languages and Literatures
> University of Massachusetts Amherst
> But?, Japanese Theater, Intellectual History
>
> 717 Herter Hall
> 161 Presidents Drive
> University of Massachusetts Amherst
> Amherst, MA 01003-9312
> Phone: 413-577-4992
> Fax: 413-545-4975
> baird at asianlan.umass.edu
>
>
>
>

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