Thread: Aiki
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Old 07-28-2011, 10:49 AM   #43
RonRagusa
Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 824
United_States
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Re: Aiki

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
Hi Ron
To clear up a few things:

You wrote: Keep One Point.
Yes and no. Its more complicated than that.

You wrote: Correct Posture
No. Structure is independant of posture. I routinely demonstrate a hype fluid body movement; including bending over backwards that retains all of the qualites of Toheis principles. Learning posture and to settle is a good beginners step, there's just more to it than that.

You wrote: Progressive Relaxation
I won't comment other than to say I have seen you move, until I feel you I will refrain from comparing what we do to your stuff. I will say that actively using the arms as extensions of hara in a clean way is not something I have seen often, and going after the hips usually reveals hips as tight as shoulders, making it relatively easy to throw people.

Quote:

You wrote: Positive Mind
Well, I haven't seen anyone from Ki society use "positive mind" actively and fluidly like we use intent but I remain open. Could be the players lack and not the rule.

Now isn't that interesting? I think that is a very good start. Have you ever wondered if there is more?
Cheers
Dan
Hi Dan -

Reading Andrew's post evoked in me the comparisons with the four principles I posted in my reply. The four principles are distillations of ideas that are more complex than the few words used to relate them. They're intended to be easily internalized metaphors for the feelings we develop during training. Andrew's concise descriptions seemed to coincide nicely with how I have come to view the principles.

Regarding structure, Maruyama sensei always reminded us that correct posture is independent of the body's configuration and that we should train to remain stable and balanced no matter how we were positioned. I call correct posture the coordination of external and internal postures to create a stable structure no matter the positioning.

I can't speak for Ki Society folks. While my Aikido roots go back to Tohei thru Maruyama, I've been an independent practitioner since 2001.

More? There's always more.

Best,

Ron

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