Why do shiko?                 

While I first saw shiko in the context of sumo, I was first TAUGHT shiko by the Aunkai. What is it and why should it be part of one’s solo exercises? While often referred to as “sumo leg lifts” or “sumo stomps” the kanji is actually made up of the characters for “four” and “limbs”. While we shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking of this as the meaning or translation of shiko, it should at least point us in the direction that shiko is about more than the legs. The various versions of shiko can be used to develop hip and leg strength, stability, core strength, and improved balance. But the core of shiko as a bodyskill exercise (sometimes referred to as “internal power”) is as a way to coordinate and associate disparate parts of the body. The arms PULL the legs up through the torso and can be used to hold the leg lifted position as well as to help control the descent. Opening and closing of the kuà (hip joints) can and should be used to raise and lower the body. By holding the raised leg posture for a few seconds, we get to experience what many arts call “double weighting”: loading all of the body’s weight onto one leg which is often a precursor to being thrown. Developing a sense of balance and control at this extreme position can make one much harder to complete techniques on and allow one to recover full balance much faster. How does it relate to Aikido or jujutsu? Besides the points listed above, we know that Sagawa Yukiyoshi of Daito Ryu considered shiko to be one of his main solo exercises and bragged that he did thousands of them a day. Ueshiba Morihei of Aikido was a contemporary of Sagawa Sensei in Daito Ryu and also was supposed to have done sumo (though not professionally) in his youth. Personally I after I began doing shiko regularly as a warmup for class, I was surprised how often a guest Aikdio instructor would take note and almost always ask me where I learned the version I was doing or why I was doing it. They would often nod knowingly, and like my Iai-battojutsu instructor, say something alont the lines  of, “Ah, that’s very good,” with a bit of a wink. Many Aikido and jujutsu techniques are driven by shifting weight between the feet and it’s hard to think of a better exercise to develop that than shiko.