Giving up my center

If I could do what the black belts do in order to guide beginners into proper techinique, I don' think I would have had to ask for input! But guiding nage and taking a dive are entirely different things. As far as I can tell, they Are performing the technique correctly.

Jo, have to disagree with you here in that if they were performing the technique correctly, you should be being thrown - caveat: unless it's a very basic technique done at slow speed, some of which do have gaps where you (as uke) can prevent through foreknowledge if these gaps aren't covered by either atemi, speed (yuck) or even changing the technique to one which works with your resistance.

For my money you have two basic options. The best to my mind is work with your sensei, explaining the problem and seeing what they have to say. Sometimes a persons increased flexibility can mean that greater than normal movement and/or different angles of attack are needed. Otherwise, you can try modifying your own posture when they're trying the technique on you, tense up a bit more and give some direct stubbornness to your uke, this will mean that you have to trust your ukemi somewhat and accept any accompanying discomfort if the throw is put on quickly.

I have to agree with many of the others on this thread. I can't imagine how anyone, no matter how good her balance, can get away from a proper irimi nage. Peter G. mentions Chiba's irimi nage, which is so constricting that there is simply no way that one can just spin out or walk away. (The current Doshu's irimi nage is "looser" in that sense, so that it is conceivable that an uke might slip away if it were done slow enough.) I don't think this is about your balance being good, or conversely, your sensei's size allows him to throw you.

It's always a good thing for a dojo if someone comes in and a basic techniqe just doesn't naturally work on that person. It should get everyone to reconsider and re-evaluate what neesds to change. I used to love to get to work with a guy that had steel rods in his wrists - and was like a foot taller and 100+ pounds heavier - it was so much fun trying to work out techniques on someone like that!

As far as the current Doshu, that's not really _his_ fault. Think about it, who wants to be the guy that challenges Waka sensei's technique while he was coming up through the ranks? Anyone? Anyone? Maybe some crazy gaijin, but no one else was going to do that - and I'd say his technique is nice and as strong as it ever needs to be - given that he will probably never be tested.

Rob

I didn't mean to sound as if I was casting aspersion on Moriteru. Just making an observation. Though of course, my own preferences for technique go in a different direction (Chiba, Yamaguchi, Endo, and so on).

I'd also like to say that the "backbend" that Jo talks about is not any part of my sensei or my shihan's irimi nage. Whether or not my spine or neck actually bend backward, I am going to go down. So if she's waiting for them to bend her backward, maybe she's waiting for the wrong thing.