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Old 07-29-2013, 08:33 PM   #9
oisin bourke
 
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Re: What is Aiki? Introduction to a method of analyzing Aiki. (Part 3)

Quote:
Cady Goldfield wrote: View Post
For one thing, and most glaring - the focus on the hands, without any mention of the rest of the body's role in aiki. The hands do have a role, but they are not the root of aiki. You can select other body extremities -- hip, shoulder, even the head -- as a point of contact; the hands are not the source. He makes a verrrry vague allusion that aiki actually comes from elsewhere, but he's like a prestidigitator distracting the audience from what he is really doing, by drawing their attention elsewhere.
well, he wrote this:

"For example, even in seated techniques, one cannot apply Aiki only through the movement of the hands. The hands are supported by the trunk and the lower body. There are also such teachings as "keep your body straight", "don't move your hips" and "put power into your lower abdomen".

So he's not focussing on the hands. In fact, if you read carefully, he doesn't even talk about the hands being important, he talks about the wrists. Yes he's vague, but at least he does allude to specific points, unlike, for example, Kimura. .

BTW, I've never even seen Takahashi, so I have no opinions on his abilities/knowledge of "Aiki" one way or the other, but, I'm a little surprised that people have been so dismissive.
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