How to Practice Suburi

by Hoa Newens.
[This essay was originally published on December 2, 2011 in newsletter format; then included in the compilation titled "Aikido Discoveries" published in 2015. It is re-posted here due to its special relevance to solo training during pandemic times.]

​Suburi (素振り, is a Japanese term which refers to the repetitive practice swings in sports (golf) or strikes in martial arts (kendo). In my earlier writings I have established the fact that regular practice of suburi strengthens basic skills in Aikido. Now I will explain how to practice suburi correctly.

Since suburi is part of Aikido bukiwaza (weapon techniques), let us first review the various levels of bukiwaza to put suburi practice in perspective.

There are generally four levels of bukiwaza training. At the beginning level, the student’s main goal is to learn the physical form, including how to hold the weapon so that it becomes an extension of the body and how the different parts of the body move in relation to each other to optimize alignment. At this level, Suburi practice is the focus of training. The correct way to practice is at low speed, with no power and with emphasis on the general accuracy of the form.

Next, at the intermediate level, the student’s learning goal is to make the movement more effective by injecting some speed and power and adding target practice. For this purpose the student practices at moderate speed, and learns how to move from the hips and use kokyu (breath power; focused extension of ki). A partner will serve as the target, sometime stationary, sometime moving; thus, timing and alignment with target become important aspects of practice at this stage. Suburi practice is still a mainstay.

At the advanced level of bukiwaza, the student further refines the form to capture the energetic footprint and begins to use intent to direct the form. To these ends the practice should be at slow speed with meticulous attention to the detail of the form and to the direction of energy. Suburi practice is still done regularly in the background. The practice also includes resistance training to elicit the use of intent in creating and directing the ki (life force). In paired practice, the focus is on receiving the uke’s (training partner) energy and neutralizing it.

Ultimately, after decades of assiduous practice, the student will reach a point at which handling the weapon feels like handling a bar of energy and much of the practice can be done at the mental-feeling level, with or without an uke, including suburi.

Suburi is a core practice throughout these four levels, with special emphasis on the first two levels. I elaborate below on suburi practice at the advanced level of bukiwaza.

Advanced Suburi Practice

​Five phases of movement can be discerned in any suburi: beginning stance; collecting; discharging; grounding; and ending stance.

1 - Beginning stance. We often refer to this stance as kamae (stance). This is an important and integral part of the suburi which is often neglected. In the beginning stance one should check the proper horizontal alignment of body and weapon, and the vertical alignment of the body with the centerline. The centerline is the line that goes from the center point between the two feet, through the tanden (center of energy in the abdomen) and the crown of the head. After this check, one should hold the stance for about five seconds, in full alertness, and feel the readiness to move in any direction, at any speed and power. This state of mind is called zanshin. This should be done with minimum tension. One should imagine being like a cat ready to jump on its prey or an eagle poised to fight with a cobra.

2 - Collecting. In this phase the body gathers energy by either opening (stretching) or closing (compressing) the joints. For example, in katate toma uchi (the 12th jo suburi) this is done by drawing the jo with the right hand a few inches past the left ear while the left hand is keeping the other end of the jo in front. The feeling is similar to that of pulling a bow. In a different example, the collecting phase occurs in the compression of the hips when one prepares for a tsuki (straight forward thrust) with a ken. This is similar to crouching to prepare for a jump.

​To optimize this phase, it is important to position the body parts to create maximum tension (through either extension or compression) while aiming at the target, and while retaining the integrity of body. In katate toma uchi, this means keeping the left side of the body anchored in the front while pulling the right side to the rear to create tension. It is important to not overdo this movement because one could lose focus of the target in the front, or impair balance or centerline. It should be noted that maximum leverage is achieved when the right hand is holding the jo at the tip and is positioned no further than five or six inches behind the head.

During the drawing of the jo, one should feel the tension as if pulling on a string of a bow. Although there is no physical resistance other than the elasticity of the tendons and ligaments the student should feel the mental exertion during the move. This is the secret to using intent to gather the ki.

3 - Discharging. In this phase the body releases the tension/energy that was collected earlier to propel the weapon toward the target. Here it is important to make sure that the weapon path is continually aimed at the target and that the body is continually supporting the weapon.

In suburi practice, although there is no impact, one should time the release such that the payload is preserved during motion and maximum energy is released at the notional impact point. To this end the weapon should be aligned such that the released energy is delivered to the target with minimum leakage. In katate toma uchi, this means not releasing the jo too early so that some of the energy is dispersed toward the right, while the target is located in the front.
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During the forward move, the student should feel as if hitting a target at every point along the way, similar to hitting a series of standing targets in one move. In other words, although the physical resistance may not exist, the student should feel the exertion as if moving against strong headwinds. This is how we use intent to extend ki.

The extension of energy should be sustained beyond the point of impact, real or imagined. That is, although the impact may cause the weapon to deviate from its course, stop or break, the energy should continue to penetrate the target, guided by the intent of the student. This is a crucial understanding for effective suburi practice: the extension of ki continues although the weapon has physically stopped.

4 - Grounding or return. This is an important phase that is often glossed over. After the discharge, the weapon needs to be brought back under the control of the user and recharged. This is accomplished by retrieving any residual energy after the impact and bringing it to the centerline to ground it so that it helps to reinforce the stance instead of destabilizing it. In most instances, this grounding is physically effected by bringing the centerline back to the center of the stance and by either slightly sinking the hips or tilting the forward hips downward. This grounding begins at the feet, is reinforced at the hips then spreads through the arms and hands, which bring the weapon to a halt. If grounding does not occur, physical balance will be upset by the momentum of the discharge.

In katate toma uchi, immediately after the jo hits the target (imagined or real), close the forward joints (right shoulder, arm and hip) and sink the hips slightly and restore the centerline immediately (do not let the front foot be weighted) to absorb the returning energy and direct it downward into the ground. This should feel like the jo is attached to the centerline via a retractable cord; the cord pulls the weapon back and stores the potential energy for the next extension.

5 - Ending stance. At the end of the return movement the student should maintain the ending posture for about five seconds, in a state of zanshin, to allow the excess energy to completely drain downward. At the end of this phase the student should feel ready to move again, in any direction.
Those are the five phases of a suburi movement that allows the student to put into practice the four principles of bukiwaza – which are stated below for reference.

Bukiwaza principles:
No. 1 – Hold the weapon as if it is an extension of the body
No. 2 – Align the body with the weapon and the target
No. 3 – Move from the hips, that is, generate motion from center
No. 4 – Use intent to extend ki through the weapon and through the target

The approach explained above is effective irrespective of the type of weapon. It works even without the weapon, since the weapon is regarded only as an extension of the body. The hand can be the weapon, as in karate. It is in fact how kata (pre-arranged forms) should be performed. I suspect that it will work for sports too to a large extent.

The practice described in this essay is an advanced practice that is appropriate for students ranked nidan (black belt 2nd degree) and above or those who have practiced bukiwaza for at least seven years. Advanced students who drill at this level of detail will be able to transcend the form and realize the essence of suburi practice. They will then understand that continuous suburi practice is an essential condition for the refinement of Aikido training.

​Hoa Newens
December 2, 2011