Shomenuchi Iriminage

This is the first frame-by-frame digital animation I have made. It was done as a class assignment last spring, partly in preparation for my Komuso animation: [link]

Regrettably, it was originally created in Photoshop, which is a horrible tool for animation. I much prefer Flash.

The animation depicts two people practicing their Aikido in a dojo setting. Aikido is a nonviolent martial art based on redirecting the energy of an attack, which I began learning a few years ago.

The person in the blue hakama is the attacker, coming in with a frontal strike to the head - shomenuchi - while the person in black performs the iriminage technique to counter it. Trying to animate the movement myself was quite educational - it really forced me to figure out exactly what goes on in that technique!

The design of the stylized figures is my own. Aikido is one of my favorite subjects for playing with stylization, and I have several more variations on the design seen in this animation. Someday I hope to elaborate them into full animations or games.