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Old 01-11-2013, 03:20 AM   #56
mrlizard123
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Re: Morihei Ueshiba's Use of the Term "Aiki"

Quote:
Michael Varin wrote: View Post
Ai: match, fit, suit, join, combine, unite, coincide, agree.

Ki: air, atmosphere, spirit, mind, heart, will, intention, feelings, a mood, nature, a disposition, attention, care, a sign, an indication.

These are basic, no frills definitions. I find that it is best to start from the most obvious and mundane. These will not provide the final answer, and can likely be argued in any direction. But, whatever phenomena people, Morihei included, had in mind, I doubt seriously that the characters ai and ki were randomly selected.

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote:
Drawing a circle and explaining Aiki is opposing powers.
Or
The mysteries of aiki are revealed in dual opposing spirals.
I'm curious. Can anyone provide the source and brief explanation behind the translation for the above quotes? I can't remember off the top of my head where Morihei used that language.
Chris Li would probably be able to answer this, from his blogs I can see this which looks like it could be a paraphrase of:

Quote:
Chris Li wrote:
There's even a section in "Aiki Shinzui" (a collection of essays by Morihei Ueshiba) called 合気は息の妙用なり ("Aiki is the mysterious working of Iki (breath).").

[snip]

In "Takemusu Aiki" the word "Kokyu" is actually annotated in many places to be pronounced, phonetically, "iki".

So where does "iki" come from? Here's a quick hint:

合気道の呼吸法によるイキ(息)は、右に螺旋して舞い昇り、左に螺旋して舞い下り、水火のムスビ(産霊・結び)が生ずる。

The "Iki" (breath) of Aikido's kokyu-ho winds up in a spiral on the right, winds down in a spiral on the left, and gives rise to the connection between Water ("I") and Fire ("ki").
Source: Aikido Sangenkai Blog

Worth giving Chris' blogs a read through if you've not had opportunity as yet.

Disclaimer; there are undoubtedly many other passages and writings which may be closer to the above quote but this is an example of Ueshiba using this language, I am not qualified to make the translations myself but see no reason to question Chris'. I'm sure there are others here who can translate the above for themselves and debate the detail/interpretation.

Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile
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