Those who know me understand that in general, I’m a pretty level headed fellow. Sure, I have strong opinions, and sometimes I can ruffle feathers, but in the main, I consider myself a steady hand at the dojo.
In other words, there’s not a lot that confounds me.
Which makes my reaction to a certain technique (fifth kyu, no less!) all the more bewildering. It’s as if I become Merkwürdigliebe, a stranger trapped in my own body, either attempting the technique or, more likely, strangling the host. Sure, I can make it work, but believe me, there is a world of difference between what I do, and what I see the shihans do.
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Who Controls the Technique, Uke or Nage?
“The secrets of ukemi are in its name. ‘ukemi’ is Japanese for ‘to receive’ and in Aikido it its the uke’s (person taking a fall) task to receive an attack.
George Ledyard wrote an excellent comment to the blog titled 
“A group of generals and high ranking officers making critical decisions under the pressure of an ongoing battle (usually against ridiculous odds), finally cracking and engaging in an internal dispute. In a moment of sudden insight, one of the generals picks up a bunch of sticks and demonstrates how working together they are invincible, whereas divided they will fall.
“Numerous photos taken at the 47th All-Japan Children’s Demonstration held at the Budokan in Tokyo by Timothy Buerger.”
A few weeks ago our dojo had the good fortune to reconnect with a talented Aikidoka from Australia. He had visited us about four years prior, and was back in the States for, of all things, his honeymoon. Putting aside any other plans for the evening, our friend attended Sensei’s class, and later taught a very interesting class himself.
“In a typical Systema class this particular phrase is used again and again, so first of all what is my understanding of “Natural movement” and what do others in class mean by it. In my world, natural movement is something that I do physically without thought, something that happens at a level beyond my comprehension.. things working at a subconscious level, things like blinking, breathing, my own heart beating, a nervous twitch etc, things that happen without conscious thought. Others may refer to it as the result of the body understanding and solving problems, doing what it needs to do in a certain situations and just getting on with it..
“Cyndy is a 6th degree black belt in Aikido. She has studied the martial art since 1977 when she began training in San Francisco at Aikido of San Francisco. In 1979 Cyndy traveled to Japan where she studied with Morihiro Saito, Shihan. She trained with him for a period of nine months total. Part of that stay was as a live in house student or uchideshi. In 1980, Saito Sensei awarded her the rank of shodan or 1st degree black belt.