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Old 04-16-2010, 03:35 PM   #266
chillzATL
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Join Date: Jul 2000
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Re: Video definitions, "Aiki" and other terms.

Quote:
Jonathan Hay wrote: View Post
My post was really to express my great uncertainty about this. I am not convinced that feeling is absolutely necessary to clear understanding. Couldn't a few clarifying questions determine what people mean? People have done this very thing on this thread with Chris H's videos and his ideas about what constitutes Aiki. People were able, without ever feeling what he was doing, to declare that what he called Aiki actually was not. At the very least, it was made clear that what Chris was doing as far as Aiki was concerned and what others are doing are not the same. This was accomplished quite easily, it seemed to me.

Well, I don't know. "Almost impossible" isn't the same as absolutely impossible, right? Sure, I think it would be much more difficult to accurately explain in writing the correct feel of an action or internal position - especially to someone who had no martial training or body awareness at all - than it would be to do so in tandem with something that could be felt, but I am pretty sure it can be done nonetheless. In particular, with those who have had martial training and as a result do understand something of the nature of structural alignment, balance of opposites within one's frame, the mental aspects of ki use, etc, it would likely be far easier to offer effective explanations.

Jon
No, I agree that it has to be felt. I don't think you're going to get anywhere with this stuff by watching and mimicing what's being done and said in a video. You need someone who has a headstart on you to guide you through the rights wrongs.

Look, I was like just about everyone here when I started reading this stuff. I though "bs, this is just what i've already been doing". I also found it funny that there weren't any real videos out there. I mean if you can do it, then you can record it and we can see it right? I read every thread on Aikiweb and other sites from these guys (and others). I eventually noticed the pattern of high ranking martial arts people with decades of experience who, at one point, were exactly where I was, but eventually met with these guys and had a very clear change of attitude. They have no reason to prop up frauds and could have easily said "this is just more of the same", yet they didn't. NONE of them said that. Hell, instead, most of them wanted to start incorporating this into their own training. I'm a smart guy and I can follow the bouncing ball of logic and that ball was increasingly bouncing towards "you need to get off your ass and experience this".

So I started emailing around and asking questions and I eventually found a local group who had worked with several of those guys. It only took one visit for me to figure out that this was very different from what I had been doing. While there may be a lot of conceptual similarities, the actual application and practice is completely different. Depending on your style of aikido (or other martial art) it could be and entirely different universe to you. While none of the guys I met with had the ability of Mike, Dan or others, I didn't need to experience it on that level to feel the the power potential that it contained or see what it could do for my aikido, which is where my interests are.

It's pretty simple. If you're (you or anyone else reading) interested, start asking around and try to find some people near you who are working on this stuff. If you're semi-intelligent and have an open mind it won't be hard for you to see the value in what htey're showing you. I mean hell, if people with 30+ years in Aikido were able to empty their cups enough to see it, you can too. Then it's just a matter of putting in the work to get it for yourself. It's really that simple.

If you don't want to do that, no harm, no foul. Keep doing what you're doing. If what you're doing makes you happen, then it's the right thing for you.

Last edited by chillzATL : 04-16-2010 at 03:38 PM.