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Old 07-27-2012, 12:22 PM   #84
DH
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,394
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Re: hips and shoulders

Quote:
Mary Eastland wrote: View Post
As the hips turns so does the foot...as the hip turns back so does the foot... I thought all that was a given.
Actually, that is the one of the best ways to get thrown. It is unfortunate to see so many teachers who still move from the hips, cut from the hips, tie their knees to the hip and their feet to their knees....even "internal power teachers" wobbling on their knees and feet, and.....
All of whom are still absolutely convinced....that they move from their center.
All of which lasts about one minute into meeting someone who actually does.

I was having this discussion with some senior aikido people recently. You could line up a parade of senior Japanese Shihan and one-by-one demonstrate their structural flaws in both movement and how they engage an uke. Moreover, I could get most everyone who has trained and felt ...moving from center, to be able to see it as well. Watching big shot Masters and their own body's reaction to load, and their ukes delayed responses to their movement tells a story of a work in progress, not anything high level as a final model.
As one ICMA Master class teacher said once regarding Dantian and moving from center:
"You cannot pretend to know Dantian. You will be found out by those who do."

Presumption abounds. What I see in Budo, over and over, is a whole lot of people who really don't know much, going off and fooling a lot of people who know less. The internet is worse, where we see so much writing by unqualified people (even shihan) on subjects they actually know little about, engaged in lengthy discussions on things that will not help. Not even one bit.

So far, I have not seen a single person from here, appearing on a video moving from or connecting to anyone..........using their center well at all. I know that it is an unpopular thing to say, but so far...none of you have proved me wrong. Truth and "real soft power" from center is the way we should all be going. Thinking everyone has some skill or some thing that will help, or that we are all equal...is a fools game that only serves to hamper real progress. At some point we need to realize that there is an actual truth and way to both train and do this stuff that is testable.
Dan
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