Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

I think you should turn your head at the beginning of the pin. Better to get punched in the back of the head than in the face. You don't need to physically see an opening to take advantage of it.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

If its a well executed pin, I'm going to feel that before I try to roll out. I've seen young, flexible folks roll out of pins most of us couldn't and it is a wonderful reality check for those doing the pinning....

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

Interesting. I know when I began Aikido I never turned my head away when being pinned, but I don't recall passing out. I will definately check this theory next practice.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

:D

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

Well yeah, frankly if the pin is well executed you are off ballance from the cut until the mat. There is no time, nor is there any footing to get in any real position to flip out.
I've seen people try to flip out anyways..and they jam their shoulder.

I would like to say that it is typically a new student that would try to flip out of a pin, mostly because you train slowly with new students to help them learn ukemi etc. Sometimes a new student might take advantage of the slowed down pace, and I've seen them try to flip out of it...again, if I ever come upon this I think I'd let go rather than risk injury.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

I change a potential shoulder injure for the ability to avoid a beheading any day of the week. And there is always someone who thinks his/her pins are awesome...

[link deleted] 10:50 to 11:55

BTW, people is escaping from omoplatas (which is a thighter pin) rolling and nothing happens.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

That video doesn't demonstrate anything about how rolling out of a pin is correct technique.

Just because nothing has happened to you yet doesn't mean it won't.
I have ,many times,adjusted a pin in the past for some one I knew wanted to roll out of it to allow their shoulder rotation. You can't take nage's corporation for granted.

The fundamental does not allow for flipping out. A proper pin has the uke's ballance from the cut. There is no time, nor is there footing for uke to gain rotation. If he tries to he is likely forcing rotation from the top portion of his body, not generating it from the ground up. In which case he would not be able to gain enough rotation fast enough, which could cause him to plant his face, shoulder, neck..ect unless his nage was helpful and seen that he was trying to gain rotation and helped him along for his own safety. Some school might practice this corroborative nage style by default for uke's safety, my school doesn't. The goal is always the ground.

Also there are many trajectories going on here. Not just the movement forward that takes you down to the mat. There is motion taking you around nage's center, out to the side. If you are forcing rotation forward, and nage has motion heading out forward, down and to the side you are fighting against his movement, which hyper extends the joint a bit. Spinning with a hyper extended join despite your dispute is dangerous. The join is weak in that position.

If your defense is that you've constantly being flipping out of pins, I'm sorry, those pins aren't pins. They are either done poorly, or nage is feeling merciful. Also sometimes Nage will take a pin into a projection throw... not the same thing as a pin.

In my humble opinion: I'm not doing Aikido for the sake of role-playing, or cost-playing here. In feudal Japan, yeah you might lose your head...but luckily this isn't feudal Japan. I've no delusions that I'm a Samurai. The threat of destroying your shoulder and ending your martial career is far more likely in the modern age than an imaginary Samurai beheading you.

Also, tighter pins are actually easier to gain rotation in, in my opinion. It is pins that take you out wide that robs you of your footing and rotation. Tight pins, even pins that go straight down, are extremely easy to spin out of... for me at least.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

I totally understand, respect, etc. the purpose and form of aikido training; I think that you might have misunderstood me.
I'm not talking about resisting - which is fighting, essentially, and so not aikido - or being awkward: i'm talking about maintaining a connection, as uke, throughout a technique, so that it isn't dead, and aikido is being practiced by both parties. This connection means that if tori lets me up, I go up; if tori moves me down, I go down; if around, around - because i'm trying to stay connected.

When I am moved to a pin, there's a point at which it is futile and impossible to seek to maintain a connection with a view to moving into such an opening: it is at this point that I submit.
I was training with somone, doing ikkyo, who got to the part where we're both standing, and he's got my arm extended, but he just walked around, with us both like that, trying to get me to the ground, and ended up saying 'feel free to go down...'. A dan grade said to me that I should go down (rather than correcting his technique so that I would), and I said i'll go down if i'm made to; she said 'Well we're not into hurting each other here' in a patronising, dismissive tone. Surely if you need to hurt someone to aply ikkyo, that's not aikido...?
I just don't know how these people justify their approach.

The way I look at that is that I was maintaining a connection, receiving - as uke should - and responding to what was being done to me - which is the essence of aikido (as I understand it). If I took a dive, it wouldn't be aikido, the guy wouldn't ever get better, and he might end up getting seriously hurt if a real-life situation ever arose. He isn't doing the technique right, and that needs to be addressed, and resolved, rather than ignored.
...surely?

I know exactly what you're saying about 'tacit acceptance of nage's superior position' and submitting to another, and I agree.

With respect.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

Copyright violation? Let's not encourage posting of these materials. Just buy the DVD http://www.aikidojournal.com/catalog...ils?code=dvd17

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

When I observe strong differences of opinion categorically stated in a techincal thread, I find it valuable to know something about the poster.

For example, I am inclined to give a good deal of credence to the view of someone who has been training in mulitple MA since the late 1970's and has advanced to yudansha in a respected Aikido style.

If my view doesn't match, its probably worth thinking about why rather than just figuring I'm right.

