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Old 09-11-2013, 11:27 PM   #17
Janet Rosen
 
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Location: Left Coast
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 4,339
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Re: Beginners should not be allowed to act as uke.

We don't do separate beginner's classes. Our basics classes generally have enough folks with experience that newbies don't have to pair up. The general rule is the usual aikido one of the senior starting as nage....but if I'm with a newbie I'll generally just take the nage role once, on one side, to observe protocol, then switch to being uke and not switch back to nage unless there is a reason to (and yes, we change partners with each technique, so I'm not just taking ukemi all night). I never feel my practice suffers doing this...I feel I"m better serving the newbie and I'm improving my ukemi skills, my understanding of the technique, and focusing on my structure very nicely.

Janet Rosen
http://www.zanshinart.com
"peace will enter when hate is gone"--percy mayfield
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