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Old 02-24-2011, 01:13 PM   #10
George S. Ledyard
 
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Dojo: Aikido Eastside
Location: Bellevue, WA
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 2,670
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Re: Ikeda's videos, my video, your video. Kuzushi on contact.

Quote:
Jonathan Wong wrote: View Post
Hi guys, Joep, you provide more examples that I agree with verbally. (When I told my partner to resist, my idea was that I could count on getting forces from him to "wear" -- only difference is that his force depends on what I do vs being a constant input)

Part of the point of this thread was that people who I agree with verbally could look at the vid and say, "you know, you say you agree with this but you are clearly not doing it, here's why. ..."

Another point of the thread was that people who might think kuzushi on contact, or early on, is a good thing, but that what I am doing (and/or what Ikeda is doing) is not the way to get it.

In this thread there are potentially examples of both types, but no one is explicitly giving the critiques of "yay" or "nay."
Kuzushi on contact is the goal of technical development in Aikido. "Katsu hayabi" or 'Instant victory" is the Japanese phrase that describes this on a physical, technical level. In the larger picture I want to have you before you even attack. But for that to be true I need to understand how to organize m,y structure properly to give direction to the energy of the attack.

If someone attacks me, he needs to have an outflow of energy to my center which would allow him to do something to me. That could be a strike, it could be a grab. But there needs to be some sort of outflow to me. So, Aikido (and this is what internal power skills are about) is about giving direction to the energy of that connection.

This is why it's always been axiomatic that one cannot attack another without creating an "opening" or` "suki". That's why the Founder said that there was "no attack in Aikido". It doesn't mean you can't initiate to draw the attacker's energy out at the time of your choosing rather than wait for him to choose the instant.

So, for what someone like Ikeda Sensei is doing, the stronger the attack, the better. All he requires is someone connecting to his center. After that, they are attacking the floor. All he is doing is giving that connection direction... up, down, in , out, right, left, any combination of these...that's what creates waza. Inside of the waza he is actually in a state of potential and complete freedom to move. Which means that he can punch, kick, adjust, anything at all he wishes, while creating that kuzushi.

This is the art of the power of "not doing". The less he does, the better it works because he isn't creating any blockages to the flow of the energy of the connection. The flow to do that is already happening when the attacker physically reaches him. He is already moving what needs to be moved. It's like running out in the parking lot and grabbing the handle of a car driving across the lot. You will be moving instantly because you grabbed something that was moving.

Static technique is about creating these connections in ones body and understanding how they function to create different direction when contact is made. When real waza is executed, it isn't a matter of firing some sequence in your body, a, then b, then c... It's all running already. They touch you and they are moving.

Combined with an understanding of the mental / energetic principles of "irimi" one can get to the point at which you have the attacker before anything commences on the physical level. You can allow him to realize this fact and perhaps think better of his ill founded intention to attack, or you can hide the fact and let him destroy himself by attacking. But you had him all along, regardless. That's what Ikeda Sensei is demonstrating.

George S. Ledyard
Aikido Eastside
Bellevue, WA
Aikido Eastside
AikidoDvds.Com
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