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Old 10-28-2012, 01:19 AM   #19
robin_jet_alt
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 716
Australia
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Re: "Don't use strength!"

Quote:
Anonymous User wrote: View Post
Every time I practice with sempai I feel like I am relaxed and yet get told I am not. When they do it it feels like they are using muscle but more efficiently.

Grondahl- When Sempai does technique on me it still feels like strength to me. Just more fluid feeling. Funny as soon as I move they stop me and say too strong. Honestly sometimes I just stand there for the whole time because I have no idea how to move without strength.
Well, it is impossible to move without muscles. Doing things "without strength" really is just a more efficient way of doing things, but you still need muscles to move. The body has no other mechanism for moving. Having said that, what you should feel from your sempai is that you end up being moved but you aren't sure why because you don't feel pushed or pulled. If nobody can demonstrate this, then it might be time to start looking for a new dojo.

Quote:
Anonymous User wrote: View Post
Perhaps its not as bad as I think but, sometimes I feel like banging my head through the wall!! I think I most likely barrel through the technique with strength to make it work most of the time. I have trouble with "connecting to center" also. Is this the tension from nage to uke? I have a lot of trouble feeling what is like.
Tension is probably not the best word. The point here is that your movements aren't just moving a part of your partner, but the whole of your partner. This is very difficult. Kokyu-ho is a good example of this. I have not met many people who can really do kokyu-ho against an active uke, but the ones that can, can do it with their fingers being held instead of their wrists. They create connection with uke's centre and then move the whole lot without pushing or pulling.
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