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Old 08-11-2008, 02:43 PM   #89
rob_liberti
Dojo: Shobu Aikido of Connecticut
Location: East Haven, CT
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,402
United_States
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Re: "Aiki" in Russian Video Clips

Lee,

I'll give you the best answers I can, but remember that I'm still a novice - and I brought that up because these are all ideas that I would assume are in common. (Also note I took the things I thought would be common in order from simple to more complex or at least more integrated.)

Initially, I was talking about "an awareness that is maintained that produces resistance to deformation on demand where it is needed" without any more sonscious thought about it.

About the central pivot, it seems you pivot around the spine. No idea what join that is. In terms of instant center to center contact the idea is if you say have your arm forward, and they grab it, when you do a bit of the pivoting (while maintaining your central equlibrium) you instantly contact their center. In my mind, "center on contact" is kind of a catch phrase for aikido.

I have no idea how to address you question about how the lines of intention are distinguished or what is their gross function is. They seems to be the 6 (arguably 8 directions) inward and outward from center. I really don't understand what you mean by "what is the subjective driver of the intention of up" but my guess is that it is more inline with "an awareness placed along the line coupled with an idea of up" which initially seems to be "just a visualization of going up" while you are visualizing the other directions as well - but I assume the idea is that you do that to train a feeling. Eventually the feeling is maintained and the visualizations are no longer as necessary. Maybe I'm wrong. Point here is that anyone reading this that trains this way most likely is following what I mean.

It is definately "a combination of more than one intention at times, combined with overt movement in yet another intended direction". I believe (and I couldbe wrong) that they can be "employed along the same lines of the body simultaneously" or "along separate ones".

About using aiki to recover. I think that "the body is left deformed" but is stays in line with the lines, while many intentions remain, and one is focused on to which communicates to the pusher, resulting in the bring the body back straight. At my level I have to keep my awareness to keep the lines active. I don't think that is the case with people more adept at this sort of training.

Rob