THE UKE; MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

 by Phillip Starr

In the practice of almost all of the traditional martial ways, participants often engage in prearranged forms of attack and defense. One of them assumes the role of the attacker who will “receive” the counter-attack of the “defender. This person is referred to as the “uke.” In the martial art of judo, the uke may not necessarily initiate an attack; he may simply receive his partner's technique.

Many students assume this role with a sense of passivity, lobbing unfocused kicks and punches at their partners. There is no real power, no spirit, no intent, no real technique. The uke often regards himself as little more than a human dummy; he participates in the exercise only to provide his partner with a live target. He's anxiously awaiting his turn; when he and his partner switch roles. That's the fun part of the exercise, isn't it? So, he puts up with having to play the part of the uke and this mindset is a huge mistake for both of them.

The defender (receiver) must learn to respond appropriately to a genuine attack rather than a sterile, lifeless technique and it is the attacker's job to assist him in doing so. The uke should do his level best to execute a sharp, properly focused technique. Certainly, the level of power that he uses should be commensurate with his partner's level of expertise. That's a fancy way of saying that one should not apply the same level of technique against a beginning student that one would apply against a more senior practitioner. But the technique should be clean and strong. If he just passively chucks his technique out there without proper focus and celerity he is doing two things, both of which will eventually have a negative impact on him and his training partner.

First, he will develop the habit of launching sloppy, half-baked techniques instead of crisp, properly spirited technique. He is either ignoring or doesn't believe in the tried and true axiom that says, “You will fight exactly as you train.” This could be a real problem should he ever need to call on his martial prowess to defend himself against an assailant who's intent on suddenly and traumatically altering his dental structure or worse. I've heard many students say, “Well, I'd perform differently if it was for real.” This statement is completely untrue. Persons who make this kind of statement have probably never been in a real fight and they have no clue what they're up against. Whether or not they believe it, they will perform exactly as they've practiced because it's become an unconscious habit!

Secondly, he is doing his partner a terrible disservice by helping him learn him to respond to weak, sloppy techniques. His partner doesn't get the kind of training that he needs and, keeping the aforementioned axiom in mind, will more than likely come up short in a real skirmish.

It's important that both participants benefit from this type of training exercise. The uke should perform to the best of his ability (again, with the issued power and speed being consistent with his partner's level of skill) and when he receives the counter-attack, he must make no attempt to block or evade it. Should he do so, he would be demonstrating a mistrust of his partner and this is regarded as extremely rude. This kind of training routine is based on a sense of trust. Both parties must strive to control their punches and kicks, so as to avoid actually striking each other. Until a student is able to effectively control his techniques and stop them just short of contact, he should not engage in two-person training exercises.

Perhaps one of the most neglected aspects of the uke's role is that of intention. That is, he must have the intention of actually attacking his partner. Of course, he will control his attack to ensure that he doesn't injure his classmate but he must mentally feel that his objective is to strike him down.

You may wonder just why is this intention thing so important. The technique is going to be the same with or without intention, isn't it? Well, on the surface it would seem so. But with continued practice, the difference becomes obvious. If you apply the principle of intention to your practice, your partner will eventually learn to “sense” the moment when you are about to attack. Such a skill is invaluable in a real encounter. However, if there is no intention, there is nothing to “sense”; there is no real attack. It's essential that when practicing with a partner, we always bear in mind of the maxims of judo; “Mutual welfare and benefit.” And by ensuring that your training partner derives benefit from your practice with him, you will do the same for yourself.