AikiWeb Aikido Forums - View Single Post - Uke, the other hand, atemi, deflection and the role of uke

seank · 09-27-2009, 04:09 AM

I remember being told once that I shouldn't block with my free hand because I couldn't "realistically get my hand up in time" and that as such was undermining the training.

Funnily enough the instructor didn't have an answer as to why we'd learnt to cover your face and torso whilst punching or kicking in Kyokushin.

The same person ended up on their knees with an elbow inches from flattening their nose across their face when they really tried to perform their atemi.

As others have said, always protect yourself.

From an Aikido perspective, you always follow one hand with the other so that you can change technique mid-stride, so why not do the same thing as uke?

09-27-2009, 04:09 AM	#13
seank Location: Victoria Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 132 Offline	Re: Uke, the other hand, atemi, deflection and the role of uke I remember being told once that I shouldn't block with my free hand because I couldn't "realistically get my hand up in time" and that as such was undermining the training. Funnily enough the instructor didn't have an answer as to why we'd learnt to cover your face and torso whilst punching or kicking in Kyokushin. The same person ended up on their knees with an elbow inches from flattening their nose across their face when they really tried to perform their atemi. As others have said, always protect yourself. From an Aikido perspective, you always follow one hand with the other so that you can change technique mid-stride, so why not do the same thing as uke?