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In active and intentional ukemi, uke is feeling out the edge of his own body’s abilities. He is taking stock of what it takes to defeat him, to lock his body up, to throw him, or to cut him down. He is taking notes and feeling, through what I’ll call somatic intelligence, where he could stop, counter, or reverse tori’s attack.

Ukemi is where one invests in losing so that one learns how not to lose and eventually how to win. Ukemi is where one finds his own, but also tori’s, weaknesses and strengths.