I agree with the above posts in that I think Mr. Lowry was just presenting some points to get people thinking. A non-aikido practitioner would never fly over in reaction to a kotegaeshi, and the same goes for those graceful flying breakfalls on shihonage, koshinage and the various kokyunage. Anyone who believes that all the graceful flying, rolling and falling ukemi we do resembles anything close to how someone on the street would react is in need of a serious dosage of reality. We perform these ukemi for safety, so that nage CAN practice their movements at full or near full speed while minimizing the risk of injury to uke.
I also add that I've always enjoyed Mr. Lowry's writing, and just finished reading his book "Moving Toward Stillness," which I highly recommend. In fact, I have been singularly unimpressed with Black Belt Magazine for several years, with the sole exception of Mr. Lowry's contributions.
Also, I would like to remind everyone to please note that Mr. Akiyama has recently changed the forum rules to now require that everyone who posts to the forum provide their full names.
[Edited by BC on October 26, 2000 at 09:05am]
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