Thread: Ueshiba's Aiki
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Old 11-18-2011, 07:48 AM   #550
HL1978
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Re: Ueshiba's Aiki

Quote:
Ken McGrew wrote: View Post
So much of what is presented as evidence simply falls apart on closer examination. It's either not there or doesn't support what it is said to support. Here's another quote from the Dobson seminar:

"What I'm looking for... is this person's energy... If Scott grabs me properly and digs down I'm going to have a much more difficult time to deal with him... than I do if I'm able to use the energy [shows using the energy of the grab]. This is basic stuff. I can't use force. I can't force him. I can use, however, what he is kind enough to give me."

Now this is just one example of claims being made by people who in some general way were on the other side, they were certainly dismissing what I had said about Aikido. Some people tried to claim Dobson Sensei as supporting their position. Obviously he did not. Nothing in the quote contradicts what I describe as Aiki. What most people the world over understand as Aiki.

Do your thing and build your body conditioning. But it won't stop you from getting punched in the face. Apparently there is no art there so the skills still must be incorporated in some art, like modern Aikido.
Therein lies the rub as that above quote can be taken to mean someting a bit different from an IS perspective which might sound the same but isn't preformed the same. Off course if you want to get into self defense/fighting you have to practice that sort of thing but wouldn't the same be true in terms of the conventional approach for aiki?

Quote:
Here's another contradiction, if Aikido works without your IS notion of Aiki, then Aikido doesn't need you. If it doesn't work without your Aiki, then you have to explain away all the examples of it working. If it works, by your definition, then it must already have the IS Aiki in it that you claim it needs but lacks. It's going to be hard to convince experienced Aikido students that Aikido doesn't work. Too many lives have been saved for us to buy that.
It would be fair to say that Aikido, like tai chi, has the reputation among the martial arts community for "not working" under duress, except perhaps by very experienced exponents who understand timing, have excellent waza or great mass? Both seem to attract similar types of people. Now we could go into the how any why thats the case, though to summarize my opnion and probably those who are interested in IS, its because in either case most practioners aren't moving/studying how to move properly to make various "waza" work. Now if understanding IS makes tai chi work on a fully resisting opponent, why wouldnt the same be true for Aikido when it has the same issues?

It is really quite enlightening actually, because a lot of the foundational warmup exercises in aikido actually start to make sense as to why they are included. Dan's comments regarding "pushing" are rather interesting, because if that is true, it shows quite a bit as to why there was a disconnect between the founder and how the founders traditions were carried on, because being pushed on in a static position makes it fair easier to learn how to deal with energy coming into you than moving along with a partner to blend with them.