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Old 12-20-2001, 03:58 PM   #6
guest1234
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 915
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I see my role as uke as time to a)improve my sensitivity to my partner/work on awareness/timing, and B) (MOST IMPORTANT) give my partner what he needs to fill his role as nage. So if I had a partner who was using what seemed to be excessive or overly aggressive atemi, I'd ask why. Do I need to do something different? I'd also appreciate it if I got hit, in my first dojo the first thing you said if hit was 'thank you' for the pointing out of flaws in your ukemi (sensitivity and timing keeps your face out of nage's reach).

Some uke's (not to be sexist, but the bigger ones, so often big guys---but I've seen women do it too) think their role is to charge full steam into nage, ignoring good maai and abandoning all responsibility for self protection. They tend to run into the hand I put up to keep their 200 pounds from careening into my 100 pounds. Most learn by the third time they fall down, some never do. So if you have significant mass, you might want to look at your vector in these situations.

Lastly, he could just be a jerk, or a nice guy having a bad day. I detest those who insist on teaching what they don't know, and that may be a clue that his aggression was just more of that ego coming through. In that case, your sensei sees it, he will either correct it or not as he sees fit. Consider the ego driven students as a chance to practice working with the socially impaired, or avoid them as you see fit. They have control over them acting like a jerk, you have control over how that affects you.
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