gates

Hate is a strong emotion which I generally reserve for really bad people - generally they are not Ki Aikido people.

Tohei's principles are really very sound and quite succinctly cover a lot of turf. All Aikidoka should be aware of what he said, it is useful stuff. Whether the teaching model lends itself well to teaching those skills is another question entirely. (Tohei didn't learn via Tohei .... Or did He!?!?!?!?)

Acting naturally and calmly with a good base in a relaxed stable body and mind really is the key. The other tricks are just that, tricks,... either that or they are the complete opposite: important learning tools and demonstrations of learnt body skill.

As a little kid I used to play think "think heavy - think light !!" with my big brother (Tohei inspired game) and we would try to pick each other up. Great fun.