Direction of movement in uke-waza
Following on from the previous post regarding the dual nature of uke-waza, most beginning and intermediate students find it possible to stop or at least weaken the strength of an attack, although this may not always be consistently possible. What they do find very difficult to do with any reasonable probability of success is also weaken or off-balance the opponent at the same time.
Most beginners and intermediate students, in my experience, hold their arms too compactly. Their elbow is too close to the body, and the forearm is held at about 90 degrees to the upper arm. This shape is easy to collapse when force is applied to it, and the lats and shoulder girdle are not activated, meaning that it is only the strength of the arm muscles that can be applied. The feeling is of 'pulling' the arm into this shape, possibly because of an over-use of the bicep to hold the shape. This shape can oppositionally 'stop' an incoming attack, but will have difficulty deflecting one.
The better shape (and it is a shape that is found in jodan uke, uchi uke, soto uke, gedan barai, mawashi uke, kake uke and shuto-uchi uke) is one where the lats and shoulder girdle are activated, by holding the elbow 1 1/2 - 2 fists away from the body. This links the arm to the torso, allowing for the whole body to transmit power into the technique. The angle between the upper arm and forearm is obtuse (around 100-110 degrees or thereabouts). The feeling is of 'pushing' the arm into this shape, by actively contracting the triceps. This shape is very difficult to collapse, and is able to be maintained with minimal effort against strong attacks. Without any additional movement, it can readily deflect incoming attacks. It bears many similarities to aikido's 'unbendable arm', and is indeed a more compact version of this structure. I have found the best way to train this structure initially is by testing student's ability to hold the correct shape during sanchin kata testing.
Direction
Most beginners, when they start training uke-waza move their arms across their body, a bit like trying to wipe something away. This is problematic for three reasons. First, the arm will make contact with the technique when it is moving at its fastest, making it harder to carry out successfully. Secondly the contact will be at right angles to the attack, requiring more force across a greater distance to deflect the attack. And thirdly, moving the arm across generally separates it from the rest of the body, meaning it is relying only on the muscles that move the arm in that direction - and the main muscles in the arm are for going out and back, not across. The arm will often leave the 'box' of the torso, weakening the body's posture and making energy transference more inefficient.
A better way to consider the direction of the arm is across and out. This gives an angular line of movement across your centreline, and should be powered by the hips, lats and tricep. Angular movement of the arm means it intercepts the attack earlier, even for the same reaction time; the angle of contact is acute, meaning that less force is needed to divert/redirect the attack; and the arm stays connected to the torso, inside the 'box' making for greater energy transference.
From trying to teach students how to effectively perform and use uke-waza over the last few years I feel two of the major reasons are the shape of the arm and the direction of movement.
Shape
Most beginners and intermediate students, in my experience, hold their arms too compactly. Their elbow is too close to the body, and the forearm is held at about 90 degrees to the upper arm. This shape is easy to collapse when force is applied to it, and the lats and shoulder girdle are not activated, meaning that it is only the strength of the arm muscles that can be applied. The feeling is of 'pulling' the arm into this shape, possibly because of an over-use of the bicep to hold the shape. This shape can oppositionally 'stop' an incoming attack, but will have difficulty deflecting one.
The better shape (and it is a shape that is found in jodan uke, uchi uke, soto uke, gedan barai, mawashi uke, kake uke and shuto-uchi uke) is one where the lats and shoulder girdle are activated, by holding the elbow 1 1/2 - 2 fists away from the body. This links the arm to the torso, allowing for the whole body to transmit power into the technique. The angle between the upper arm and forearm is obtuse (around 100-110 degrees or thereabouts). The feeling is of 'pushing' the arm into this shape, by actively contracting the triceps. This shape is very difficult to collapse, and is able to be maintained with minimal effort against strong attacks. Without any additional movement, it can readily deflect incoming attacks. It bears many similarities to aikido's 'unbendable arm', and is indeed a more compact version of this structure. I have found the best way to train this structure initially is by testing student's ability to hold the correct shape during sanchin kata testing.
Direction
Most beginners, when they start training uke-waza move their arms across their body, a bit like trying to wipe something away. This is problematic for three reasons. First, the arm will make contact with the technique when it is moving at its fastest, making it harder to carry out successfully. Secondly the contact will be at right angles to the attack, requiring more force across a greater distance to deflect the attack. And thirdly, moving the arm across generally separates it from the rest of the body, meaning it is relying only on the muscles that move the arm in that direction - and the main muscles in the arm are for going out and back, not across. The arm will often leave the 'box' of the torso, weakening the body's posture and making energy transference more inefficient.
A better way to consider the direction of the arm is across and out. This gives an angular line of movement across your centreline, and should be powered by the hips, lats and tricep. Angular movement of the arm means it intercepts the attack earlier, even for the same reaction time; the angle of contact is acute, meaning that less force is needed to divert/redirect the attack; and the arm stays connected to the torso, inside the 'box' making for greater energy transference.
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