Mario Tobias

My experience is that no matter how much the resistance uke is offering and how stable he is, there will always be a position where he will be weakest. Looking for these weakest positions takes experiementation and training.

My sensei says all techniques in general can be broken down into 3 generic movements 1) taking the balance (kuzushi) 2) doing the technique and 3) takedown, the most important being the first one and the last one, takedown as a "bonus". If you havn't taken his balance, you can't do the technique and if you can't do the technique, you can't do the takedown.

Kuzushi, as my sensei said is the most important but in my opinion/experience is also the hardest to master (a very good example of this is Endo sensei). Not only would you need to take physical balance, but you would also need to "take the mind". If you've successfully taken the balance, the resistance won't be there or has been diminished for you to do the technique properly. If your technique is poor, it's either your technique or you've done not so good a job at taking partner's balance fully or you let him regain balance even for an instant during the technique.

IMO also is that uke's kuzushi should always be taken everywhere and anywhere in the technique. Nowhere in the technique should uke be stable or regain stability. Uke will only be able to offer resistance "during" the technique if there is an instant of him regaining balance or him getting his center back.

My ideal analogy of a technique is Ying and Yang; it should be a picture where NAGE is of perfect balance and centeredness while UKE is the oppposite, where none of those traits exist.