I don't know the circumstances, so I can't answer why. There are principles that can be worked from a static position. Some throws (even, in rare situations, some of the more "aiki" ones) can be executed from there. There should be a purpose to static drills, though. Sometimes it is done to take away the easy answer.Then why was the instructor even teaching that then? Shows even more that he was a fraud
And I don't know what you did that made it not work, nor whether she was stymied, or simply didn't bother to change the situation to fit the technique being drilled. I have met instructors who did not yet understand some of these concepts. They mostly aren't frauds - they just don't understand.