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Old 01-03-2013, 11:17 PM   #11
Michael Varin
Dojo: Aikido of Fresno
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 567
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Re: Shiro Omiya Shihan on "Aiki"

Quote:
Hugh Beyer wrote:
What does it mean for your spirit to "fit in" with your opponent's, to Tomiki? Do you adapt to their intent to hit you? Clearly not. So "fitting in" is somehow reconcilable with taking control. I started out in Tomiki Aikido and I never thought there was any doubt who ended up fitting in with whom.
What do you mean in the section that I bolded? How did you come to that conclusion? What specifically were you noticing?

Quote:
Huge Beyer wrote:
What's the relationship between getting out of the way or fitting in with my opponent, and kuzushi? How do I create kuzushi if all I do is get out of the way?
I feel it is time we begin to address "getting out of the way" or more accurately what exactly is occurring when that happens.

You can get out of the way of a train (In reality, that's about all you can do! Which, I think, is very educational on the relative nature of "force" and "power," but this is for another thread.), but you cannot "join spirits" with the train. What you would be doing is purely based on "timing." You can anticipate the train's arrival in an exact location and simply get out of the way.

This is far from what occurs in human interaction.

If you are in an environment, let's say a sword fight, where you cannot afford to make a single "mistake," where anticipation is too much of a risk, and waiting to see your opponent's physical movement will put you too far behind, what that occurs within human beings could you possibly look at? What would you call that "thing"?

Quote:
Huge Beyer wrote:
You've got here two quotes about "aiki" which certainly seem to go against the IP/IS definition of aiki.
Here are two more. One I just found, and one of my favorites.

From the Aiki News 1986 Friendship Demonstration (video for sale at aikidojournal.com):

Quote:
Minoru Mochizuki wrote:
"What is aiki? Each person has a different theory on this, but in aiki you harmonize your ki with the ki of the opponent. How?... an opponent has ki ready to attack you and you get ahead of him. This is aiki. You harmonize your ki exactly with your opponent's attacking ki. Then you proceed one more step to a rational place to defeat him. In this way the technique is applied in a flash. You perceive his attacking ki quickly and immediately deal with it in an appropriate manner. This is the way of aiki... of aikido."
and from Réminiscences of Minoru Mochizuki:

Quote:
Minoru Mochizuki wrote:
"You fool! What do you mean by such a question? We use kicking techniques or anything else. I even used artillery. Martial arts, guns and artillery are all aikido. What do you think aikido is? Do you think it involves only the twisting of hands? It is a means of war... an act of war! aikido is a fight with real swords. We use the word 'aiki' because through it we can feel the mind of the enemy who comes to attack and are thus able to respond immediately. Look at Sumo. After the command is given ("Miatte! Miatte!), they stand up and go at each other in a flash. That's the same as aiki. When a person suddenly faces his enemy in an mental state free from all ideas and thoughts and is instantly able to deal with him, we call that aiki. In the old days it was called 'aiki no jutsu'. Therefore, artillery or anything else becomes aiki." "Is that so... I think I understand." "If you still don't understand, come to me again."

Last edited by Michael Varin : 01-03-2013 at 11:22 PM.

-Michael
"Through aiki we can feel the mind of the enemy who comes to attack and are thus able to respond immediately." - M. Mochizuki
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