Daniel James

Early on in my aikido career I found being a pro-active Uke seemed to bring a lt of positive feedback. I was asked to Uke for gradings and often took ukemi for visiting teachers etc.. A proactive Uke meant taking the fall just before you had to, Nage got the feeling of effortless aiki and everyone was happy, right?. Around this time I began packing a Gi when ever I was travelling and started practicing with all manner of schools doing aikido. Progressive incidents have lead me to rethink my Ukemi and why we respond the way we do. These include being choked out, challenged to  a private match after class as my ukemi was seen as competitive and was castigated in front of class for having dangerous ukemi (to myself). All schools seem to take Ukemi particular to their schools, based on the way they practice and I have learnt a lot not just about aiki but also Ukemi from practicing in these other schools. Its a work in progress