I've just had a realization regarding the kote-gaeshi pin.
Typically, when taking kote-gaeshi, uke lands on his back with tori still holding uke's wrist and arm in an advantageous position. Tori then cranks uke's arm to roll him on to his belly in order to apply the pin.
The problem is always an uncooperative or sluggish uke who decides not to roll over. It's quite difficult to force uke over and the situation easily devolves into a wrestling match. That's not very aiki, so what am I missing?
Now, I think I understand what I am missing.
It's really no different than an uke who refuses to follow tori around when tori controls his arm. He lets tori get behind him and then refuses to turn himself. The answer there is obvious. If uke refuses to participate in the fight, then there is no fight. But equally valid is tori's option of just choking out the dolt who stands there with his back to him refusing to move.
Same situation. From kote-gaeshi, uke lands on his back then refuses to roll over or move. There are two options. One, the fight is over. Two, tori can just kick and stomp him or take a front mount and start punching him in the face. I don't think that any of that is going to sound good to uke. Instead, the most logical and natural response for anyone being thrown on to their back is to try to get back up.
To get up from your back, you pretty much have to roll over at least partially to get to your knees. When uke moves to regain his feet, tori simply follows the movement and secures the pin. Tori doesn't need to force uke over. Uke wants to turn over, not to submit, but to get back up. Tori just follows uke's intention and uses the arm to steer uke into the pin.
I tested my idea out today. So far it is working smoothly, easily, and much more like what I imagine aikido to be all about.
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