Getting used to left handed forward rolls in aikido?

Has anyone had this problem? If so, how did you overcome it?





I%26#039;m right-handed and attempting left-handed rolls feel awkward and wrong no matter how many times I practice it.|||In my experience (personal, through observation and in teaching), there is a %26#039;strong%26#039; side and a %26#039;weak%26#039; side for everyone.





People favor their strong side. Often, a new student, learning to roll, will take the harder, off-hand roll on their favored side than go with the more %26#039;appropriate%26#039; side.





It takes practice and as a teacher, I try to get the students to work more on whichever side is their weak side. If they favor the right, twice as many reps on the left and vs. versa.





Eventually, everything feels comfortable on both sides.... may be not perfect on either, but the same on both - that%26#039;s a good thing.





I%26#039;d rather a student be able to change and deal with whichever side is thrown at them than be an expert at one and unskilled on the other where they want to change and roll on the odd side because its more comfortable if not appropriate to the situation.





In a way, its more valuable to work on the things that are uncomfortable than those that come natural.





You say %26#039;no matter how many times I practice it.%26#039;





Regardless how many times, if you haven%26#039;t made a discovery that makes things seem comfortable on both sides, you haven%26#039;t practiced it enough.





You may have done it on the weak side 1000 times... then again, maybe rep 1001 will be the one where if finally sinks in.





Its not about how many you have done to date, its about do you feel comfortable on both sides or not. If not, you haven%26#039;t done enough - no matter the count.|||Hi.





I know exactly what you%26#039;re talking about; I think just about everyone has this problem at some point.





The way I at least know I%26#039;m doing it right is because of how it feels on my back. I know from years and years of experience doing shoulder rolls off my right side that I should feel the main pressure at a diagonal on my back from my right shoulder to just above my left hip.





For a left shoulder roll just reverse this, you should feel pressure at a diagonal from your left shoulder to just above your right hip. As long as you feel this you can know you%26#039;re doing it right. Also have someone watch you who knows what their talking about and have them tell you if something%26#039;s not right so you can correct it. Chances are it%26#039;s all in your head and they will tell you it looks fine, at least that%26#039;s what happened with me.





To get over this it%26#039;s just a matter of repetition and muscle memory. I would just set aside five minutes a day for a couple weeks and do noting but rolls on your left side. Compared to your right side it may never feel completely comfortable but you should be able to do it without a moments hesitation after some good solid practicing.





I hope this helps and good luck :)|||Most everyone experiences this problem because of the way your brain and body works. The right side of your brain controls balance and coordination while the opposite side tends to control fine muscle movement. That is why most people find it easier to fall to the left in Judo or roll over the left shoulder in Judo or Akido than over the right shoulder and only repeated practice will help to overcome it.|||It can throw you a little bit. roll from your knees to begin with. Do at least twenty rolls a day, after a couple of weeks, progress to standing rolls. You should nail it pretty soon





http://markstraining.com Fighting and Training Methods for Unarmed Martial Artists|||Our sensei had a simple solution for that problem.... perform 50 rolls per side every day(we trained 6 days a week) as part of warm up drills : P That fixed the problem for us in no time : )