I know I have abandoned many ideas about Aikido that once appeared self-evident. For which I am grateful.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

The lady doth protest too much, methinks. :)

Anyway, sorry for the Budo video. Jun, delete the link please.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

AHA! I think part of the problem is that you and I are talking "apples and oranges." I only use the term "pin" to mean the final application once uke is planted face down on the mat.

It is very possible, and not unusual in my experience, for a person to do an excellent ikkyo or nikkyo opening and takedown but still blow the final pin.

And one way to know the final pin is not effective is when uke kicks legs up and over the outside shoulder and rolls out of it.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

Thank you for your excellent follow up clarification, Graham!

I acknowledge your viewpoint of connectivity between partners, and agree that this should be one goal of training honestly.

In Oneness

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

No problem - glad it made sense, haha. :)

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

That is a very good point. You really can't start calling it a pin until it... pins! :freaky:

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

Maggie, it actually depends on the dojo or the instructor.

Some will talk about "applying the pin" when the hand/wrist position is placed at the start of the technique.

I tend to talk about that as applying a "lock" (working on locking up through the distal joint up through the limb and to uke's center) and reserve the "pin" for the final control.

Semantics...will get us every time!

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

[quote]The point that I believe is being ignored here is the role and importance of mutual courtesy, compassion and respect for the training objective itself. The training protocol, in Aikido especially, requires prudent and proven reigi or etiquette, providing realistic training for both nage and uke, in their respective roles that constantly reverse themselves for mutual benefit and balance.

In Aikido especially, the nage is given huge leeway in finishing the technique, which would be totally unrealistic and unacceptable for the uke to yield to in an actual confrontation, and life or death situation. Thus the agreement that uke allows the nage to perform the waza thoroughly without real resistance, and that the nage accepts the responsibility of keeping the uke safe from any real threat of harm, is the basis for Aikido's kata form of training./QUOTE]

Takahashi Sensei...thank you! These paragraphs clearly speak to many "Why do we do this?" questions on the forums....we should make this a pat answer:-)

Cheers,

Russ

Russ

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

I was told at one point (provided it is a good pin), that you are basically done for (by that person) and you should turn your head the other way to keep an eye out for what else may be coming. I'm sure it is a safety thing too though. When I first started, I kept my face towards nage. I had to learn to turn it the other way. From experience though, I find it more comfortable to have the pin done while I'm looking away, rather then looking back at nage.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

I turn my head because in my dojo on a sankyo lock, the tori's knee is placed very close to the head--too close on many occasions. I'd rather the back of my head got hit by a knee than my nose. As for leaving the back of my head open, all I can say is, if tori knows what he's doing, then he can pretty much do all the damage he wants to me, and the position of my head won't matter much. If he doesn't, then I can get out. I know one escape with the face pointed away, another where uke faces toward tori and rolls him over into an armbar. But as you say, it only works if the "pin" doesn't pin.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

Front - you can see it coming and possibly shift to avoid. Back - Area 17 (IIRC) in the brain - smack there and you're temporarily blind. Trust - turn your head away so your partner's knee doesn't muck up your nose during the pin - he or she is there to learn as are you. In a "real" situation with the adrenalin pumping and life on the line, you're not going to LET your "partner" pin you - it's going to be an all out scrap for survival, and (while I've never been in such a situation) I suspect you want to observe your enemy, so you can be proactive in the fight.. Trust - you're training, not fighting. You train with a partner, if it happens to be a fight, the person is not a training partner, but is an enemy.

Walter

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

The last couple of months (maybe more) we've been adjusting the position of the knee to the top of the head. I never asked why but it does seem like a safer place to go to avoid accidents like a knee to the face/base of skull. I'd guess I'd better ask about it now.

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

And here's a newbie arguing with a yudansha about rolling out of a pin. Ahhhh... the beauty of democracy. And they have a vote!

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

rolling out of the ikkyo pin?...do nothing special, just finish the movement for a kotegaeshi instead ;)

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

There's an example at about 2:45 of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D10w1VFGZh0

Re: When Should You Turn Your Face Away When Being Pinned....?
 

On thing I have noticed over the years is that you someone can only turn in the direction their head is facing. If you try to do the opposite then your spine will be twisted in two direction and you simply don't work that way.

It may be proper etiquette in aikido to "yield" to your nage at some point on the continuum/spectrum of the "take down" and the "pin" (depending on where/win you "agree" that it occurs). However, which ever direction you face your head, is the direction you can head in!

For most "takedowns" such as ikkyo, if you turn your head outward, then you can no longer escape since you reallly need to turn inward in order to reverse the action of nage.

I will only turn my head outward if I am being polite or it is very obvious that nage has such a decent pin that I cannot escape. Even then, I will sometimes turn my head back in, when I am very low to the ground, start moving my hips through and off balance nage for a reversal. Especially if nage is forward weighted on my arm or not exercising tactical awareness...which I find happens alot in aikido as we tend to "believe" that the "fight" is over WAY before it might actually be over because of "Aikido training affects".

This become abundantly clear to me from grappling/BJJ which operates on a much tighter and smaller basis.

So, I think that while turning your head out may protect your face, it is also a huge sign for me that the uke is done and can no longer...or is not willing to fight me any longer for most face down pins such as we see in ikkyo.