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Old 02-17-2011, 04:39 PM   #4
Diana Frese
Dojo: Aikikai of S.W. Conn. (formerly)
Location: Stamford Connecticut
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 386
United_States
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Re: Trusting center. Trusting god.

KATSU HAYA HI

Does this part mean" there is no fast or slow, only the universe as it is" ?

I think this is from one of the earliest Aikido books in English.
The thought always fascinated me. I saw the book before there was an opportunity to study.

I am irresistibly drawn to Mary's threads and not only because I had the same teacher at camps and seminars many many years ago.

I always found that test valuable and tried to use it, especially with a friend of mine who had studied with Ralph Chiaradia in Hartford when she lived there briefly and then when she was in NYC Imaizumi Sensei. Part of the same tradition if I remember correctly.

Maruyama Sensei always had a sense of humor, including raised eyebrows and other facial expression to get the point across kindly.

People like that have an influence far down the years thru successive "generations" of students.

Concerning God, Morihei Ueshiba was a believer, and a follower. He listened to the Kami. Amazing things happen when we do that, at whatever level we are at. Wherever we are in life or in the dojo.

I didn't study for as many years as some of you, and I didn't teach for many years either, but there were astonishing things that just happened in class, techniques I hadn't known.

Sometimes I would ask my students if it looked like a real technique. We had a little ritual where a soft fist on the back of the hand mimicked the validation stamp you got if you went outside during the intermission of the movies in the old days. Our little Validation Ritual, and I needed it. I would stick my hand out after class for one from one of my friends.

Believe me being a teacher was scary at times, but exploring the techniques with students was something irresistable to me, a chance for me to get people to help me with my "homework"

Then like clockwork two weeks later at a seminar or other class I would see a higher ranked person teach the same thing, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

But I always had to hold my breath for two weeks.

I know I'm out on a limb here, but it's Mary's fault. She always posts such fascinating thoughts and observations.
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