Working on two of the lapel grabs, Omote Gyaku and Ura Gyaku, tonight. When you first start learning anything, it’s static, slow and semi-uncoordinated while you figure out the mechanics, which is why you learn from an actual grab, not an attempted grab.
After a while, you get smoother and then you can take it up a notch to catch an attempted grab, after that you can start to play with it and see where your body wants to direct your uke (training partner/attacker). Just as you would with a musical instrument, you need to know the scales and the rules to be able to play anything freeform successfully.
West Auckland Bujinkan Ninjutsu 