James Sawers

I came across a concept called "Constructive Resistance" whereby if nage's technique is not being sufficiently/effectively applied, uke "resists" till his/her balance is taken and the technique "works". Personally, I get very irritated if I see nages and uke basically wrestling on the mat. For training purposes, I believe that for the lower ranks there should be no resistance offered till the techniques are sufficently learned and uke's can take a fall or pin safely. Also, it doesn't do new nages any good either. If uke resists too soon in their learning curve, the nages and ukes, as mentioned, just end up wrestling each other, with usually the strongest winning. As people progress in the art, constructive resistance not only becomes more doable but necessary to progress. I do not see resistance, if applied too soon in the learning curve, as being very helpful.