Stefan Stenudd

One of the Aikidoka I've been following somewhat of late is a Swedish gentleman by the name of Stefan Stenudd, 6th dan. Most of my exposure has been through video, although he's written a number of books as well; I just haven't had a chance to investigate any of them.

But I am impressed with a lot of his seminar footage, where he exhibits a wonderful ability to keep things extremely light. Then, when you look very closely, and you know what to look for, you can see he's very skilled at finding the right angle of off-balance at the right moment in a very sub-conscious, intuitive way (it reminds me of Jim Ellison Sensei quite a bit, someone I would characterize as "devastatingly light"!) Plus, he just seems like a genuinely nice guy.

This is one example among many. The first portion is devoted to shiho nage, followed by some nice kokyu nage applications (something fun I've been playing with myself since observing a number of Ueshiba style Aikidokas perform it) but the later half really showcases his light-touch off-balance.