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Old 12-23-2004, 08:23 PM   #13
Larry John
Dojo: Aikido of Northern Virginia
Location: Arlington VA
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 74
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Re: Practical use of ukemi

I've got three to add:

1. Was running into the street to catch the mailman when the toe of my slipper caught on the crown of the street. I went directly into a forward roll without thinking and came up on my feet without a scratch.

2. In the basement of my old house, I slipped while taking a fast turn on a wet linoleum floor and did a hard breakfall. My hand stung a bit, but everything else was fine.

3. My college volleyball coach always told us that "the only ball you can guarantee you can't get to is the one you won't try for." This is how I've always played (and tried to live). Anyway, while playing sand volleyball with my daughter I laid out at full speed to get to a spike that had gone off my daughter's dig and was headed out of bounds. While in the air fully extended, I noticed that there was a cement curb surrounding the sand pit, and that if I pancaked the way I usually would have, I'd land right on it and break some ribs. So I slapped the curb with my low hand and rotated into a forward roll in the air, then landed on my feet just outside the curb. The other folks on the court were impressed, but I was upset that I'd failed to get to the darn ball.

This may have something to do with my sensei's frequent advice that I should focus less on goals and more on process ...

Larry
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