Ari Bolden

Greetings All....

It's been far too long since I last posted here on aikiweb. Glad to back!

As instructors, we sometimes run into situations that are a little unusual. Today, I had one such encounter.

As apart of our curriculum, ground grappling is apart of class. Our aiki jujitsu system includes ne waza (ground techniques) found in BJJ/Judo/wrestling.

A new student was on the mat with one of my yellow belts this evening. The new student had about 6 months of basic aikido training, 19 years of age and was male. He wanted to get a feel for jujitsu and try sometime new.

While they were grappling, my yellow belt got behind the new student and went for a shime waza (rear choke). The new student 'tapped" right away and sat up quickly.

His eyes were as big as plates and watery

The actually choke was never applied. The yellow belt simply had his hooks in from behind and had a forearm around the front of the new student's neck.

I recognized immediately that the new student might have an aversion to chokes/neck restraints.

We all took a minute to gather our ‘wits'. I asked the new student if he'd like to continue. He said yes. I instructed my yellow belt not to use any shime waza (rear chokes or guillotine chokes) and only go for position (no submissions).

They began to spar again. (Note: The grappling was done VERY lightly and controlled). About 30 seconds later, the new student found himself in a triangle (where one arm and the head are trapped between the legs of your partner.)

The new student tapped again and shot up. Eyes watery, grabbing his throat, gasping for air. He began to hyper ventilate.

I quickly began to calm him down, telling him to take deep, slow breaths. We got the breathing back to normal within a minute.

As the new student sat on the mat, I began to chat with him calmly. In a shaky voice and sobbing, he explained: "I don't know what it is? I can't understand it? I never thought I had a problem with this? I don't really like things around my neck (like turtle necks or dry suits for diving). I just felt I couldn't breathe or do anything. I feel so studid...."

Sometimes students will panic because they are unfamiliar with a technique or position. They may have never experienced what it is like to be pinned, choked, arm barred, or thrown. These experiences can be utterly frightening for some. They may also be compounded by past situations, phobias or personality quirks.

These situations may creep up on you, especially if your partner is new to the martial arts. Be calm and understanding if it does occur. Also, reassure the tori/nage that it might not be anything to do with them at all (I sat down with my yellow belt after class and chatted with him. He was feeling extremely bad about the situation. I reassured him that he did nothing wrong and we made sure things were A-Okay).

Understanding, support, and a willingness to listen are keys for getting over phobias.

If the new student returns on Monday, he will be making a huge leap forward in order to tackle his fear…time will tell.

All the best,
Yours in Aiki,
Ari Bolden