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That is, instead of a mind on the other end of the flow, there is a sort of mindless physical entity having momentum and mass and some attached lever assemblies. That's a bit too strong; I know people do counter. But I have this nagging feeling that too much time is spent working with an implicit assumption that nage is (ought to be) better than uke.
I wonder, does anyone ever spend time just going through all the ways that a technique can be countered, and the counter-counters, etc.? I start to get a little tired of _only_ training in technique and flow.
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I, for one, believe that knowing how to give good uke is as important (or more important) for aikido than knowing how to give good nage. There is a subtle and wonderful communication that goes on between uke and nage that, at it's best, is playful, challenging, constructive, and cooperative. The only thing it isn't is competitive.
Kaishi-waza (reversal of technique, I hope) is a standard part of training in many dojos. If you don't get enough of it in your regular classses, trying playing with it after class with a more senior student. When I first encountered it, I found it mind-blowing. Now I just think of it as a standard part of AiKiDo.