The kernel of the weekend seemed to be the importance of good ukemi, as well as not competing with your partner while training. Endo Shihan also wanted us to listen to our bodies more, to pay attention to our own balance both while taking ukemi and while applying technique.
Over the course of our training, Endo Shihan gave us many pointers, both verbal and physical, as to what our roles as ukes, nages, and aikidoists should be. Some of the things he said, as I recall them:
- Graded people have a responsibility to take good ukemi.
- Beginners can't learn good ukemi unless the higher ranked people have good ukemi.
- The best nages are also the best ukes, working on your ukemi, helps your nage waza.
- There are more options in being soft and sensitive than in being hard and strong.
On the second day of training, Endo Shihan did something I hadn't seen any other instructor do at a seminar, he berated us for not wearing slippers (flip flops, shoes, etc) off the mat, and then told us by not doing that, we were effectively training on the bathroom floor. One other suggestion he made, concerning behaviour, was to be more mindful of our bowing, both during shomen rei, and while bowing to our partners. He commented that we tend to bow too quickly, not being aware enough of what is going on in our bodies, and with our breathing. Bow slowly, he suggested, and be in your body.
On a technical note, we did primarily exercises from grabs (mostly katate dori) with one notable exception, we spent some time working with yokomen uchi. During all of these interactions, Endo Shihan stressed natural movement, and the importance of being relaxed. He trained with almost all (if not all) of the seminar participants over the course of the weekend and so we were all able to grab on and take ukemi for him. I never saw him use any more force than you would excert to lift a glass to your mouth, regardless of the size or relative strength of his uke. He constantly stressed connecting with your partners "ki" as a critical element of aikido.
Overall the seminar was an incredibly positive experience for me, and I hope to attend again next year. Endo Shihan embodies what I feel is the "aiki spirit", and it was a pleasure to grab onto him, and learn what I could from a weekend seminar. Endo Shihan left us with a question: "What makes a good uke?" He asked us not to answer right away, but to spend a year, two years, three years even, thinking about it.
Posted by Gabe
