If You Turn Your Head First, Your Body Twists: Batman Teaches Torso Rotation
- Feb 6
- 2 min read
Today's video from Aikido Samsungdang covers a common mistake when trying to keep your axis during direction changes.(The contents of this description are solely the dojo instructor's personal opinions.)
In Aikido practice, you often hear cues like "keep your axis" or "keep your body straight." These are not just words for looking good. They are conditions for aligning your whole-body frame so you can move efficiently.
If you turn your head first when changing direction, your torso twists and your axis collapses. On the other hand, if you try to look "straight" by tucking the chin too much or looking down, you may not be able to rotate at all, and your axis can break even more.
The key is not to over-tuck the chin, but to restore alignment by lengthening the neck up and down. In the dojo, this is often cued as "the feeling that the crown of the head is being pulled straight up." When neck alignment improves, the armpits settle naturally as a result, without forcing anything.
Also, during a direction change, your hands need to stay in front of your field of view. That is why you should not rotate only the neck. The whole torso has to turn together while maintaining the axis. Instead of twisting your body to turn, it is better to change direction while moving with a straight frame.
However, many students find these cues hard to visualize from words alone. That is why the intro uses Batman as an example.
In the intro, Batman (1989) cannot move his neck. So when he changes direction, he does not rotate the head separately. He turns the whole torso to change his view. It may look a bit funny, but it is an easy image to remember for today's main point.
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