“In Aikido, Uke is the Ribbon”

When attacked NEVER WAIT!

Tonight we worked on a a number a entering but not Irimi techniques. The point Sensei he was going for was that while you must react, you can't wait. Don't wait to be hit and apply a technique you react once the attack starts but BEFORE the attack actually reaches you.

Later he was hoping we would get the point of timing and reacting by thinking of the gymnasts that use the ribbons which they can never let drop. The ribbon has a motion that nage must stay in sync with.

The key phrase was “In Aikido the Uke is the Ribbon”, meaning nage and uke should be in synch throughout th technique.