Quote:
Yulia Putman wrote:
Is he right? Should I be completely submissive as uke? Should I just follow the rules and never challenge the opponent?
Yulia
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Hello Yulia
In aikido there is some interesting spiritual notion "Restore harmony of the World' . We start to learn about it physically in the dojo first.
So you experience is very precious, it lets you learn the most important aspect of aikido. Be grateful to your black belt fellow. If aikido practice is not well balanced, in absence of very clear rules of practice, it will be not possible to practice safely. And abuse will be a norm.
So I’d say : yes, your fellow student does very good thing. Still you can ‘challenge’ any student you want, make counters etc…I do it regularly, however I’m very careful to have very clear good intent, maintain good, pleasant mood of practice, and remember old saying from Himalaya: “
always do it at the level you can receive it safely”. Otherwise you will destroy you body for nothing; you will learn nothing at all.
Be courageous and wish you a lot of health.