"Fourth form" or "wrist-fixing pin": tori leads through the contact with both hands placed on Uke's forearm (like casting a fishing rod)
The movement pattern of Yonkyo is comparable to fishing: uke is guided up onto their toes with a slinging movement backwards and up, and then brought to the ground with a movement similar to casting a fishing rod. The turning point of this movement above the shoulder is comparable to hasso-kamae in weapons work.
Traditionally, yonkyo makes use of a pain point on the periosteum - in our form of Aikido, we avoid this.
There are three reasons for this:
- Firstly, this can lead to days of pain for sensitive people (which, in our opinion, should not be part of our aikido practice).
- Secondly, there are training partners who do not react to the pain point at all, or simply have forearms that are too thick, so in our experience it is not a reliable method.
- And thirdly, the central principle of yonkyo should take precedence: making uke light so that the ‘fishing rod casting’ leads the technique to the desired end.
