hughrbeyer

Cogitating on Dan's last few posts.

I suspect a lot of folks are going to read them and think, "There goes Dan bragging about how unbeatable he is again." Amiright?

If so, that's totally not the way to read the point Dan's trying to make. Instead of getting annoyed at the "tone" ask yourself--who is contradicting him?

Who's saying, "Nah, I was there, and it wasn't much"?

This is a way of trying to show on the web something that you would otherwise only be able to tell in person. Okay, you can't feel it in person--but all these other people have. Of them, who's saying it's worthless? Who *isn't* saying it's critical?

I can think of three (3) negative posts over the years from people who have actually been on the mat with Dan. Most of those, to the best of my recollection, talked more about not liking Dan (their prerogative) than not liking the skills. Balance this against all the posts from people who went from hostile or neutral to strong supporters. How did that happen?

Add to this: These people aren't running off to study karate, or taiji, or todo-ha-no-bujitsu-kata-reiki. It's not that they're looking for some other martial art which is going to be somehow better. They're enthusiastic about the work not because it's an alternative to Aikido but because they recognize something that can strengthen their Aikido. How can that be?

If these skills really come from the outside, if they're foreign to Aikido, how come so many practitioners think they're critical to Aikido?

If O-Sensei created and refined his art as the ultimate expression of a certain way of being, which he described as "aiki" do... why do these skills fit into it like a hand into a glove?