Enjoy the Victory

I’ve talked before about the importance of giving uke time to move and not rushing to the completion of your technique. Something I’ve been trying to use to help focus on this is the idea of enjoying that time.

Techniques like Ikkyo (or any *kyo) and especially Irimi Nage, have moments where tori needs to feel ukes balance go or their intention change to recovery, in order to make an effective final movement. Those moments are, in reality, just a split second but allowing thoughts like “this is going well” or “yep, I’m winning” you can enjoy that time. The beneficial side-effect is that it gives your technique the time it needs to be effective.

There is another place this can apply too, and that is the the initial strike. For the likes of tsuki, giving the attack a little breathing room as you step off the line let it run out steam and stretches uke to the point the attack no longer has any power. This extra moment when the attack has passed you is time to enjoy the victory, before moving in to execute your technique.