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Old 12-24-2012, 03:46 PM   #38
gregstec
Dojo: Aiki Kurabu
Location: Elizabethtown, PA
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,110
United_States
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Re: Multiple attackers, using their idea of what is happening against them

Quote:
Matthew Gano wrote: View Post
Would it be helpful if people started making a distinction between external and internal aiki? I get the feeling some might say there is no such thing as external aiki, and if that's the case, maybe for the sake of discussion it's time we invented it.
I hear what you are saying and understand it to a point. Aiki as a simple term can be applied to many different things in an energy blending, harmonious, joining, or avoiding type of context - however, when speaking of Ueshiba's aiki, more and more independent information has been surfacing in the last few years that is painting a different picture of what many in modern Aikido have been told was Ueshiba's aiki. So for any party to state this is the true Ueshiba aiki without providing detailed documentation supporting their view point does not carry much weight - IMO, I think the IP/IS crowd has done a fair job of providing detail to support their position, but the only thing I keep hearing from the other side is that they are all wrong because that is not what their teacher taught them. In addition, the IP/IS crowd is starting to show people developing unusual power in their Aikido as well as other arts the group is involved in; where are the modern Aikido teachers with the same level of unusual power approaching Ueshiba's?

If someone is not interested in the type of stuff we do and wants to keep their Aikido the way it is, that is fine - just don't say we are wrong and you are right without experiencing both approaches - everyone in the IP/IS group has extensive experiences from being on the other side at one time - how many from the non IP/IS group can make the same claim?

Greg