Release #1 variation

One of the many new series of videos posted on the Kaze Uta Budo Kai YouTube page concerns the 8 releases and 5 different approaches to each of them. Although I've been through it before, it's been a while, and I've been looking forward to the review in class.

There's another neat little possibility that I found from the 4th variation of the 1st release. It's the version where you begin by stepping back first, as shown in the video below:

I had found this next video a while ago, and liked much of it except the beginning. Our dojo's approach is much more focused on keeping our centers moving through space (hazumi), so I tried this "back of the hand to the face" idea after an initial back-step (like the first video). The result was very nice, very light, and yet pretty potent.

I love experimenting. I feel like a little mad scientist!