This is an extract from the book titled Aikido by Koichi Tohei published Souvenir press
I will explain how you can take a pistol away from an opponent as an example of not fighting against his power.
No matter how well trained a body may be, it cannot stand against a gun bullet.
It cannot bounce the bullet off the skin nor deflect a knife blade. It is best not to fight against such odds. If you are not in the path of the bullet you will not get hurt thats all there is to it. The only difficulty however , is to move away from the spot the bullet will pass through at just the right instant.
No one can move his body faster than the speed of a bullet, no matter how well trained he is. Every one thinks there is no defence against an opponent who has a pistol pointed at you, unless he can be caught off guard. Of course it is another problem entirely when your opponent intents to shoot you from the very beginning. In this case, you must understand his intention before he shoots and takes appropriate action.
Here is a plan of action to follow whenyou have an opponent pointing a gun at you and ordering you to hold your hands up and threatning to shoot if you move. He may be telling the truth. A slight move of a leg or arm and he might pull the trigger. When you make your slight move, it must put you completely out of range because whatever part of you is in the path of the bullet will be hit.
Only if he is off guard will you be able to move your body aside or hit his pistol down with your hand before he can shoot. If he carefully takes aim at you, he will be able to shoot you in some part of your body before you can move completely out of range.
In the mean time it takes you to hit his pistol down with your hand, he can shoot you, and though you throw something at him, the speed of the bullet is faster than that. It is more dangerous to surprise him into pulling the trigger by throwing something at him.
In AIKIDO, you practice how to move out of the path of a bulletat just the instant you act.
Uke-: Stands a little distance from Nage , points his gun at him and preapres to shoot if Nage makes a move. Uke may hold his gun close to the body of Nage, if he chooses to do so.
Nage, stands in the posture of left hanmi, holds his hands up, but does not put strength into his hands. He must keep his one point and relax his hands
In one swift motion Nage turns his hips and head to his right and stetches his left hand toward the gun
At this time his body must be sideways from the path of the bullet and must be out of range. If he tries to move father away , his movement will become slow.
Then he grabs ukes hand and gun together by kote-gaeshi technique no.31 wrist throw and when he turns his wrist, he takes the gun away and throws his opponent to the ground
Nage must stand in the hanmi posture . The upper body may face toward Uke, but his feet must be in the hanmi posistion
If nage uses the right hanmi , he must apply the nikyo technique with his right hand by turning his hips to the left. It is also important to relax the hands. If his body is stiff, he will not be able to move his hips quickly.
When Nage turns his hips , his body will be just barely out of the bullets path and the bullet cannot hit him. If nage tries to jump away or to move his legs out of the way, his movent will be slow and uke will be able to shoot some part of Nages body
The meaning in the turning of his face is that he changes the direction of his mind toward the some direction as that of the bullet. Because he turns his mind , he can move his body quickly. On the other hand, if he tries to take away the pistol, with his face turned toward UKes, he may by mistake help UKe to shoot Nage himself.
When nage applies kote Gaeshi he must always pou fourth ki and turn ukes wrist back toward himself. If nage withdraws his ki inward and turns ukes wrist back toward himself. It will be very dangerous because the muzzle of the gun will point to Nage. Nage must use the arts so that whenever Uke shoots, the bullet will never come toward Nage himself.
Now to consider an important matter. When you face the muzzle of a pistol, your mind stops working and you are filled with dismay and your body does not obey your commands. You must practice so that you can remain calm in the confidence that you can take his gun away from him whenever you please.
That he will shoot if you move even slightly means that he will not shoot while you stay still. When you do move, he will confirm with his eyes that you have moved, will report this fact to his brains. The brain will order him to shoot, the order will be transmitted to his fingers, the finger pulls the trigger and the bullet will come toward you. The speed of the bullet may be swift but it can start out on its way only when the trigger is pulled. Everybody is afraid of a gun because they think only of the speed of the bullet.
If you practice well, it will not be difficult for you to turn your hipsslightly in the split second between your move and his trigger pulling. Since you can take away his pistol whenever it pleases you, you can calmly relax your body so taht whenever you do move your body it will be in one swift motion.
When he aims his gun at you from behind, your move will be the same. You turn your face and hipsin one motion, move out of the bullets path and then, turning your body, can use kote gaeshi.
When two opponent aim at you with their guns, you can take away one gun first, and the other will not be able to shoot you because you can use the first one as your shield. You can shoot the second man with the first man's gun.
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There can be many other situations like those mentioned but if you understand the principles for action well and practice earnestly, you will be able to adapt them and apply the arts and techniques in a natural manner.
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