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Old 07-26-2010, 01:18 PM   #9
"PromotionReluctant"
IP Hash: 6f0ae4ec
Anonymous User
Re: Unhappy being pushed to test

Just to clarify since a few people are getting hung up on it....

I probably made a bad word choice with "rougher." Our dojo is quite soft - and as such for their first few months beginners are normally pushed just to the point of being off balance and are allowed to fall at their own pace. Some of them don't seem to want to get past this point. I've had people use every ounce of strength in their body to try to stand upright during a kaiten-nage because they are only comfortable rolling from a static standing position. I simply meant that at some point you have to transition from static practice to more dynamic practice where you don't always get to choose when and where you're falling. As a beginner some of your rolls and jumping breakfalls are pretty rough on your body - no matter how soft and skilled your partner is.

We've had several women either hit the mat badly or repeatedly bang the same spot on their anatomy when taking ukemi, and never show for practice again. Since women have different centers of gravity and different levels of upper body strength than men, I'm guessing that we should probably be taking slightly different ukemi....but with only male instructors this has never been raised in class (but that's a whole other kettle of fish).
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