I heard that we aren't supposed to DO a technique, but we FLOW into one.. but many times when training, I as a beginner, find myself in a position unsuitable to do the technique Sensei is teaching. I wanna know what you do when that happens (if ever), would you flow into a different technique or stops and start from the beginning?
I've done both, but it depends on the situation. If as nage I'm trying to show how an attack by kohai is a little off in one direction or another, then I will do something different as an example of what feels more natural. Whenever training with sempai I stick to the form we're working on, which often means starting over from the beginning (focusing particularly on the moment of contact since theoretically i should be able to move in nearly any way from that point onward; that's the point from which i should have enough control to move how I want - i.e. do the waza selected). Sempai uke tend to correct me as I go so each moment in the sequence is based on a more or less sound understanding of the one just before it. Usually they'll stop to point something out, but then let me try working on it a few times before stopping again. It depends though. When the point is to practice flow, we tend to stop less; when the point is to practice something more technical, we tend to stop more to work on that idea that each sequence is predicated from adequate principles of form. Different personalities also have different approaches to how much to let me/kohai feel their way through the form of the movement. Some folks stop a lot; some not so much.