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| Why
Ukemi? |
| Sensei
Cath Davies began her journey
in Aikido at the age of 13, twenty-five
years on her passion for Aikido
is as strong as ever. She holds
the rank of Godan (5th Dan), which
was conferred by the current Doshu
Ueshiba Moriteru. In this article
she talks about ukemi and the
need to understand it as more
than just "break falling". |
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As
I currently see it, there are 5 reasons for
taking or receiving ukemi. These are, in order
of natural progression:
1. to be able to receive technique without
injury
2. to allow tori to develop her / his
technique
3. through developed, sensitive ukemi
to be able to feel the true heart of a technique
4. as an instructor to feel where your
student's technique is weak
5. to be able to make kaeshiwaza (counter
technique) |
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| Before
I go in to these reasons in some detail, I
would like the reader to consider the following
two points and to bear them in mind as you
read on: |
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| Ukemi
literally translates as "receiving body"
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| Do
not think of ukemi as just a breakfall. It
is a much bigger thing than this: it is a
description of your response to either nage
waza (throwing technique) or to osaewaza (pinning
technique). The breakfall (in the case of
nagewaza) is just the end part of the process
that stops you falling and injuring yourself. |
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| Aikido
is 99% conditioning training and 1% martial
art |
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| I
am quoting Chiba Sensei here. Conditioning
our bodies, both as tori and uke, is vital
if we are to be able to apply (and in the
dojo to receive) the 1% martial art. Do not
always expect that the martial application
to be physically obvious. However, mentally,
it should be ever present. |
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| At,
perhaps, the most basic level, we learn how
to "roll". Why? Nobody in the street
would! We learn how to roll so that we can
receive nagewaza. This allows our partner
to practise nagewaza with ever increasing
commitment and energy. Only by doing this
can tori develop her / his technique. It should
be the case that there is a certain exhilaration
in feeling the power of tori's technique,
knowing that we have survived it without injury
and are able to attack again. |
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| From
a safety point of view, aikido is one of the
few arts where you can practice in the dojo
as you would need to in the street because
of the teaching of ukemi. (It should also
be noted that certain techniques, for example,
irimi nage, are able to be practised in a
soft and flowing manner but can, with very
little adaptation become a very practical
"street technique"). |
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| What
about osaewaza? This is not so clear cut as
there is no roll at the end of such a technique.
This is where an understanding of ukemi as
"receiving body" as opposed to a
breakfall is important. When uke attacks,
whether by a grab or a strike, they should
do so with a feeling of attacking from their
centre: not just holding tightly or hitting
hard with the hand or arm. Likewise, tori's
intention is to control uke by controlling
their (uke's) centre, not just by controlling
the attacking hand. As tori breaks uke's balance
(kuzushi) and starts to apply a technique
(in itself a "counter" to the attack)
uke's response is to expand towards the centre
of the movement, thereby harmonising with
it. There is a constant interplay and exchange
of who is "yin" and who is "yang".
Let me give an example: in receiving nikyo
ura, uke's instinct may be to contract, to
escape from tori, and, in so doing from the
centre of the movement. If the technique is
applied correctly, the only way to escape
injury is to go towards tori. It is interesting
to note that it is in doing the exact opposite
of what our untrained instinct tells to do
that we save ourselves. |
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| As
a junior grade you may wonder why more senior
students are so keen to take ukemi from a
visiting Shihan. Why would anyone be so stupid?
It looks pretty rough out there!! I would
suggest that to experience technique first
hand is an entirely different matter to watching
it. Of course there are things that you see
when you watch that you miss when upside down
hoping that you'll land before reaching the
wall, but it is no match for feeling the power
and gaining a physical insight into where
the power comes from. |
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| As
an instructor, it is sometimes only in feeling
a student's technique that you can truly know
if she / he has an understanding of the technique.
It is possible for a movement to appear to
be correct whilst in fact missing an essential
element. This error is rarely made whilst
physically experiencing the technique. It
is my belief that the reason that some men
get to dan grade without having an understanding
of technique, is that they have enough physical
strength to "make it work" (or at
least appear to work) and their instructor
has never (or rarely) taken ukemi from them
to know any different. |
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| Finally,
we come to the issue of kaeshiwaza. If a technique
is perfect it is not possible to counter it.
However, most of the time our techniques are
not perfect and there are opportunities to
counter them. In the right setting, this should
be welcomed by tori as providing a learning
vehicle to develop and polish their own technique.
O Sensei taught kaeshi waza to his uchi deshi
(inner disciple) so that they would always
have something extra up their sleeve and would
not be caught out! |
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| I
do not think that the concept of kaeshiwaza
is helpful to beginners as it immediately
makes them think of ways to counter which
in turn makes them start to contract instead
of expand. This is exactly the opposite of
what is desired. Openings for kaeshiwaza are
only successfully exploited by taking good,
responsive ukemi. It is not about spoiling
technique but, in a sense, being such an integral
part of the technique that the uke is able
to respond to the opening and to "turn
the tables". |
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| Does
the uke attack with the expectation that she
/ he will end up defeated? No! In a martial
sense, therefore, by taking correct ukemi,
we constantly allow ourselves the opportunity
to regain our original position, i.e. that
of aggressor and intended victor. |
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