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Re: "Energy"
Maybe it's just me because I'm an engineer, but when I hear the word 'energy' I tend to interpret it most naturally in a literal physical way. E.g., the two most immediately obvious forms of energy in aikido being kinetic energy = 1/2*mass*(velocity squared), and gravitational potential energy = mass*height*(gravitational acceleration constant), and of course since energy is always conserved each can be transformed into the other or transferred to another mass (or ultimately dissipated into frictional heating at the end of a technique...).
Both of these seem perfectly applicable to a lot of aikido contexts, since we are after all talking about the rapid movement of large masses. As far as I can see (I'm a beginner in aikido) you do in fact 'literally' deflect uke's energy and do interesting things with it. For example you might move out of the way in such a way that their kinetic energy they intended for use in a collision with some vulnerable part of your anatomy is still there, and add a very small amount of your own energy to slightly deflect the trajectory of their mass in such a way that they didn't intend (without usually trying to actually stop them, which would require a much larger force than just deflecting them slightly off their original path), or you might do a 'throw' that isn't literally a 'throw' but rather you somehow getting uke off balance -- ie, their centre of gravity not being supported -- so that their own gravitational potential energy brings them down.
You actually are 'literally' using their own energy to bring them down, as far as I can see.
I wouldn't really say you 'absorb' their energy though unless you let them hit you really hard or something...
But then other times, in many of the quotes you guys are giving it's obviously not meant in this literal classical physics sense. But if you find using a metaphor helps you do it better, is that bad...?
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