As a former Shotokan karate student
who has recently taken up Aikido (and loving It) I am surprised that sweeping the foot to unbalance an attacker, a technique basic to most Karate styles,is
not more widely practiced in Aikido. I
am aware that O'Sensei borrowed some tecniques from karate (e.g Mae Geri etc), but why not the foot sweep which
seems more Aikido than Karate anyway.? I woud be the first to admit my knowledge of both Shotokan and Aikido is sketchy,
but I would like to know more about this apparent omission.
In my training under Saotome and Ikeda Senseis we both used foot sweeps in technique but also did technique to defend against them.