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Old 09-01-2011, 10:19 AM   #71
ronin67
Location: Sagamihara
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 27
Japan
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Re: Golden Center Aikido for your pleasure

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
I liked that comment Ed. There are many reasons I respect Ueshiba-as Ellis noted in his book- and first and foremost was this model.
I think confusion enters into the picture due to the lack of good models as I previously mentioned. Just as most people still think of their dads strength or power as daunting-due to them growing up admiring their dad- they still think of their teachers that way. So those who were indeed just the wallpaper of the budo world left a lack luster heritage. Love is indeed many times blind. Critical thinking and dispassionate review is the best way to go.
There is really no way to know if your aiki is truly worthwhile if all you do is play with your own group. Yet...what do we see the majority of people doing? Most of these people we see in the videos would all but completely fall apart if they ever stepped on the mat with people with serious aiki skills, much less serious fighting skills and aiki. So they avoid being exposed. Others confront, self-examine and grow.
Cheers
Dan
Too many people are just too sensitive and are just unable to make constructive criticism and take same as that. Bottom line, traditions and discipline still need to dictate the flow of any form of martial arts. Yes, you can have a informal class after the regular session, however you don't disregard the core concepts (falling properly and the flow of constructive/instructive discipline remains). If you want peace without discipline and a structured environment, take up something else. What we do in Aikido is still a martial discipline of self-defense (a form of combat).
You have liberals and conservatives in Aikido just like you do in politics. Some feel the traditional discipline of a dojo setting is not needed to get the same effect across, while others see no benefit from diverting from the disciplines of traditional/structured dojo discipline. I tend to favor the traditional, however, it is not to say that outside the traditional discipline of the dojo setting is bad either as long as the fundamentals of the techniques remain intact and the extension of KI is being used in EFFECTIVE waza.
If you are applying for example sankyo, and I'm not in pain on my tippy toes doing the safety dance, your Aikido is ineffective in traditional terms. However, in Graham's defense, it is also not fair by just looking at this video for me to draw a conclusion on how effective his Aikido is and his character. For that Graham, my apologies sir. May God bless

Ed

"Aikido can never truly bring peace without the full understanding and application of KI ".
-Me
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