Wagging The Dog
Aikido practice involves a nage and an uke. Without the attack of the uke, there is no need for the nage to perform any techniques. At Aikido practice, therefore, nothing can be more frustrating than having a partner who does not attack.
Some people come to Aikido because they considered themselves "peaceful people". Peaceful People condemn violence. That's why, out of so many different martial arts, they choose Aikido so that they don't have to hurt people. They take the notion so far that they don't ever really attack their partners.
Very often, Peaceful People approach their partners by just swinging their arms around with no intent of hitting. When confronted, they say, "I don't want to hurt you!" Really??? I ask you to come at me. You think I will really stand there to let you crack my head open? I may be weird, but I am not crazy yet. This kind of response cracks me up. "Come hit me. If I get hit, I learn something. Please teach me." I plead for them to try again.
For their own desire to be a "peaceful person", Peaceful People are deliberately taking away others' opportunity for some good, solid training. I find such behavior rather self-centered and selfish. Sometimes I wonder if they truly worry that their partners cannot handle the attack, or if they are actually too afraid that they may not be able to handle the ukemi if they attack whole-heartedly.
Some people think they are only practicing Aikido when they are in the nage role. This cannot be further away from the truth. As Henry Kono Sensei once stated, "Throwing is easy. The real difficult part in Aikido is being uke." If you do not take your uke role seriously, you are missing out big time on your Aikido training.
People who do not put in efforts in honing their attacks and try to become a strong uke, usually are not very strong nage either because they never quite learn how to use their bodies correctly. They do not know what it feels like being strong versus being weak. They do not get to learn how to deliver power by moving efficiently. As a result, they tend to stay at the brute force level.
It really shows during weapon practice. The basic body movements for using a bokken (wooden sword) or jo (wooden staff) are similar to empty-hand attacks. If you cannot do it empty-handed, having a stick in your hands only makes it worse. Instead of getting the stick to move to places they want, one may end up being spun around by the momentum of their stick!
As Endo Sensei pointed out during a seminar, "Even though we practice gently and cooperatively, this is still budo."
Some people come to Aikido because they considered themselves "peaceful people". Peaceful People condemn violence. That's why, out of so many different martial arts, they choose Aikido so that they don't have to hurt people. They take the notion so far that they don't ever really attack their partners.
Very often, Peaceful People approach their partners by just swinging their arms around with no intent of hitting. When confronted, they say, "I don't want to hurt you!" Really??? I ask you to come at me. You think I will really stand there to let you crack my head open? I may be weird, but I am not crazy yet. This kind of response cracks me up. "Come hit me. If I get hit, I learn something. Please teach me." I plead for them to try again.
For their own desire to be a "peaceful person", Peaceful People are deliberately taking away others' opportunity for some good, solid training. I find such behavior rather self-centered and selfish. Sometimes I wonder if they truly worry that their partners cannot handle the attack, or if they are actually too afraid that they may not be able to handle the ukemi if they attack whole-heartedly.
Some people think they are only practicing Aikido when they are in the nage role. This cannot be further away from the truth. As Henry Kono Sensei once stated, "Throwing is easy. The real difficult part in Aikido is being uke." If you do not take your uke role seriously, you are missing out big time on your Aikido training.
People who do not put in efforts in honing their attacks and try to become a strong uke, usually are not very strong nage either because they never quite learn how to use their bodies correctly. They do not know what it feels like being strong versus being weak. They do not get to learn how to deliver power by moving efficiently. As a result, they tend to stay at the brute force level.
It really shows during weapon practice. The basic body movements for using a bokken (wooden sword) or jo (wooden staff) are similar to empty-hand attacks. If you cannot do it empty-handed, having a stick in your hands only makes it worse. Instead of getting the stick to move to places they want, one may end up being spun around by the momentum of their stick!
As Endo Sensei pointed out during a seminar, "Even though we practice gently and cooperatively, this is still budo."
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