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Old 06-15-2007, 01:29 PM   #20
Robert Rumpf
Dojo: Academy of Zen and the Ways
Location: Kailua, HI
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 164
United_States
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Re: Eye for Eye, Blow for Blow?

Quote:
Yulia Putman wrote: View Post
First of all I'm a difficult uke- means I resist too much and unnecessary.
If you're doing something excessive and unnecessary, shouldn't you stop it, if you're trying to train yourself instead of others?

Quote:
Yulia Putman wrote: View Post
Do I really deserve such attitude? Should not we be above vengeance?
If you give it out, you may just get it back. Should we not be above provocation?

Quote:
Yulia Putman wrote: View Post
Should I just follow the rules and never challenge the opponent?
Are you challenging an opponent, or working with a partner on a technique that is being taught? If you're challenging an opponent in a martial art that has no rules, can you expect any kindness in response? Especially when your "opponent" is trying to learn a technique by following a routine and you deviate from that routine?

Quote:
Yulia Putman wrote: View Post
I'm a very optimistic person and can take criticism well, so whenever I complain about my injures it's always a joke (but outsiders seriously think that my husband abuses me on a regular base).
You had better be careful... in the future, if you train more often, you'll be doing more joint locks, and for me, if someone gives me deliberate attitude in (say) a nikyo joint lock, and I am having a bad day, I drop them fast and hard... while distantly caring if they get hurt or not. Sure, I'm trying to grow out of that desire to lash out - but do you want to bet your wrist on your "opponent's" emotional maturity?

You may not like bruises now, but will you like broken bones later?

I've had instances in the past of students coming onto the mat (typically they have past martial arts experience of some sort) and trying as hard as they possibly can to break my technique or to screw with me since I'm a shodan. They want me to help them learn Aikido, while they disrupt my training? I have plenty to work on without their help, thanks.

This type of behavior used to really upset me, to the point of me getting violent, or at the very least avoiding the person.

One example is a partner I trained with on shomenuchi ikkyo. This was not my first run-in with this individual.

He was bound and determined to not let me do ikkyo him, to the point of tightening his arm completely (after his non-committed, choked-up strike), bringing his arm to his side, and turning his back on me. I hit him lightly several times to make the point about atemi about him being wide open and badly positioned... and he just laughed loudly at me and said something mocking in response.

I was really pissed and took him down in a headlock. I needed to step off the mat to regroup, and I never worked with that person again. I was concerned for my emotional training, as well as concerned for his health - his attitude was something that I couldn't answer, at that point, even if his technique was appalling.

It is fortunate, at times like that, that I don't know how to hit very effectively...

Currently, I have a more effective way of dealing with these problems.

I do whatever technique I can make work while trying hard not to hurt the person. Sure, neither of us get to practice what sensei is teaching, but did uke really care about that in the first place, if they are being so problematic? As for me, it is just another lesson in blending..

If I can't make anything work on the person, than I just don't do anything. It is what they wanted after all, isn't it? That way, they learn nothing, and I get to practice patience.

Rob
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