What a wonderfully articulate and well discussed commentary. Thank you very much for your thoughts Mr Ledyard. My sensei during classes always tells nage to "stay connected" with the uke and vice versa and to sense the energy. He said that doing the technique and taking ukemi are very important elements of understanding the dynamic. I think Mr Ledyard's essay helped me clarify some of the thoughts I had about taking ukemi and doing aikido.
Yes there were times when Sensei instructed us to apply resistance but they were for very speicifc reasons. I think I have a better understanding some of the reasons behind his instructions now.
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