I've been playing Akido for a while now and i'm looking to improve my game. I start off in a relax all position, usually bending chest and contracting abs for the quick grab. Sometimes i'll go for a kick if it looks like the opponent is open to it.

The problem I'm having is that I always find myself being messed up by shovels and kick lifts. My tori usually ends up quite stiff and jagged halfway through the match, sometimes i'll relax all again to fix this, but in a lot of replays I see many tori players can move in big swings and distances in one turn.

I'd just like a few tips and pointers over general akido conduct, should I be relaxing muscles after extending/contracting? What's the best way to counter some common openers without being predictable? Tips that aren't obvious and can greatly improve play?

shovel
also your a blue belt, you haven't be playing aikido for a while, you've been playing it for 2-3 weeks at most
improvement comes with time

I had another tori at blue belt but didn't want the name anymore so i created fresh.

Personally I analyze replays of players better than me to find out how they move.

The best way to find the best players replays is to go to watch the top 5 insane fights event then when you find a good player just go to top 5 insane fights thread in the events forum and simply download their replays, after you download you can hit "e" at any point in the replay to see what his joints are doing.

From studying how hentai moves and plays I have manged to recreate some "hentai like replays" after just 2 days

Also the only way to get better is just play the longer you play the better you will be.

Thanks for the constructive reply, I usually watch video's on youtube out of sheer laziness for replay downloads. I'll give this a try when I can.