Hi... I'm separating this off to a new thread; thanks, Diane, for posting it...a great topic in and of itself. I wasn't sure if I wanted to start it in "humor" or "teaching" and opted for the latter...

My favorite one also involves shihonage. It works very well for students of {ahem} a certain age, anyhow... you know how newbies always let their hand get over or behind them, so uke gets his balance back and can easily walk away or do a reversal?

My first aikido instructor taught me from day 1 to "glue your hand to your forehead" - which a perceptive friend of mine immediately likened to the picture on the cover of the Greatful Dead's Live in Europe 1972 (the guy with the ice cream cone splatted to his forehead).