Uke's Job, round 3: Reference Points
I keep telling ya - Uke isn't just a throwing dummy! He's got a job to do!
I've written a couple of times already (here, and here). The short version: if you are the Uke (the one getting done unto), don't just stand there. You have to be mindful of a lot of things.
Read the other posts for more detail, but one of the things I talk about is offering consistency of experience for repetitions, and another is just generally helping Tori to learn Judo. Sensei Bernie offered another piece to that: Uke should set himself up with a consistent orientation on the mat. For instance, Uke should should find a specific place on the mat, and face a specific direction. This will allow Tori to use the Dojo to orient himself, rather than looking down at his feet. This will allow for Uchikomis that use better posture, and will help Tori develop his sense of feel... Try it!
Labels:
Bernie Gill,
Ukemi
3 comments:
Uke's role holds more responsabilities than tori's. Just think "mutual benefit".
Pretty good hint there, but I prefer for students to be forced to learn to orient themselves to uke instead of to the Dojo. Ever get someone that could do a throw when he was facing north, but not when he was facing south? Sounds stupid, but it does happen when you give students instructions like, "face that window" and "step on that crack in the mat" that's why were so obsessive about our orientation to "the line" - because the line is oriented wrt uke.
I agree - you need to orient yourself to uke's body. Visually orienting to the environment when you are first learning this, however, helps tori keep from having to visually orient on uke, and he can develop a feel for uke's position while maintaining good posture. Not that it is the only way to go about things... but I think that it is one good way...
Post a Comment