graham christian

Gary, I did say above that bodies are maintained. For specific activities ie: marathon etc. you would have to condition it differently. Why? So it can cope.

Here's the thing: 'The car no matter how advanced cannot improve you the spirit or your mind.' It cannot drive you, you can however drive it and improve it. You use it not the other way around. It does use what you give it though including your Ki.

Anyway, I know you are really talking about conditioning certain things with regards to the body ie: internal.

Unfortunately you can't have it both ways.

Heavy work on spirit and mind, practicing waza, as a single approach to body work? All body work has spirit and mind involved so that is the single approach and is all three involved so what's your point?

Firstly I think you misunderstand spiritual activities like yoga or 'sitting zazen' for twenty years. (you can sit in a chair if you like) Your misunderstanding is that the physical calms the mind and spirit. Totally wrong and backwards. All yoga's and zen and spiritual disciplines like such work just as I said before: Spirit calms mind which calms body. The body calms nothing.They all are to do with you controlling your mind, doing mental exercises to bring about desired effect in the body and thus all three in harmony.

Now experts in this let's say yoga can transmit and effect things around them. The point is that the body is made quiet and relaxed and then the yogi can get up to whatever it is he is practicing 'without' the body. Why? Because self improvement is a spiritual activity and mental discipline.

I gave an example in another thread how a short lady came and watched Aikido and liked what she saw. She was quite a bubbly spiritual friend of mine. Never done any martial art or 'body conditioning' specialized activity yet she asked if she could try. She wanted to do 'that thing' where two people can't lift you up. Just whispering one thing in her ear and she could do it. Two big guys couldn't budge her.

So the above is to get reality straight first.

Now, I know you are thinking about the body conditioning and really talking about I/P. So why keep saying it's all about body? All those I/P things are part spiritual and part mental exercises with the body. The emphasis is spiritual and mental actually, unfortunately I would suspect more mental.

So yes it is working with all three emphasizing complimentary and efficient. So what's so new and mind blowing or eye opening about that to you? I would really like to know. The fact that so many here have said how it has been so to them leads me to think that they haven't been relating and complimenting all three before. Is this true?

Now, finally I will say this. Not for the first time in history a fellow comes along, quite an enlightened fellow and says you can do this spiritual advancement activity with mental discipline with body work involved. In other words not just spirit and mind but using the body at the same time in action. It's not new, Bodhidharma did the same thing although he did it with monks. His reasons were more to to with stopping them deluding themselves and keeping it real. Zen has the similar view in as much as keeping wide awake and alert in now, zanshin. Spirit in now calms mind and body.

So I like the 'all three in harmony' way and thus see how Aikido is perfect for such as not only do you have to learn how to keep all three in harmony but to do so in the face of someone trying their best to stop you doing so by the means of actually attacking you. What better test could their be?

So the middle ground can only be when you say in each exercise that you do what the three things are that you are doing. What are you doing spiritually?, what are you doing mentally? and what are you doing physically? in that one exercise. Then you could add for what purpose and to what effect?

Peace.G.