What Makes a Good Uke?
Ken Harding

What makes a good uke? [An uke is your training partner on whom you perform techniques... the one who attacks you.] But don’t think about your opponent here... I’m talking now about you. What makes you a good uke?

Principle 1) A good uke does not help out his or her partner. A good uke will not do things to make their partner look good. A good uke does not go along with techniques whether they are proper or not. A good uke realizes that the best way to be a good partner is to provide a realistic test of their partner’s skills. A good uke will only move when moved... not falling or stepping without reason. A good uke responds naturally and correctly to being properly off balance, or to the proper application of pain. A good uke does not shrink away from pain, or from fear of being thrown.

Principle 2) A good uke does not make training unnecessarily difficult for their partner. A good uke does not intentionally disrupt his or her partner's technique. A good uke realizes that if his partner's technique is going to fail, it is going to fail because it was incorrect, not because he obstructed it. A good uke does not resist unrealistically. This means that sometimes physical resistance is unrealistic, based on the context of a realistic situation. In a real situation, the strikes, kicks, painful grabs, stabs and gouges are all real, and are effective. However, in training, we don't routinely strike and kick full power, and skin grabs are used cautiously... the trade-off for all this is that the techniques lose a lot of their original impact.

Therefore, the uke has to imagine what it would have felt like if they just got smashed in the face, or what it would have felt like if they just got run through with a sword... So the uke has to 'go along' with what would be considered a reasonable reaction to a realistic attack. But this is not violating principle 1. A good uke will not let his or her partner get away with mistakes. You would not want your partner to let you get away with mistakes just to make you look good, would you? If you answer yes, then you have not let go of your ego, your self, and you cannot advance in understanding or ability, and cannot attain the zero state.

A good uke neither helps nor hurts his or her partner's efforts. A good uke is like a clear mirror, reflecting only what his partner does. A good uke is completely neutral-- not assisting, not obstructing.

There are no "turns" in training. It is always your turn, whether you are attacking or defending, winning or losing. Many crucial skills of movement that we use in Budo Taijutsu can only be fully understood through the proper use of ukemi-- not only through the rolls and falls, but how you shift and move when your elbows, wrists and shoulders get locked by your opponent, or how you make subtle changes when you are about to be thrown.

Principle 3) A good uke adjusts to his or her partner's skill level. This includes speed, intensity and realism. If two students are advanced, and choose to train in a very intense, realistic way, then that is a special situation. It is necessary to train in that way as a student approached advanced levels. But it is not the daily way of training. If your partner is not yet able to handle a realistic attack, then it would be irresponsible of you to attack with speed and power. If your training partner is able to handle a realistic attack, then it would be unwise to withhold it.

Above all, remember to relax and develop natural movement. Much, if not most, of your ability to achieve natural movement will come from your time as uke-- remaining utterly relaxed and moving correctly while you are being thrown around, getting your joints locked up, getting hit and kicked and choked. Do not ignore this phase of your training. There is no way to advance to the higher levels of understanding other than this.