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Old 06-28-2012, 05:18 PM   #362
D-Ring
Dojo: Aikido of Sacramento
Location: Berkeley
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 19
United_States
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Re: My Spiritual Aikido.

Quote:
Graham Christian wrote: View Post
Reality time people. All this waffle about what others should do and the way things are done whilst at the same time trying to imply I must this or that and imply I blah, blah, blah....
Graham, I've read quite a growing handful of your very authoritative discourses over the past year and I have a lot of respect for your tenacity in the face of some stiff criticism. Your OP is titled "My Spiritual Aikido" and as such I don't think I can comment on the objective value of what another person considers his spiritual philosophy. I've never seen Aikido as a particularly spiritual practice but if you do then I think that's great.

However, I also have to say that if you are holding up your spiritual Aikido as an effective martial methodology (which you do in many of your posts) then other folks have every right to ask for a demonstration of its effectiveness. The proof is in the pie, as they say. Can your "oneness" stop a serious attack? If so, how? And can you DEMONSTRATE it? This is a martial art, after all. Peer review in this genre happens when one guy's stuff works and the other guy's doesn't. (And then they go for beers.)

If there truly is a spiritual component to Aikido then it's this: the humility and gratitude I feel when I touch hands with someone better than myself and I learn something. Deep spiritual revelations are great but if they don't translate into practical skills its really all just a philosophy.

FWIW,

Dave