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Old 08-20-2013, 04:02 PM   #46
Hilary
Dojo: Torrey Pines Aiki Kai
Location: San Diego
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 107
United_States
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Re: to ki or not to ki

Quote:
Victor Williams wrote: View Post
but the ki and aiki I'm after as taught by DH, Bill Gleason and Howard Popkin I believe is something else.
These are the things I am calling connected body which is essential to the end result. Who is to say that you don't learn to pull silk before you ever set foot on the mat or perform anything vaguely martial? Your technique can suck but you can be really connected or spiraling really well, they didn't get through but you didn't hurt them. You maybe redirecting ukes intent, and they are not connecting, but they drive you off a cliff by positioning. How about a wire walker or a ballet dancer where you are looking for complete two way connection either sustained of brief? I am actually trying to teach my budding acrobat daughter to pull silk, because supple connected body seems to be a constant in advanced physicality; different application but a common thread.

Distribution of the work, over as much of the body as possible, reduces exertion of any smaller part and leads to efficiency, power and control of the center. Are fascia/tendon development the same thing as spiraling, or is one infrastructure and the other technique? I ask these questions, because we are talking about defining ki, and I am thinking that ki is a broader concept and that specific physical endeavors require application specific expressions of ki.

Dan mentions yoga a lot and, Tohei credits Nakamura as a fundamental teacher. That is why I separated the connected body from the technique, from the mental, from the no mind. Then I threw it on the wall over here so we can push around.
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