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But except for shomenate, aikidoka vastly prefer to be outside of uke's arms or behind his shoulder (shikaku). In fact, it is not until techniques #13 (tenkai kotehineri) and #14 (shihonage) that we encounter the other two basic solutions to the problem of being caught directly in front of uke.
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So, why is shomenate taught first when it seems so contrary to the aikidoka's primary tactic of getting into the dead angle behind uke's arm?
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Because as Jagger-sensei says, "You can't always get what you want."
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Almost 100% of the time, an attacker will have desires contrary to your standing behind them ;-) so (especially while you are learning) you will often find that uke can easily spoil your techniques by turning to face you.
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Tomiki's teaching system places the main backup plan first because it solves so many problems.
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Basically, Tomiki's system is set up as if to say, "Always try to get behind uke, but if you find yourself toe-to-toe inside uke's arms and too close, your simplest, most effective solution is to push uke's face and stride directly through him. That is, whenever an attacker spoils your technique by turning to face you, do shomenate.
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Isn't it kind of neat that Tomiki-sensei gave us the answer to most problems first!?
P.S. incidentally, isn't it also neat that kumi-judo gives us another great back-up plan for aikido techniques that go bad because virtually everything in judo is done from toe-to-toe, between uke's arms, and close!?
P.P.S. isn't it also interesting that pressing the face as in shomenate is disallowed in judo competition? Ostensibly this is for safety, but shomenate also spoils most of the conditions that are required for most judo techniques to work - that is, toe-to-toe, between uke's arms, and close.
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Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com
