East Bay Aikido - Oakland, California

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Ukemi: How to Be a Fun and Good Training Partner (plus Other Benefits)

Nicky Roosevelt

   Are there people you train with who are fun to throw? Who make it seem easy to do the technique? Who give you confidence that you are doing things right? What is different from more difficult experiences? When everything seems kind of heavy? Could it be "flow"?

     There is a magical feeling when uke responds with perfect sensitivity to everything nage does. It has the characteristics of a magnetic field between two positively charged elements where the movement in one directly affects the other. The more you can hone your ukemi to flow with your partner, the better their Aikido can be and the more you will understand the techniques. There is a lot of satisfaction in those skills.

   Sensei talks about ukes tossing balls that nage can hit so that they can practice success while maintaining calm, groundedness, and form. What constitutes a good attack? A good toss? That depends who nage is, how long they've been training and what they're working on.

   New students won't know how a technique goes to start with, so it might be appropriate to help shape the technique by doing the ukemi and have them learn by having their hands attached to you. I remember what it was like to not know where to move or put my feet and hands as a beginning nage. When I had success with uke's cooperation, the task ahead seemed much less daunting.

     But that develops quickly into making an appropriate attack and then flowing, the two parts to good ukemi, in my opinion. When working with a new student, I like to keep in my mind what it would be like to train with a 96 year old great-grandmother. If I'm nage, I'm going to go plenty slowly and gently, so that she doesn't get alarmed and so she can get to the mat safely. From uke's side, if nage is a (pretend) 96 year old great-grandmother, then I'm going to let her move me very easily, while still not anticipating her moves. That, to me, is one of the keys to great ukemi: being able to modulate how easily you are moved. The more evenly you can move with nage, the better they can feel what they are doing. It's like being different strengths of exercise bands for each nage.

   Another key is to be able to modulate the speed of your attack while still keeping the intent very clear. (Imagination helps a lot here.) What would it look like if you were really trying to deliver a blow or grab, but, like a video game, one could adjust how fast you came in and how hard? Your responses, including surprise at missing, would continue as you looked for where nage ended up. If you stopped moving toward nage, the attack would be over, and nage wouldn't have to throw you (as this might be considered assault). Sometimes I'll stop or hang out in the middle of a technique if it would help nage get a hand change or something, but that's a conscious decision like putting a baseball on a tee to work on the swing.

   The other aspect of this pretend video game is that you can keep up the storyline. You want to be in a position to continue the attack or reverse the technique if there's a hole in it, so you're not going to turn your back to nage. (That would open you up to a counter attack) At some point in the technique it becomes important to give up the idea of attack, though, and switch to falling safely. That's the part of ukemi that is important to practice on your own, when you're not being thrown. There is time before class and after to work on your rolling and back sit falls that Sensei has instructed you on in class.

   Another thing I include in good ukemi is connecting your center to your arms, so that when you strike or grab there is energy flowing there. Nage can respond and take your balance with that connection. This also applies to weapons partner practice. Those parries mean something when your center is connected to your weapon. If it's not, you are open to attack yourself, in the form of atemi's getting through. It is in this connection to your center that you can be light or heavy to move.

   One of the most fun things about the falling part of ukemi is being able to fly. It has taken me a long time to get close to the point where I feel comfortable with high falls, but I'm getting there. I got a chance after class the other day to train with someone I felt good flow with, and I was amazed at how light I could be in sailing through the air and landing. It felt great! We were able to ride each other's energy so that the throws weren't much harder, we were just lighter. Cool!

    Outside the dojo, the opportunity to save yourself from injury with your falling skills is very real. I've avoided a sprained ankle when stepping wrong off a step and avoided a broken wrist on the tennis court after losing my balance by rolling. You've probably got your own stories.

    I can promise you that the better your ukemi skills, the more fun you're going to have at the dojo and the less chance you'll have to get injured.

Be safe out there!