With Sensei gone on business, it falls on myself and a sempai to teach the class and organize the club practices. All going well yesterday until a girl asks at the end of the class, "What if they punch you REALLY fast?" We were learning munetski sumi otoshi. Great technique, one of my favorite responses. But, come on, how fast? What were you doing that made that person want to punch you? Did you deserve it? Who would punch a girl anyway?
These were the questions that were running around in the back of my mind, the one that was running around in the front was, "Is is gonna hurt when Tyler punches me?" So, I called Tyler up and he chased me around the mat for a bit, I kept the maai generous until I saw the opening, and then Tyler and I went down to the mat in a most uncontrolled fashion and with no discernable pin or throw being used.
So, was this a good example of Aikido to show the students? Probably not. Did I control the situation? Probably not. Did I use my fierce kiai to stop Tyler in his tracks so that I could step in for a flawless technique? Probably not, but I wanted to respect his safety...(right, Tyler is too much bigger than me to get hit by him and everyone has the hardest time getting him off balance).
Maybe, just maybe, I could have controlled the situation a lot differently and responded with, "Then you should respond really fast, and with training you can." Isn't that what Sensei would have said?
So, the lesson that I have learned is, get off line...even if it was a question. Don't take it head on. Get behind it and redirect it, gently. And...don't get hit by Tyler. It'll hurt.
Aikido Club at UVU is a great way for students to experience the art of Aikido. Aikido is derived from the samurai arts through a branch of aiki-jujitsu. Though it is a martial art, it was created as a way to foster peaceful conflict resolution. Aikido teaches how to use various forms of passive resistance and joint locks to provide an attacker with opportunities to reconsider his actions. Come learn with us.
Just a thought, but as an instructor (or substitute), one of the most important things to be able to convey to the class is that practice is not reality. It's just training. Of course, there is a time for experimenting, but it's not the best thing to do when teaching a class. That should be saved for personal training time.
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