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Old 04-09-2010, 02:27 PM   #97
Mike Sigman
Location: Durango, CO
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,123
United_States
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Re: Video definitions, "Aiki" and other terms.

Hi Chris:

Well, let me point out something I said in a previous post:

Quote:
Another problem with the videos has to do with what can happen to interpretations of what is seen. I'm not a great exponent of the "jo trick"... and in my opinion Ueshiba never really pulled it off in the filmed attempts I've seen (he *may* have been able to do it better when he was younger and stronger). That being said, I see something entirely different in what he was attempting to do than you do in your explanation that has to do with suggestion, and so on.
My point was that your explanation and copying of the jo trick wasn't very accurate. In other words, a film of an incident (the jo trick) did not result in you duplicating the feat. So let's be open-ended about your replication of any feat you see on film/video... agreed?

Quote:
Chris Hein wrote: View Post
I've been around internal quite a bit. I have studied a great deal under a very well know teacher.
I dunno. I know a couple of guys who studied on Taiwan for about 12 years and they "did internal" ... except they really couldn't. Yet they were "around internal quite a bit" and their teacher was a very well-known Taiwanese CMA teacher (Hong Yi Xiang). My point is that being around teachers doesn't necessarily mean a lot.... it's a lot more important that the teacher actually showed something. In the case of the two guys on Taiwan, their very well-known teacher made a commitment to the local martial-arts council that he wasn't showing these things to foreigners. I.e., it just goes to show you never can tell (a la Chuck Berry).

At the moment, there is some discussion on QiJin about the advantages of these skills and how they give an advantage in martial-arts.... but now some people are beginning to see that if they show everyone how to do these things, the advantage can disappear. If nothing else, there are levels of these skills and by showing them beyond a basic level (e.g., on video) someone moderately knowledgeable may learn a trick that they didn't know before. As I've posted in the past, I think the basic level of these skills should be made more available (and I work toward that end); showing demo's just to one-up someone doesn't appeal to me.

That being said, I'm not opposed to anyone I've worked with discussing basics, etc., in an attempt to delineate a viable definition of "aiki". I think it's a worthwhile endeavor.

Best.

Mike Sigman