jonreading

It's interesting how much larger the conversation can grow when you start to see how aiki interacts with the other internal arts. There is a feeling of freedom when you don't have to defend a system, but can simply look at the movement and the training. It also allows you to step away from a system and look at things from a high-level viewpoint.

For me, I think we are pursuing the roots of what influenced O Sensei. If we can build an aiki body, then we can next look at how that aiki body influences movement. Once we get there, we can critically evaluate our aikido movement and address inconsistencies in movement with my IP training. I enjoy the similarities in movement with the other arts because that allows me to leverage what they are doing in my own training - and there are different ways of training.

Non-sequitur - I am not aware of Ikeda sensei teaching solo exercises, but I agree that he has identified a gap in what he is trying to show and the ability of his students to understand what he is doing. There are several of his guys on Aikiweb and they may better know what sensei is doing in CO.