I CHANGED MY MIND about asking about my flop (actually, lack thereof) as demonstration Uke last week. I’d been content to just accept what happened and move on. That changed at a clinic I attended this morning that provided tips and techniques for instructing classes at our school.

I’m not an instructor, but the clinic was open to brown belts and above who are interested in studying that aspect of our Aikido. While listening to a lecture on how to better communicate with students, I began to rethink my attitude. If I had another situation of being Uke for an unfamiliar technique, was there some better way to react? Or if someday I demonstrated a technique to a class, and my Uke had trouble, what should I do?

So after the clinic, I asked Wade-san if he wouldn’t mind telling me what he’d been thinking on the mat that day, in the spirit of learning more about instructing. He replied that it was a combination of things, but at first he was just wondering why I didn’t slide to flat like we had just practiced. He also figured that I would eventually work it out, which I did. I think the lesson for me is that when I’m confronted with a confusing situation, find a way to fit with what is happening instead of fighting it.