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Old 04-07-2012, 02:03 PM   #212
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Re: The Founder's Teaching Ability

Quote:
Jackie Adams wrote: View Post
Did anyone teacher teach "aiki" to anyone else. That really is an impossible question to answer.

There is a world of speculation based on Takeda's student's accounts. I have been exposed to many definitions of what aiki is or isn't, as we all have; people's opinion on or off the mat. Who really knows Takeda's aiki.
The sad truth of the matter is that if you think like the above ... if you think there's a lot of various definitions for aiki ... if you think aiki means moving around to blend with someone ... if you think aiki is an elusive concept defined by each individual ... you're wrong because you have never experienced Takeda's aiki or anyone who had it.

If you think you have, then go find a professional wrestler who is over 6 feet tall and weighs at least 240 pounds. Sit down and have that wrestler do whatever he can to push you over. When he fails, then with a flick of your hand, throw that wrestler down. Can you (plural) or any of your teachers do that? No? Why not? Perhaps you should take a good, hard look at all those myriad definitions of "aiki" that you're using or have heard. Maybe they aren't correct.

These are the related articles/stories about Ueshiba meeting Tenryu from Aikido Journal:

1. Aiki News Issue 001:
2. Aiki News Issue 019:
3. Aiki News Issue 023:
4. Aiki News Issue 025:
5. Aiki News Issue 049:
6. Aiki News Issue 076:

What did Ueshiba say about Tenryu failing miserably to push him over? Tenryu couldn't because ... Ueshiba knew the secret of aiki. How does your definition of aiki fit into just sitting there and not being pushed over by a professional wrestler doing his best to make you fall?

When you meet someone who has true aiki, it is as different from other martial arts as the sun is to the earth. So, now looking back to Ueshiba and Tenryu, who of Ueshiba's students could replicate that test? The very one in which Ueshiba stated outright that Tenryu failed because Ueshiba knew the secret of aiki. Now, we get back to the question of Ueshiba's teaching ... or not, as the case may be.
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