Quote:
Ellis Amdur wrote:
Larry - don't know if you are having a little fun at everyone's expense (ala HIPS) - because I recall it was Tomiki sensei who postulated (I cannot remember the exact wording) - "The whole body as a sword"). I take this to mean that although, form him, tegatana is a good starting point, training device, any point of the body can manifest "IT" 
If I am correct, then Tomiki sensei's tegatana was not a rigid entity. Whether this is true for others in the Shodokan - maybe is an important question.
Best
Ellis Amdur |
Quite correct Ellis.
I didn't plan on having fun at anyone's expense. But now that you mention HIPS it may be seen that way. My apologies. My comment was more a result of some seminars Shishida held earlier this year where he showed a lot of the applications of tegatana and how they related to Aiki in a historical context.
The more I practice Shodokan the more I realise the concept of the whole body being used as a sword and manifesting the focal points of power at any point of the body (needs a lot of practice though). However I can understand that this is not a pervasive concept and have seen quite rigid tegatana use over the years as well.
Interesting stuff. Always something to work on imho.
Best
LC