AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.
Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.
If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
Since there is no one to talk to on the Aikichat, I might as well add another blog!
Monday, December 16th, 2002:
We sometimes call Nage "#1" and Uke "#2".
1 is the leader and 2 is the follower.
None of them are easy. To be a good leader is the hardest thing to do.
My sensei said that in order to be a good leader, one should first know how to follow.
The follower must keep constant eye and body contact with the leader. He must keep pace and be alert at all times to any changes or mistakes the leader might do.
One interesting thing is that a good follower can turn into a leader.
If Uke is a good follower, he keeps pace and doesn't lag behind. He watches every move that Nage makes and can see the slightest mistake done by Nage. If he has kept pace, he can use that 'hole' to reverse roles and become #1.
That is why a good follower is never really following any more, he is secretly leading.
Thursday, December 5th, 2002:
No matter what we do, how we write it, in whichever language- 1+1 will always equal 2. (at the top of the page, I had normal numbers, roman, arabic, right to left... written out 1+1=2)
But still there is a difference...
It is in the WAY we write it.
The writing is the only thing that changes. It can be fancyful or clumbsy, stressed or carefree, etc....
But it is the same with doing a technique in pairs. We have two people and because of that, we have a technique. The people are 1+1, since they are training. The technique is 2.
But also in this practise, like in numbers- there are many ways to express it.
A technique can be clumbsy or fancyful, carefree or stressed.
It will still be a technique, but the way it looks will change. The technique might be successful, but that is not all that is important in training. Great importance is given to what each "1" puts into the technique and this will shape the way it will look.
One should not be clumbsy, but not fancyful either.
Each "1" should just give 'presence' into the technique. This presence is constructed from energy, presentness, alertness, calmness, etc.
If both "1"'s will do this, they will shape the way they look and of course- this will influence the way the technique looks on the outside.
"Looks" is for someone on the outside, but the feeling it will generate will be felt and shared by both "1"'s.
10-02-2005 11:32 AM 