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Old 08-01-2011, 07:57 AM   #32
MM
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,996
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Re: Why the extended fingers in Aikido postures

Shirata gives a very apt description of why he is spreading, or extending, his fingers when he talked about Suwari kokyu-ho. Shirata states, "Spread the fingers of both hands like 'a pair of blooming flowers' and inhale ..."

Now, the translator translated it as "blooming flowers", but I would venture to say that the original Japanese held a certain phrase that meant a specific kind of internal training.

In fact, I found mention that one of the common internal training exercises for aiki age was to use this principle.

Why the extended fingers? Looks like there might be multiple reasons, depending on what you're trying to accomplish or train. Me? I'd tend to lean towards Shirata and try to find out what the original Japanese version was rather than the watered down translation.

IMO anyway,
Mark
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