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Old 07-18-2003, 04:55 PM   #18
Sita Nanthavong
 
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Location: Fayetteville, AR
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 34
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Quote:
Joe Proffitt (Joe Jutsu) wrote:
Has anyone ever felt that it would be appropriate to really dump such a character on the mat as a learning tool of sorts? I mean, the tatami are padded after all, right? I would never throw a beginner into a breakfall or anything like that, but under the right circumstances does anyone think that it might be useful to the new uke to really come in full force and hit the mat full force to stress the importance of training one's ukemi, even during slowed down techniques?
not all new aikidoka are new to ukemi itself. we usually stress "walking out" of the technique instead of ukemi if the new student doesn't know proper ukemi.

in our dojo, we will take the new students off to the side and they'll get some "private" lessons to the side until they at least have some ukemi experience. just the basics... forwards and backwards.

the person i usually work with is still 9th kyu. however, since he's had prior experience falling, i'm not hesitant to actually crank on him a bit... and he does the same to me once i remind him to (since i'm female, he thinks he has to be gentle).

sometimes, if your uke is just being a total pain in the butt, maybe a little hello to the mat is a good eye-opener? might work for some people....
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