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Old 01-05-2013, 09:58 AM   #6
Chris Li
 
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Re: Shiro Omiya Shihan on "Aiki"

Quote:
Ron Ragusa wrote: View Post
Chris Li wrote:

Let's look at the quote again:

"When an opponent comes to attack you, you just move your body slightly to avoid his attack, and let him go wherever he wants. This is Aiki. In other words, you give him freedom." - Morihei Ueshiba

Now let's look at the quote in light of the 1935 film of Ueshiba demonstrating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98yRuBkUBGQ

In the film he can clearly be seen evading attacks and exercising little or no overt control of his ukes' movements. Ueshiba, in the quote calls this Aiki and in the film demonstrates it. The problem with applying interpretations to someone's words is that interpretations are subjective opinions of what is being stated. But here we have Ueshiba saying, "When an opponent comes to attack you, you just move your body slightly to avoid his attack, and let him go wherever he wants. This is Aiki." backed up by visual evidence of him supporting his own statement.

Ron
1) You're conflating a much earlier film with an interview done more than 20 years later in a different context. Nothing wrong with evading, but that doesn't mean that it's the same thing that he's talking about 20 years later in a different context. This is very different than if he had made a specific video demonstration in the context of the interview.
2) You're ignoring Greg and Carsten's comments on the subject.
3) You're ignoring a large body of discussion by Morihei Ueshiba in which he talks about "Aiki" in context in favor of a single out of context comment in an interview meant for popular consumption.

Best,

Chris

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