Quote:
Cherie Cornmesser wrote:
If I was concerned about power and the ability t handle someone who was attacking me with intent to do harm I wold buy a go and spend my time learning how to use it. It is not why I study aikido. And seeing Ueshiba's power in videos is also not why I came to aikio. My choice to take up aikio had nothing to do with wanting to learn to kick ass or become powerful or to defeat a attacker. That is just what it is. That said. I'm not really afraid of the power I have gained or that which I will gain as I continue to train. The power is just a side effect of my training which is for an entirely differnt purpose which I am happy to say I am slowly beginning to accomplish.
So I think that as Mary pointed out you first need to drop the assumption that everyone is training in aikido for the same reason that you are.
Reading the classics does tend to incite me to do some pretty deep thinking on aikido and life and my own internal struggles as well.  |
Hi Cherie,
But, you are training in aikido for power. You don't care to "kick ass" but you do use aikido to make a horse behave.
Or to make it do what you want it to. That's power. Horse wants to do one thing and you want the horse to do something else. It's a power struggle. You want to win. It's all about power and overcoming an "attacker". In this case, a horse that is being ornery.
Now apply that to people. What if it's a drunk relative that you don't want to harm? It's still all about power. Power to stop the person from harming either himself/herself or others and you.
People in aikido aren't there to "kick ass" and take names, no. But, they are there for power, even if they don't believe it themselves. Otherwise uke in every training session would overcome you. Every time. Uke's job is to disrupt and try to make you do things his/her way. Just because that doesn't happen in a supposedly "non-violent" manner (no breaking of bones, etc) doesn't mean there was no power involved. Uke is rerouted to another direction via harmonious blending, right? Harmonious for whom? Why? How? If uke's initial phase of the encounter was to disrupt you and that did not happen, then uke's will/focus/energy was completely altered. How can that be done without power? We are talking an actual physical encounter.
Where people start drifting is equating power with some bad kung fu movie villain, like Sho Nuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnsg0jDbHk4
Beyond even that, when talking IP/aiki, it is all about the power within and how it changes you. I think you are coming to realize that, right?
As you become the universe, other little planets don't matter so much. If they don't matter so much, you aren't affected by their actions as much. As you aren't affected as much, you live a bit freer in the world. All from the power of IP/aiki.