Internal strength/aiki vs. mechanically efficient movement?

[Please visit our sponsor:]

[Lee Salzman]

Let's stay you study movement from a certain standpoint: when you are trying to apply force to something, you find the most mechanically efficient way for each joints' work to feed into the the others on either side simultaneously, spanning from the feet at the ground to the hands. I don't mean in the sense of movement starting in the feet and ending at the hands, but all things along the span simultaneously exerting both directions along the span, like a bunch of initially squished springs all expanding against each other. The expansion is happening due to muscular effort.

Is that external strength? How does it differ from internal strength? How does it differ from aiki?

[C. David Henderson]

Hi Lee,

I don't even play an expert on TV, but here are some impressions, FWIW.

: I like your description of movement, and the broader question your OP suggests.

: Since "IS" requires training to rewire the body, finding the most effecient method to move may be relative to the person's present condition and skill.

: When I hear people talking about "aiki" I tend to infer the development of a skill set for using internal conditioning, not simply "IS."

What do you think?

Sincerely,

[ChrisHein]

I think what you are describing is a major part of internal martial arts.

I think, "Aiki" is different than what you described. I believe "Aiki" is non physical. But non magical as well. Aiki is what musicians use in order to play music together, not physical, but not magical either.

[Lee Salzman]

What do you think?

I do think there are distinctions between these things, as the point of my line of questioning was not to imply they are the same, and my own take on it is boring and probably just flat-out wrong. I was just hoping more than two people would chime in as to what they see as the differences. :D

[InternalPowerSac]

Friends I hope this gives you some more insight. If you do make it as deep as my blog I recommend following chronologically from the beginning to gain a fuller understanding of my thought processes. This happened very quickly and my brain is a chaotic mess by nature so it took me a moment to get it to coalesce enough to communicate somewhat.

http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19293

[Eric in Denver]

I think what you are describing is a major part of internal martial arts.

I think, "Aiki" is different than what you described. I believe "Aiki" is non physical. But non magical as well. Aiki is what musicians use in order to play music together, not physical, but not magical either.

Have you read the book "Mirroring People" by Marco Iacoboni? If the above is your perspective, you may find it interesting. It discusses recent findings regarding mirror neurons and its implications for various areas of life.