Aikido Ukemi

Video Transcript

"The last part of this test, and what I feel is darn near the most important parts of this test, is the Ukemi section. Ukemi is the falling, or the receiving the attack portion. Uke, is the person who takes the fall. Literally translated, I've been told that Uke means, translated, the one who suffers. So, Uke is actually one who suffers for the sake of learning. And my friend Neko is going to demonstrate the forward rolls, and the backward rolls, and then what we call Shiko, or Samurai Walk. He'll start on his right side. What he's going to do is keep good energy throughout his body, throughout his arms, creating a circular motion there. He's going to lower his hips down to the ground, touch his arms to the ground, and roll over his shoulder. And then come back on his left side. Same thing. Notice how he keeps everything tucked, and everything is nice and round and very smooth. You don't hear da-da-da-da, it's just nice and smooth. The only thing you hear is the sound of his hakama scraping the ground. The backwards roll looks very much like the frontwards roll, and obviously you're going backwards. So from here, he turns, moves away from the attack. Again. And finally, the Samurai Walk, or Shiko. Keeping your ankles close together, moving from your hips. A nice, controlled, efficient means of moving on the ground. Also very painful on the knees. Thank you, Neko."