Mash reset

A student was telling me today that he'd been practicing ukigoshi with his 110 pound wife at home and that it was a lot different than practicing loading my well-over-200 pound butt up at class. That reminded me of a funny story.

.

Back in college we had this guy who was very much heavier than any of us as well as being about a foot shorter and Kodokan trained. This guy didn't actively try to resist throws just to be a butt, but he instinctively lowered and blocked any throwing attempts. It was terrible trying to throw him.

.

One day sensei had us working on ukigoshi and I was paired with Mr. center-on-the-ground and I was sweating and heaving and grunting trying to pick this dude up. I thought I was going to bust a gut trying to get him off the ground. Sensei called a halt and everyone switched partners and I wound up with this teenage girl who might have weighed 100 pounds. She looked up and saw me sweating and frothing at the mouth after exerting against the last guy and she held up her hands and commanded me, "Whoa, boy! Mash reset!" Good advice, because she might not have landed yet if I'd grabbed her and thrown her into the rafters after getting accustomed to the previous partner.

.

Wise girl. Good lesson. Mash reset!

.

___________

Subscribe now for free self-defense martial arts updates from the Mokuren Dojo blog