Wind-up versus Compression

I had a really good class today. The technique taught was sokumen irimi nage from various attacks and I was able to focus on my own training and what I wanted to work on without worrying about whether my partner could A) do the technique, or B) receive the technique.

Today I noticed that I was winding up before throwing my uke. I would be standing there with uke bent over double, completely under my control and I would back my arms off and let my weight go back and then go forward again and drop my arms back down in an attempt to make a harder throw.

Well...that is wrong in so many ways

The main point is that every movement you make should end up exactly where you want to be to start the next motion. You should be balanced all the way through and control uke all the way through so that the technique is irresistable. Basically the motion before is the wind-up. If in the middle of the technique you back off your power (as in winding up to throw) you've thrown away any dynamic movement you've had (ie. your original 'wind-up') and you've given uke a chance to escape.

One of the reasons to want to 'wind-up' is that the throw feels stronger and it sometimes feels good to smash uke into the mat. Unfortunately, doing it this way is not actually stronger because uke has had a chance to regain some balance and so the throw ends up being less effective.

A better method of making the throw harder is something I think of as compression. If the idea is that every motion sets you up for the next movement then you should be exactly where you need to be when you go to throw. You don't need to pull back and 'wind-up'. You need to move forward and move uke. As you move it is important that you don't give up your kihon shape but keep moving in the proper direction without compromising your balance. Sometimes (especially when moving statically) this results in a moment when uke does not move. When this happens you have to trust in your technique and compress into uke with your basic shape not changing. If your balance, direction and movement is correct uke will start to move ahead of you and your technique will be powerfull.

Unfortunately it is too easy to pull back, wind-up and try to force uke to move by hitting them when they don't move right away. We need to keep the dynamic form of Aikido in mind when we practice and keep moving forward to let the technique happen instead of forcing it.