Ellis Amdur

Last year I participated in a Systema-based week long defensive tactics training for law enforcement. There were no-touch (not throws), but a lot of movements that, taken a step further, would have been "throws." The logic with knives was to develop an absolutely non-rigid fluid response to the attack (imagine pushing into a two headed snake, and as the body twines/recoils, another part is attacking. I learned a lot from those drills, which actually bore some resemblance to some things I learned from Kuroda Tetsuzan.
OTOH, I used to attend Watanabe's classes - and yes, it was mostly staunch basic technique. He used to like to use more for ukemi - a lot - (throw the big guy thing). Until one day, where, suddenly, in the middle of a sequence of throws, he sort of waved his arms and I just stood there - because I did not have a clue what he wanted me to do.
I also was part of some demos with another prominent shihan, known for what some considered miracle waza, among them being picked up by four people and suddenly becoming heavy and crushing them, and some "randori" against multiple attack with weapons. I always watching my fellow uke's to know when to fall, because I never felt anything - not one whit - that would make me fall.
Takeda Yoshinobu - never took ukemi for him.
Ellis Amdur