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Marc Abrams wrote:
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On to some of your lines of thought:
1) Tohei's breathing exercises are very different than the ones used by Ushiro Sensei. I can say from experience (practicing both), that they do different things.
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Yet I see them as just being different halves of the same apple. Same basic principle, except for one critical area.
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2) You talk about Tohei's soft power and you talk about Ushiro Sensei's hard power. I would not describe Ushiro Sensei (nor would he) as using hard power. Are you referring to his concept of explosive power? The larger issue is that you can have wonderful kokyu skills and be totally ineffective in a fighting situation without some explosive power skills.
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Well, are we talking about Aikido or Karate? I've pretty much seen/felt the gamut of 'explosive power' and I think it's a separate issue from internal power development as a whole... it's more of a tangent. Besides, if you want to hold up explosive power as an example of what to have, I don't think Ushiro shows what I would call the top example of it, so let's put that one aside. I'll be happy to see what you know about explosive power sometime, as a separate discussion.
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3) You talk about Sanchin kata and kokyu power. Ushiro Sensei taught Sanchin kata as a means of developing some genuine softness and kokyu skills with the Aikidoka present. Sanchin Kata (the way that he teaches it) involves a lot more than that. It helps to lay the foundations for developing explosive power. It helps to develop the ability to neutralize the attacker through the establishment of an in-yo relationship between the two people. It involves some other aspects as well. His Sanchin kata is done very differently than the way that it is done in Uechi Ryu karate.
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Well, I can't see a real reason to get into what Sanchin is with you, in that regard. The basic principles are the same, even though Uechi Ryu seems to have strayed from the original. Tell you what, here's a good site for you to see more of what the original San Zhan kata looks like in a village and surroundings that propagate what things really look like:
http://www.yongchunbaihechuen.com/videos.html
If you have some knowledge of Sanchin/san-zhan at a deeper level than "my teacher does it this way", give me an idea in p.m. and let's see if we can find common ground.
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Frankly speaking, regardless of the levels that I have or do achieve, I will always consider myself a beginner. The day that I begin to sound like you do at times, I will be ashamed of myself for such arrogance.
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Forget the p.m. I'm not the one that keeps going to personal attacks.
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Again, the comparison with Tohei Sensei and Ushiro Sensei are not all that useful in my opinion.
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You're entitled to keep your opinions. I deal more with why and how.
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In conclusion, you made a statement regarding Ushiro Sensei that I know is simply erroneous. You have attempted to try get me "prove things" according to your standards and tests in order to try and justify your statement as somehow being right. It isn't, and your "tests" will not change that fact.
If you would like some more detailed explanations of the limited understanding that I do have, then I have no problem doing so in a PM format. That comes with the basic respect and humility that both of us need to extend to the other as people who are sincere in their pursuits of their chosen arts. I frankly do not have to prove anything to you to prove you right or wrong, or myself right or wrong.
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I sometimes think that one of my mistakes is not to claim ranks, teachers, or status, but to try to force conversations to facts. Most people in martial-arts are not serious, though, so I accept that there will always be contention with most people in martial arts who are into the "who I am" stuff. And people who don't play the games are going to be pressured. That's the way of the world, isn't it?
Let me know how much information you get your way, sometime, and I'll let you know how much information I get by avoiding the non-serious (regardless of their status, etc.).
Regards,
Mike Sigman