Hi Anthony;
I notice St. John New Brunswick - I just passed near there on my way to Halifax from Quebec City. Pass by on the way back too.
Quote:
|
As I mentioned in my article. Flow alone at least gets you out of harms way. This is the most important thing to me. Not getting hit.
|
Kata is not something static at least under my chosen training regime. The principles of taisabaki (getting out of the way), ma-ai (staying out of the way) and kazushi are internal to the kata, there are particular kata that are very direct (little flow) and others that are so fluid one wonders what their use is until you understand they are a training mechanism rather than a practical technique. Even the unsoku exercises that we introduce to beginners their first day and continue to practice every session (every day for some of us) could be considered kata even though their only purpose is to avoid getting hit.
My disagreement (well not really) with your choice is that I have seen too often an emphasis on flow to the detriment of form either through forgetting about basic principles or never having learnt them. Good Aikido is very fluid, no doubt, but good fluidity is not necessarily good Aikido.
My view is very simple - basics is everything.