View Single Post
Old 05-06-2008, 05:57 AM   #5
DonMagee
Location: Indiana
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,311
United_States
Offline
Re: Resistance in Aikido

I'd suggest shopping around to see what you like and do not like. Clubs are different, even within the same style. You might find one that is very hard and another that is so soft it could be a dance class.

I do however agree with you about the grabs. It has been my experience that a lot of grabs do not have purpose. Even within the confines of a drill. I've been a huge advocate of grabbing with a purpose in mind and executing that purpose during the drill (with a varying level of speed and power based on your partners ability). I always ask for motivation when asked to grab. A grab in itself is not an attack, it is a transition to an attack. So why am I grabbing you? Do I want to punch you in the face? Do I want to pull you into me and bind you? Am I trying to take you down? The goal of the grab will change the energy of the grab, and thus the technique being worked on.

- Don
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein
  Reply With Quote