Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

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Article URL: http://www.aikiweb.com/columns/themirror/2005_01.html

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

I could have used some lessons like that.
Nice to hear from you again Al! I think I met you in SF a few years ago at a Yamada Sensei seminar.

Jeanne

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

I liked your story. I don't want to start analyzing it, but it does carry meaning.

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

Yes--Al visited when I was still postop and couldn't join you two on the mat! I'm really looking forward to seeing what she will write for The Mirror. (Susan, sadly, has never visited, hint hint nudge nudge....)

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

Thanks for your comments, Jeanne. I wish I'd met you at a Yamada Shihan seminar in SF--I've never made it out to the west coast for a seminar, though one day I'm coming out to train with Janet. I go to the USAF spring seminar in North Carolina with Yamada Shihan.
Susan

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

Thanks, Tanner. I probably couldn't tell you exactly what that meaning is, but I'm glad you see the connection I was trying to make.

I hate to generalize--but I'm going to do it anyway. Often I see 2 types of folks on the mat: the ones whom aikido "gentles" and the ones it empowers. Some people tend to back away (me for example) and some people can't wait to jump in and get physical. I work and work on this problem, and then my child seems to have been born knowing how much force is necessary and appropriate. She sees a problem and she deals with it. Then it's over.
Susan

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

I could always enter like nobody's business.
Its essentially gotten me invited to leave every employment and group activity I was even involved in.

So I'm devoting the second "half" of my life to blending. The switch seems to be stuck on "chop & pulverise".

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

LOL! You and I really have to grab wrists more often, since (not to mince words...) on the mat I really haven't felt that from you....

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

I'm not stupid. My ukemi isn't NEARLY good enough for me to give it all I got!

However ask anyone in my dojo about opening the windows...without asking ME first! But that appears to be anoher thread...

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

When I read this article I REALLY identifiy with it!
First, allow me to say, I am not the Aikido Student Lan Powers, I am his wife Debra.
My youngest daughter is the mirror image of this wonderful and talented girl, Kelsey, her name is Tonya. When Tonya was a small girl of 3, I was heavily involved with the SCA. At our very first event, she was wearing fake fur from top to bottom, I cannot sew and it was easy, The King who was in his 2nd reign made a comment about the "cute little girl in bunny furs" and commented she was a little barbarian...to which Tonya, in Kelsey style, threw her hand on her hip and told His Majesty she was in no way a barbarian and her name was TONYA. It does indeed look like the drawing of a sword and can have an equally sharp edge. Let me assure you, she at the age of 21 has NEVER blended with any attack but entered and found to be a worthy opponent. Don't worry, it is nice to know there are young women in the world that can take care of themselves and others as well. Your Kelsey could easily be my Tonya who to this day will still stand up to the King, (or anybody else) should she find it necessary. Congratulations on having a daughter who can stand up and Enter with conviction!

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

Great article!
When my step daughter, Justine, was in middle school she decided to go out for wrestling. Her school had a team and in theory girls could join but one of the two male coaches was an ex-marine and he made it fairly clear that in his mind letting girls wrestle was the beginning of the end of Westren Civilization.

He offered little or no encouragement and Justine had to motivate herself for the most part. That is until she started winning... The rule was that when they wrestled other teams who had girls, they would wrestle each other. But they would wrestle boys if the were no girls on the team. The first match Justine had to wrestle a boy she pretty much demolished him. You never saw anyone more pleased and proud than her coach (he was a marine, remember? Winning is the whole deal.) However, the whole screwed up set of societal biases came up when the defeated boys coach humiliated him in front of everyone because a "girl" had beaten him. If that boy had been my son that coach would have been invited to grab my wrist so to speak.

Anyway, it was great experience for Justine. The next year most of the boys started to bulk up from getting their adult hormones and Justine simply couldn't keep up with their increased strength development. But we were really happy she had done it. This is one of the girls (I had five at one point when I was married) I don't worry much about when it comes to handling the boys she goes out with.

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

And George, this is exactly what I was getting at in your thread about women.

Sometimes the issue has to be forced, sometimes its a natural progression, but your story illustrates the change that IS happening.

And sometimes the change is so gradual you have no chance to notice that suddenly WE have control of the remote and resistance is futile.

Am I blending now? Errrrr....

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

Wow......great reading this one. My daughters are 24 and 21.....they both trained for short periods. I started training when they were 8 and 4. I cannot even guess how different our lives would be if I had not started training.
Unfortunatly both were assaulted during their teenage years. They seem to be in their own process of healing. It has been an interesting experience to watch and learn from them. They are among my best teachers.

Emily is definately an irimi woman whereas Shannon seems tenkanish to me. :cool:
I am not sure what else I want to say about this except that it brought up feelings for me and thank you.

Mary Eastland
Berkshire Hills Aikido

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

[quote=Lan Powers]
My youngest daughter is the mirror image of this wonderful and talented girl, Kelsey, her name is Tonya. When Tonya was a small girl of 3, I was heavily involved with the SCA. At our very first event, she was wearing fake fur from top to bottom, I cannot sew and it was easy, The King who was in his 2nd reign made a comment about the "cute little girl in bunny furs" and commented she was a little barbarian...to which Tonya, in Kelsey style, threw her hand on her hip and told His Majesty she was in no way a barbarian and her name was TONYA. It does indeed look like the drawing of a sword and can have an equally sharp edge. Let me assure you, she at the age of 21 has NEVER blended with any attack but entered and found to be a worthy opponent. Don't worry, it is nice to know there are young women in the world that can take care of themselves and others as well.

And actually, her way ends up being nicer than mine after all. I stew and fret about what I should do, making a molehill into a tremendous deal and Kelsey just handles whatever's there and it's over, no hard feelings.
Susan

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

[quote=George S. Ledyard]Great article!

Thanks! Five daughters, huh? Wow. My sensei had an amusing habit. We have a really gentle dojo, but sometimes in the middle of class, Sensei would call up one of the black belts and start hammering him in jyuwaza. We'd look over at the visitors' area, and yes, a new boyfriend had arrived at the dojo to pick up Sensei's 16-year old daughter.
Susan

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

Thanks, Mary. Tenkanish is good too.
Susan

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

Quite nicely.
Susan

Re: Article: Appropriate Force by "The Mirror"
 

LOL! Dennis Hooker has a wonderful story about sitting on the front porch cleaning weapons while his daughter brought home prospective boyfriends...