John Matsushima

I have found that I have some different viewpoints within myself on this issue. In my own practice, I take the view of dealing with whatever uke gives me whether its heavy resistance that makes it difficult for me, or the uke that just falls down at the mere sight of my powerful ki. It's not any one uke, but the fact that everyone is different and forces me to keep my own style open that challenges me the most. So in that sense, as I stated before, i don't consider anyone to be a bad uke anymore than i consider a rainy day to be a bad day. That being said, i do appreciate though, when the uke doesn't bloody my nose when i make a mistake.

I don't like the ideas of assigning roles to people because unless everyone is trained the same way in how to play these roles, it doesn't work, and then the practice breaks down to one person saying to the other "you're not playing your role".

HOWEVER, I have noticed in the practice of children that they face many of the same problems and issues that adults do in practice, maybe even more since they don't understand the complex moral and philosophical issues. I see the resisting each other, stopping the others techniques,blaming each other, trying hard to beat each other, trying to "help" each other by saying "no, you're doing it wrong!", and in the end, nothing is accomplished. They can't even do a proper tenkan or irimi, but it always seems to be the other kid's fault. It seems so childish, but hey, they're children! The funny thing is I have seen adults do the exact same thing.

So what I tell the kids is that one that is nage is trying to practice and learn the technique properly, so uke should try to help by cooperating. This seems to work well with the children an facilitates their skill and technique. I think many dojos, including the Aikikai Hombu dojo, adopt this approach to how uke's should act.

I'm not sure that this is the best approach for adults though. I think that for children the idea of learning harmony and cooperating with others in a positive environment is ideal, while for adults it is the idea of learning harmony and cooperation in a chaotic, sometimes cruel world.

So, in adult training,if a good uke is one that cooperates, then there is no conflict; no pain, no gain. If ukes are trained on how to react and attack properly, then they become just that; trained, conditioned attackers.

I'm not sure what the right answer is, but my focus is more on being a good nage.