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Old 06-01-2014, 01:03 PM   #4
JP3
 
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Dojo: Wasabi Dojo
Location: Houston, TX
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 290
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Re: Adapted Training

In my class right now I have one extremely gifted athletic tang soo do black belt young woman, who is so frustrated learning aikido because her body wants to automatically revert to the previous style's way of moving that we have to treat her as if she's in remedial training, keeping everything very-very slow, and I mean really slow, so she can watch and wait for the difference of feeling. So, we adapted what we usually do for her, even though her body is probably the best in the dojo, no sexist stuff intended.

Then, we've got a 62 y/o guy with an artificial knee, and another which needs to be artificial-ed, a bad hip and lower back problems. He can NOT get his knee to flex to get to seiza, so he just doesn't go there at all. Sawari-waza are totally out, so he does all of that stuff standing, or from a regular chair. Adapted for the bum wheel.

Then we've got a 30 y/o guy who was one of the best uike in the dojo until he got a spiral fracture of the R-side tibia/fibula IN class. Scary damn thing, bumb mistake on the part of th person he was training with and an instant's forgetfulness on his part. Now, he's god rods, pins and screws in his leg and is struggling to get back to forward rolls. So, he's placed himself in the position of being the demonstration uke (i.e. throwing dummy for easy knock-down backfalls) for the beginners. Adapted himself into the role.

I can't hardly see, so everything I do is based off of the premise that I'm not going to be able to "see it coming" so everything is designed on coming out of the bad position, eating one for the team and flowing with a blow or throw and countering/reacting while taking as little damage as possible, maintaining a sticky-hand contact witht he opponent to know where he/she is and what he/she is doing with whatever he/she is wielding. Scary, bbut invigorating, I must say.

And, we have a 31 y/o female who is 6 months pregnant, and I ask her each class what level she's comfortable with doing. I can tell she's starting to feel the body changes (geometry etc.) and it's frustrating to her, but no chances being taken. No front rools already, those wen taway at 3.5 months, back fals are on their way out now I think. Mat time at all I think is going to have to ccease and coaching from the side of the mat starts in about a month I think.

It's all adaptive. My examples above are real-world expressions of Janet's kind words to her friend, and she put it way, way better than I could have. But, when you look around your own dojo, I bet you find adaptions all around you.

I find it interesting that the kanji character for kuzushi illustrates a mountain falling on a house.
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