Thread: David's Drills
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Old 10-07-2005, 06:01 PM   #29
Pauliina Lievonen
 
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Dojo: Jiki Shin Kan Utrecht
Join Date: Jul 2004
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Netherlands
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Re: David's Drills

Hi again,

as it happened I ended up leading all three classes that we offer last week, and with a cold this week. So it's been a while since I got to train at all. Finally got better and went to the dojo tonight, yay.
Quote:
David Valadez wrote:
We do not really use a set time. It is more that we use reps -- usually three or four attempts (or successes) per set, then you trade roles.
Ok. That's more or less what we've been doing as well. Just felt good.

Well. I got to reading my last entry, and your last, and this got me thinking in a new direction.
Quote:
In spontaneous training, we are looking at a state of being -- not merely an imagined state of being or merely a disciplined state of body - nor any kind of connection between the two.
In other words, not thinking about accepting the attack for example? Or more effective footwork, or maintaining maai, or something like that.
Quote:
There is no relevance (but for how it hinders us) to what we are thinking or how we intend to move in spontaneous training.
There were a couple brief moments tonight, where my partner exclaimed "nice" (and I couldn't say what was nice about that moment, in that moment, myself) that were times where I wasn't thinking anything in particular, just moving.
Quote:
Thinking this, or attempting that, only comes to make us succeed less as we struggle to resist the rawness of our own being and the experience of our own being/reality by attempting to create some sort of intermediary between the doer and the deed being done.
I'd read your post when you first posted it, and didn't make any sense of it the first time. Reading it again, this does describe very accurately my experience with the drill so far, apart from a couple short (but sweet) moments.
Quote:
For example, to offset fear then, let us throughout our lives practice compassion so as to cultivate more compassion within us. In addition, for example, to offset pride, let us practice mercy so as to cultivate more mercy within us; to offset ignorance, let us practice faith so as to cultivate more faith within us. To develop compassion, let us practice more servitude in our lives; to develop mercy, let us practice more charity in our lives; to develop faith, let us practice more prayer in our lives. After all, the goal here is not to think or imagine Aiki, nor even to move with Aiki. The goal here is to be Aiki. At some point then, we are going to have to ask, for example, "How is continually observing myself ducking down when I should be looking up going to allow me to be Aiki?"
I was going to protest that I don't see how compassion would offset fear. But to be honest with myself I do see it. I just don't want to think of actually practicing it.

I don't quite see how to make the connection from what you write here to the drills though. Maybe a bit absurdly put...maybe not...a perfectly compassionate, merciful and faithful person, in a spontaneous training situation like the drills...wouldn't have trouble with it?

Tonight's training was firmly of the kind you described in the beginnings of your post, and it was useful and enjoyable, but I feel that even though we could go on in the same way, and I could get increasingly effective at dealing with the intensity and so on, that I'm in a way repeating the same.

kvaak
Pauliina
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