We are currently running a beginners course here in Sydney.

Having seen the article in Aikido Journal and heard that it had been tried up at
Griffith Aikido in Brisbane, I thought it would be useful to give it a go. I
consulted with Gabby beforehand (thanks!) to glean whatever insight I could.

Another instructor and I tried out the instructions for 15 minutes or so before
class. (It's a lot of fun even if you don't want to incorporate it into your
teaching methodology.)

During class, we first ran the graded students through the drills. There was
plenty of positive feedback from them, a couple of people commenting that the
exercises really opened up and relaxed their shoulders.

Then we put the beginners through their paces. I think the beginners got a lot
out of it, but didn't realise how much because they had nothing with which to
compare it. By contrast, the graded students commented on how much easier it was
than when they first learned.

In general, I would say that this is a very good system, but every system has
its advantages and disadvantages. It's very good in that it provides a series of
stepping stones to ukemi. Its greatest benefit is that the back of the shoulder
is already in contact with the mat before the student has to surrender any
balance at all, so the student literally cannot fall any distance whatsoever.

Its greatest drawback is that complete beginners have a tendency to place their
head on the floor in order to balance, no matter how much you stress that they
should not. This is frankly dangerous. (With our standard method of teaching
forward rolls, trying to balance with your head on the floor is never a
temptation.)

Common problems are people placing their hands too far in front of their body or
bringing their weight too far forward (both of these cause too much pressure on
the hands). Remembering to breathe helps enormously also. I found that people
who couldn't do it at first were able to after this type of adjustment.

I also used the concept of reaching back to touch the foot in order to get the
roll happening. I made a few other refinements (I hope!) as we went along.

I would recommend that people wanting to incorporate this methodology spend more
time than I did in learning it themselves first, and then teach it one-on-one
with complete beginners.

I plan to continue these exercises, probably with some extensions, in the next
few weeks.

best regards

Andrew






Gabrielle Paynter <gabrielle@...> wrote:
Hi all,

I discovered an article on Aikido Journal which explains a teaching method for
rolling using methods from the Russian martial art, Systema.
(http://www.aikidojournal.com/?id=433)

The systema method of rolling uses breathing and relaxation techniques to
overcome or prevent the development of fear. Finding the article was timely as
I'd been approached by a couple of junior students who had said that falling
forward scared the hell out of them a class earlier.

I was asked by our head instructor to teach this method to the class and started
with a small group of beginners including one of the students who had expressed
fear of rolling. I incorporated a suggestion from someone reading the original
post to include a roll by reaching behind to grab the foot and rolling over. The
students were able to perform all the movements and relax further into the
stretches but the end "roll" was very messy, needing lots of room to avoid
hitting each other. I also went through these exercises with the whole class
another day but omitted the roll at the end due to space restrictions.

I found that a couple of the older, more stiff students weren't able to get
their shoulder down to the ground and so the massaging element wasn't
successful. Although they assured me that the movement was comfortable I am
still a bit unsure whether it is beneficial for them to practise it and whether
they were able to maintain relaxation throughout. I asked the student who was
fearful for some feedback and she said it was helpful, although I've noticed
since that she still has issues both in rolling practise and rolling from
techniques, so perhaps this process needs to be repeated or a program created
over a period of time. Many students told me the really enjoyed the exercise and
found the relaxation element beneficial.

If anyone else has tried this rolling program, or practised it, I'd love to hear
your experiences. Also if anyone has any suggestions of how to create a longer
program with it I'd also love to hear your suggestions.

Cheers,
Gabrielle


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