AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.
Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.
If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
I was getting yanked all over the mat and then this little voice in my head growled out, "Posture!" My foot had just been swept but I kept my balance and stamped it back into the mat, shoved my back leg in place with my hips then forced my hips up my spine to straighten my posture out all the while he's trying to keep me down.
Again he tries sweeping my front foot. Nothing happens, it doesn't move a milimeter. He starts pulling on me to try and get things moving again. Nothing, I don't budge, I feel like I have roots. I grab the top of his lapel and cut him down, almost to the mat and reach over him for his belt but I can't reach; he's too big or my arms are two short, one of the two.
I can't reach, I accept the fact. Possible techniques race through my head. I shoot my legs under him, one goes on the top of his thigh, I roll over and he's already trying to get up, I jump on and roll him back onto his back. "Side pin thing, how do you do the side pin thing?" for a second or two I try and work it out; finally I get it.
I also learned that I have a unique but apparently functional style of ne waza. Which kinda confirms that if you throw in something new the fruits of training against a resisting opponent get thrown out and "What do I do against this?" creeps in.
I'm on the floor on my back and this Judoka is really doing his best to mount me. What he's expecting is for me to open my legs and let him in and then wrap my legs around in the guard, this is the standard training. This all happened just before the above described events by the way.
So I'm on my back. I don't want him on top, I do not want to fight a guy who's better trained than I am in a place he's trained to fight in. That's dumb. This is my fight, we do things my way and if he doesn't like it he can tap out whenever he wants.
So I cross my leg over my body to stop him getting on top and I start fighting back with my hands. I hold him off long enough to get my body out from under him and into seiza at which point I stood up.
I could see it on his face though; the expectation that I would immediately initiate a ground fight and the puzzlement of what to do with this Aikidoka laying there in this weird new posture. I put him in a difficult position: he could either move my leg and attempt to mount or deal with my attempt to choke him. I suppose I actually put him on the defensive.
04-11-2010 04:44 PM 
