Wow, go away for a few days and come back to find things have not changed with all the usual suspects politely exchanging their views
Anyway, to get back on track with the basics - IMO, what Dan is teaching should be at the core of basic teachings in ALL aiki arts - it simply develops the foundation that an aiki system is built on.
Since I am here, I also would like to just comment briefly on the marketing and con man accusations made recently concerning Dan. To be blunt, it is absolute BS ! - the man is honest and generous to a fault - any further discussion in this area by those that do no know Dan will be wrong and considered in extremely bad taste.
Now I am sure that last paragraph will result in some thinking "here is another one of Dan's disciples coming to defend him from the attack of the self righteous naysayers" - well, not true. Let me tell you all a little bit about Dan's camp. First, disciple kind of indicates we are followers, nothing can be further from the truth since all of Dan's people I have met are either leaders of their groups, totally independent, or just plain rogues out doing their own thing because what they have been getting from the main stream of their arts just was not cutting it for them. We are the type of people that don't take the 'kool aid" and don't buy 'snake oil' - actually, we greatly despise those that dispense with that type of BS and feel sorry for those that have fallen in those traps.
The bottom line on all of this is that Dan has his reasons for no videos and has stated so a few time in some of his posts and is getting tired of hearing the same requests over and over again - respect the man's position on this and just move on. If you don't believe in what he is saying, say so and just move on. He is not building an organization and probably is going to walk away from public training soon because of the BS. Dan is just a guy who found something special from all his searching and training in IS and simply thought it would be great to share it with those that have his passion for it - if that is not you, so be it, just move on.
Greg