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Re: It Had to Be Felt #7: Yamaguchi Seigo: Suburi with People
Yamaguchi sensei was frustrating - he'd teach basically the same class every time, which I never got (neither did most of the others, from what I could see...).
He inspired a very tight knit group of followers, and those would generally be the folks who took the most ukemi for him, it was very hard to get close. When you did, you'd follow the plan or else he'd switch out pretty quickly. As with Ellis, I found that his technique was magnificent and subtle once you were actually in where he wanted you.
I probably should have challenged him more, but it didn't seem to be what he was looking for in ukemi. Oddly, I trained with several of his senior students who encouraged me to challenge them (within the confines of normal Aikido ukemi).
Best,
Chris
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