Isolating a thing

Sometimes I like to take one singular aspect of a technique and think of a way to isolate it as a way of helping others (and myself) learn a concept, or at least broaden their view of it.

This morning, while going over ushiro ate, I felt something very interesting. So here's what I had everyone do.

Have a person just stand there, feet even, in balance, in good posture. Have a second person stand right behind them (you might refer to him as the tori in this situation, I suppose). Have tori simply place his hands on uke's shoulders. Not hard, but not necessarily light either. Just the weight of gravity.

Chances are, uke won't notice much.

Then have tori remove their hands, and put them back down on uke, but this time, with the palms further forward, so the heel of his palms sits just below uke's clavicle bone (palms and finger covering more chest surface area). Again, not hard, not pulling, just the weight of gravity.

It was interesting to feel, as uke, how your weight instantly shifts to your heels, your shoulders dip ever so slightly, and your hips jut forward just a tad—without either of you ever taking a single step.

I always knew how I should place my hands but for some reason, isolating a thing like this really opened my eyes!