Ueshiba Morihei’s Iconic Disruption

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Ueshiba Morihei is rather known for an iconic throw that he seemed to do with greater frequency as he got older.  An uke would begin to approach him and he would put his hand up to uke’s face and uke would be thrown.  Sometimes Ueshiba sensei would touch uke’s face and just as often he wouldn’t.   

I’ve chosen to describe this form of dynamic equilibrium disruption because it bears many similarities to the one’s described earlier in this series of articles.   

For instance, uke normally had a strong intent to move into a particular space prior to engaging Ueshiba sensei when these throws were executed.  There is a mental commitment prior to a physical commitment, and both were encouraged. 

Naturally, each instance of preceding a throw is singular, consequently each appropriate response is singular as well.  Havening noted this fact, I will continue to make general statements about how a disruption is executed, trusting that the reader will understand these are generalities rather than absolute statements. 

Uke mentally and then physically commits to passing through a space in order to achieve some goal.  Ueshiba sensei unexpectedly interrupts this process by suddenly physically and visually occupying the space already committed to by uke with his hand.  Two objects cannot simultaneously occupy the same space, so uke’s unconscious reaction is the same as that made in the instance of the sudden appearance of the kasa.  Sometimes this reaction is sudden, and at other times Ueshiba must wait for Uke’s mind to catch up to what is happening before the physical response occurs. This is important because if he did not wait, uke would continue forward and their would-be resistance.  Again, if resistance occurs, there is the possibility of recovery on behalf of uke.   

At this point uke’s head either moves back or stays in place while the body continues to move forward. (Btw, this is one way to spot if uke is “tanking” for the demonstrator.  If the biomechanics of their fall is self-generated, it is likely that that they are “performing” a roll.  In this example, if we saw uke stop and then fall backward, that would be one “tell.”  If uke has the capacity to stop their body in space, they still have control over their body.  If uke has the capacity to organize their body into an anticipated fall, they still have control over their body.  If uke is demonstrating control over their body, there is no real disruption of equilibrium taking place and therefore no real throw taking place either.  In other words, when a real throw is executed, uke has no choice whether to “take a fall” or not.  They are falling, the only question that remains is what they do with that fact.  A talented uke will usually fall in such a way that they are protected as best as possible. An even more talented uke will try to dovetail the fact of their falling into a further attack.  In a martial context, the “thrower” will act to assure that uke remains out of control and no longer a threat, this usually means significant damage of some sort.  For those that say, “that’s not Aikido” I would remind them that the founder of Aikido said that he couldn’t demonstrate “real” Aikido before the Emperor because all his uke’s would end up dead.  As it was, he was told to “demonstrate the lie.” And all of Ueshiba’s ukes ended up only “nearly” dead! 

Okay, now we get to the part that I find most interesting.  Usually at this point uke’s body arches.  If Ueshiba sensei were to continue to apply force along the line of the arch there is the possibility that uke could recover.  This possibility exists because uke’s body is arranged to handle force along the line of the arch.  In fact, uke is both generating and apply force to his body along the line of the arch.  Instead, Ueshiba sensei adds one or two other force vectors that are misaligned with the line of the arch.  The one I most commonly see him use is a line perpendicular to the line of the arch. 

If it doesn’t look like uke’s dynamic equilibrium has been sufficiently disrupted, Ueshiba commonly will simply grab uke’s head with one or two hands and apply force perpendicularly.  Uke cannot resist this force (without defying the laws of physics) but must deal with the resultant force vector that his body participates in.  Ueshiba sensei does too, but he is in a far better position to do so.  Hence, uke splatters over the tatami, and Ueshiba walks (or sometimes bounces) away. 

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