Quote:
Lee Salzman wrote:
I think the idea here is simply this: a connected body (which is not aiki, but presumably is a stepping stone to it) is the most fundamental aspect of cooperation, harmony, love, mutual, yada yada, bla bla. If you can't even make, say, your foot cooperate with your hip or your hand, then how is your body going to even begin to cooperate with another body?
You can't be a hornet's nest of unconscious bad movement habits, or you will take your own body apart in movement, well before anyone else does it to you, or you can even attempt to do it to anyone else. In a sense, every bad disconnected movement habit that comes out as a result of you doing something to them is actually, counter-intuitively, them controlling you. You have to practice erasing that a lot in solo practice, dojo practice won't efficiently fix it by itself.
There was some video of O'Sensei with Terry Dobson where he states something along the lines of "We must put our own houses in order..." So, now, if you haven't, and you talk of harmony, what then?
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Completely true Lee
It is step one. All else fails with the failure of this. What does it say then, that we are watching Japanese and foreign "expert" teachers move ... and they are as disconnected as their students! This isn't even kindergarten, it's baby steps and they still can't do it and they are on forums and in seminars talking about Ueshiba's power and aiki?? And now some of them are teaching internals?? Unbelievable.
There is almost no one teaching connection much less more advanced stuff in any meaningful way. I note that certain people always default to established budo, to find this stuff, even when it is contrary to so much personal experience. Even when I see traditional people who have been completely taken apart by methods they do not understand, they go right back to searching...in the traditional arts with Asian teachers.
It's why I prefer to first meet in public so that years from now when they start telling people they got this from Mr Big shot Japanese guy....and they will.... in order to boost his reputation and establish theirs! We will all remember them...and how much they sucked with Mr. Big shot Japanese teacher's lousy advice, and just who and what fixed them.
Dan