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Ok, it seems that my post has been taken at the worst. Why people get so defensive I don't know. No, this guy is not fit. No he does not swim a mile every day or cycle all the time. He is, to be brutally honest, obese and very much out of shape. He is unfit and loses his breath after every technique. How can I say something like that? I must be a horrible person. Well, I'm not. I say it with confidence becuase he is honest about it himself. He realises how much he needs to change his life-style. He admits to being overly lazy and eating poorly. I, of course only applaud him for that. He now goes to the gym regularly. (But, only since starting Aikido and realising the problems his physical condition is giving him.) He is, however, a very nice guy and I like him a lot.
I am not judging him and in fact try to work with him as often as possible becuase I see others getting frustrated with him.
Deb, I know quite a few people like that - a good friend of mine at work is 5ft nothing and weighted similarly and is a very proficient in both Karate and Judo - excercising regularly. I know people who, in public views would be deemed "healthy" but in reality are very unfit. I did not automatically make the assumption that becuase this guy is big, he is also unfit. I know he is unfit because I have worked with him and he has told me.
As I mentioned, he is a beginner. Further to that, he is very un-athletic and finds all the techniques very hard due to that. I know, once again, becuase he has told me.
The main problem is that due to his lack of athletecism and a bad back caused by his weight, he is at risk of hurting himself quite badly if he falls in a bad way. And, being a beginner, he has not yet learned how to fall properly. While it may not be such a problem for a skinnier person who lacks fitness and athletecism to take less than stunning ukemi, for someone carrying a lot of weight, a bad fall can be very painful. He has hurt both his legs and his back in this way.
In a poll on this website, the majority of people said that you had to take ukemi to properly learn aikido. I agree wholeheartedly so that is why I like to work with him - I want to help him experience that crucial role.
It is not in frustration of my technique being ineffective. If that is the case then I am even more glad that I get to work with him so that I can rectify it. The same way people like to work with me for my flexibility.
I suppose that is really it. I just want some advice on any ways that I can let him experience the technique without stopping short at the end or breaking the guy's back.
p.
p.s. - I apologise if it seems like I am getting really defensive of my post, I just should have made all this clear at the outset.
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