Tuning In
 

Re-using a bit of stuff I asked on the Aikido-L mailing list and working off of the quote used in Ross Robertson's recent column, Aikido: A Brief Field-Guide to its Flora and Fauna" which read, "Robert Fripp once wrote that "music is the cup that holds the wine of silence." Aikido has (or perhaps is) a kind of music of its own, with all of the elements of rhythm, melody, and of course, harmony. These combine into the various structures that can be manifested as techniques"...

I guess with talk about music and aikido, I'm sort of thinking of how people start developing their own "playing style" and how/when that occurs there as well as in aikido.

There has been talk about how music is, as Mozart supposedly put it, "Silence is very imporant. The silence between the notes are as important as the notes themselves." I asked something like this on Aikido-L a few/several years back, but: What do people think would be the "silence" in aikido?

-- Jun

Re: Tuning In
 

Interesting question. To me, the silence would be in the performance of a technique where there is total harmony between the tori and uke-the total lack of tension or conflict.

Re: Tuning In
 

IMHO, the silence is in the "awe" when you connect and find that common rhythm.

BTW, there is no silence, there is only the rhythm. Even the spaces between Mozart's notes are just the upbeat waiting for the rhythm.

Re: Tuning In
 

Hello All,
for me, the silence between notes is when you are free from all the "brain chatter" (thoughts, if you will) and everything then flows.

At this point in my life, I get that event every now and then, and think "Cool, I had a state of non-mind - which I have just lost by thinking about it" (Slap self in fore head) :rolleyes:

Re: Tuning In
 

Hang time......You know, pause in the midst of motion. as when direction changes or waiting for the uke to" turn the corner". Or hang time in mid air for uke during a throw.
Lan

Re: Tuning In
 

its in the breath also isnt it? between inhale/exhale. the ideal time to squeeze the trigger of a handgun is at that point. its the zero point. maybe its also "keeping one point". food 4 thought.

Re: Tuning In
 

in a chinese painting, the empty spaces are just as important as the images. so in aikido, even the days when you do not train on the mats would be just as important. SOMETIMES, i see things a little more clearly when i am off the mats. unavoidably healing an injury, for example, you get great insights on principles, how a technique works for you or might work for you, or how aikido has actually molded my life and behavior towards others..., etc. i think there are a lot of other instances i would consider a "silence" in aikido...