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Mary Eastland wrote:
Why Dan....?????
Wy must it all be about fighing and winning??
Why can't it be for the reasons I train.
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Hello Mary,
I see that Dan replied. But I thought I'd give you my take on things since I am learning Aikido.
It isn't about fighting, although at times, the conversations seem to drift that way. What it is about is exactly the reason you just posted. It's about the reasons people train. People come to Aikido because it does have a higher ideal than just defend myself by hurting my attacker. But, in that ideal, there are various ways of accomplishing it. Some of us think that originally, Ueshiba used this internal art aspect and it didn't get passed along to all schools. Maybe some do have it, I don't know.
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Mary Eastland wrote:
....all about developing Ki by not training but douing some of Mike's tricks or about real fighting using Dan's ideas about MMA.
I don't think there is any thing wrong with either of those agendas other than I think they are using this forum to market themselves.
This is an aikido forum.....fighting????/
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Not entirely. Train to build internal, but IMO, they aren't saying that you have to do "fighting". Dan uses MMA as examples for applying the internal training. If he did kali, he'd probably use that for examples.
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Mary Eastland wrote:
Does anyone train to creat peace in their own life.......to effect a change in themselves that might help others???
I do..( go ahead tell me I am new age ...Mike...I guess I am).
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But, at its core, that's really what this is about. To create within yourself, a centered being. Someone who doesn't have to "do something" to an attacker to create a harmony. The attacker is harmonized as a result of you being centered internally. Can you see the "aiki" in being able to do that? The peace and centering that comes from it? That you don't have to "do something" to someone to achieve a harmony?
Let me try a different approach ... in Aikido, we are centered, yes. But when an "attack" comes, we move to affect the attacker. We actively harmonize with both attacker and attack. We actively do something to find a "peaceful" solution.
Using internal stuff, we find that the attacker is harmonized with us and there is no need to actively "do something" to accomplish this.
Now, apply those theories to real world. You have a friend who is in a frenzied mess for whatever reason. Hysteria, loss, whatever. As tori, do you
A: Somehow try to actively *affect* their mind and soul and try to alter their energy in some manner (I mean, just how do you even do that?) so that you can "harmonize" with them?
or
B: You are completely serene and centered and your internal self is calm and open. You are there for them. When they touch you, they feel that open, calm, centered presence. You have an *effect* on them that causes them to harmonize with you.
Most people try to do B. I don' know of any that can do A. Yet, in most Aikido practices, we use the A approach. Why?
IMO,
Mark