Central London 昭道館合気道 (Shōdōkan Aikidō)

The relationship between Tori and Uke

During classes we mainly use pair-work to practice techniques. One person will attack (Uke) and the other will throw (Tori). These roles and also reversed in practice, you won’t be left taking all the falls. The relationship between these two students is very important and should not be taken lightly. When we begin our practice, we bow (rei) to our teacher (Sensei) and to our fellow students. This ‘rei’ is a mark of respect and committal to train safe and to our best ability. It means etiquette, courtesy and civility.

We should always treat our training partners with this respect because we cannot make progress without their help. Whilst training with them we must take into consideration their limits and abilities. We all learn at different rates and we all have different levels of strength, stamina, pain thresholds and range of movements in our joints, so take this into consideration when you practise with someone and learn their limits if you are not used to training with them. Also people are all different sizes and shapes and it’s easy for a larger person not to realise how much pressure or pain they are imposing on a smaller partner. Pay attention and if a person submits or taps out, listen to them, even if you think they could take a little more. It’s not your call.

If you are practising a move for the first time with someone, go through it slowly and let your Uke know exactly what’s happening and how and where he should fall if they are not sure. This will give them more confidence in performing their side of the technique and it will help to relax them before the throw, which makes your job easier.

It’s important to be a good Uke

Sometimes you see people in the Uke role whose mind is just not on the game. They are waiting their turn to practise the moves. Well wake up because this is the time for you to practise your moves. It’s time to practise your attacks and breakfalls. If Uke is half-asleep and throws his attack a mile wide of the mark, how can Tori possibly practise his techniques effectively and safely? So Uke please learn your attacks and make them realistic. Having said that, do use control. Learn your attacks correctly but make sure you use only light contact in case Tori doesn’t manage to avoid. This goes for punches, kicks, elbows, knees et al. If you are hitting your training partner by accident with force, you need to practise more control and learn your fighting distance and range. You will soon find once you’ve mastered control, speed follows naturally. There is also a definte need to not ‘over uke’, overcompensating and more or less doing the technique yourself (as uke), also means we have lost the essence of practice!

 Secondly, don’t resist techniques. You should feel comfortable with the technique that is about to be applied to you and you should be relaxed. If you are not comfortable with a new technique, make sure Tori knows about it, so you can both go through it slowly and get accustomed to the movements and which breakfall is to follow. Remember that many of the techniques employed in Aikido begin with a sharp avoidance, breaking concentration and balance (kuzushi). A real attacker will not know exactly what technique is about to be performed on them. This doesn’t mean that you should help Tori by fallng down before he even throws you. This is just as unhelpful as being stiff and resisting technique. Let Tori perform the technique without help or hindrance.

Kigarei-geiko: Randori style Free Practice

One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skilful. Seizing the enemy without fighting is the most skilful.- Sun Tzu-The Art of War

First and foremost, remember that Kigarei-geiko is not Randori. Your purpose is to learn to utilise the techniques you have learned in a simulated attack and counter defence situation with an opponent who is trying to resist and counter the moves. Although there is an air of competition whilst sparring, the most important objective is to learn. Remember that aikido is the art of yielding so you should be trying to minimise using your strength. In a real conflict situation or Randori bout, technique will win out over strength because things happen at real life pace, the person struggling to use muscle strength will still be doing so after the event (strike/ throw) has occurred. When you do apply a technique on your training partner, apply it smoothly and build up the pressure allowing your partner to tap out before injury. Be careful when your partner has your gi tightly in their grip too, ripping it forcefully from their hands can easily dislocate fingers. Remember he or she probably has work tomorrow and they would like to go there in one piece. Remember that a sparring session need not necessarily be about who wins. Constant tweeking the basic drills over time will help you work out what you are doing wrong. It will only improve your skills.If you are sparring and use a technique that wins out over your opponent, how about telling them exactly what you did and where their defence was weak? You could even tell them how to defend against this attack the next time they spar with you. Not only does this make losing a better learning experience from your partner’s point of view, it will also improve their sparring skills. This does make it more difficult for you to defeat them next time around but hey, do you really want to beat the same person with the same technique every time you spar with them? It might be good for your ego, but does it improve your skills?

The rules of sparring

To protect ourselves from injury we put certain rules in place so that we may train hard but safely with our partners well being considered at all times. Be thoughtful of your training partners’ safety at all times. Pay attention to the instructors and do what they say at all times.No manipulation of the small joints. This means fingers, toes, wrists and ankles. These joints are very delicate and can be easily damaged or broken.