Uke?

I don't like the term "block" (though I use it frequently out of habit) because it, typically, has non-dynamic connotations. The typical, middle-of-the-bo "block" presented in kobudo is an example. It's punctuated and sets-up a race where the opponent has a slight advantage, either through seeing it coming and reversing early or rebound of energy once contact is made. The need for near-perfect perpendicularity to the attack (if you don't want to get your fingers whacked) is another consideration. The typical presentation geometry, between attacker and defender, does not give the defender an advantage, hence the race. Ideally, I would like my defense to garner me some advantage.

What if the defensive technique (initial contact with the opponent) happens much earlier than the middle-of-the-bo posture? What if the back end of the bo receives the attack and the typical, middle-posture is just the follow through? Now the defender has an advantage, the opponents fingers or hand gets whacked and the follow-through impedes the opponents use of the back end of his bo. (Consider this applied to the sequences of Choun no Kon.)

Folks talk about uke as "receiving" because of the disruptive collision that the term "blocking" typically implies. Uke is smooth and flowing, enveloping and deceptive. Blocking is banging and crashing. Granted this is just a terminological difference that could be meaningless were it not for the common practice. I have traveled some and trained in all the places I have been.  The most common, though not exclusive, presentation of "blocking" is banging and crashing into the opponents attack, absorbing and deflecting is not the typical mode that accompanies the terminology of "blocking". It is also mostly presented, both physically and verbally, in a punctuated nature. You "block" then you do "X" (something else) and the two are separate entities. In Goju we talk about receiving and controlling, which is one continuous motion. I think that the same dynamic can be applied to kobudo kata.