Hello friends! It’s been forever, huh? I have not been attending Aikido for various reasons until this last semester, when I took it as a college course. I‘ve even picked up some new things (like realizing I’ve been back-falling on my knees when I need to actually fall on my butt...). Dunno if I’ll shoot a Marmot for them, but here’s one that’s quite important -
Aikido is like a three-legged raced.
Aikido is generally practiced with two people, one being the ‘aggressor’ (uke) and getting thrown or pinned, and the other the ‘defender’ (nage/tori) who enacts the technique. In my dojo, we usually do four throws and then switch positions, so uke is now nage and vice versa. It gives you a chance to practice the moves, an incentive not to be cruel to your partner, and a new perspective - leading to my little revelation.
If the Uke, who receives the technique, just flops like a limp noodle and lets Nage do what they like, it’s not exactly helpful. If Uke passively or even actively resists Nage’s attempts, it can make things so difficult that Nage can’t even get one move off. It’s one thing for your (experienced) partner to not move with you so they can explain why the technique isn’t currently working, it’s another when they do so so aggressively that they block you from moving - and improving - at all.
And some Ukes are so helpful that they do the technique for Nage. It’s not bad to help your struggling/less experienced partner through the motions, but let them do so under their own impetus!
In fact, Sensei mentioned that one thing he learned as a Black Belt is how to be a good Uke - which is harder than it seems, in retrospect! I’ve been Uke many times where my partner has flubbed, and even if I notice it - which I don’t always - I may not know how so, or how to help them through it. Sensei can consistently allow even the most inept or inexperienced practitioners to throw him perfectly - and that’s where we get back into my little analogy.
In a three-legged race, two people are bound together at a leg (left-to-right) and have ‘three legs’, which they then have to hop on to get to the finish line. If you’re a limp noodle or just dragging, letting your partner do all the work, you’re not going to get much of anywhere. If you’re resisting your partner, you’re not going to move at all. And if you leap forward, both of you are going to end face-down in the dirt.
But if you work together, at roughly the same speed, you can get to the finish line.