View Single Post
Old 03-19-2007, 03:00 PM   #5
Erick Mead
 
Erick Mead's Avatar
Dojo: Big Green Drum (W. Florida Aikikai)
Location: West Florida
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,619
United_States
Offline
Re: Dan, Mike, and Aikido

Quote:
Mark Murray wrote: View Post
You misunderstand about Tohei ...

Try reading this:
http://www.b-smart.net/archive/tohei_intvw.html

Got a lot of good stuff in there. Things like, Tohei had no idea what Ueshiba was doing, so he just copied the movements.

Another interesting part is the translation of "non-resistance". Here, the translater translates it as "non-dissension". Hmm ... throws a wrench into Erick's posts over in baseline skills.
Well.. as Joshua might say -- show me the kanji. "Dissent" means "to differ in feeling, disagree" which makes "non dissension" mean something far closer to "harmony" than to "nonresistance." Since O Sensei used both expressions on a number of occasions, either of which Tohei might refer to in giving a statement like this, you will have to hold up on the high-five/drop kick celebration -- for the moment.
More to the point, read a little further :
Quote:
Tohei interview wrote:
The real meaning of non-dissension is to relax in the face of conflict, to respect the opponent's Ki, and to lead it to a non-harmful conclusion.
Nearly everything I am working on is contained in that description.

You all still don't seem to get what I am about doing, for reasons I think that Tohei also touches on in this interview .
Quote:
Tohei Interview wrote:
Many ancient oriental methods use exaggerated expressions to explain a natural state, and end up producing completely the wrong results. But I tested everything thoroughly in order to learn from experience. By following natural principles, and doing as Nakamura Sensei did, rather than as he taught, I learned how to do it correctly and consistently. He noticed this and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was doing Kumbahaka. He knew that and wanted to know how I was doing it. I showed him that even his senior students were easily pushed over because of the tension created in their bodies by trying to follow those complicated instructions.
The first resistance to eliminate always lies inside. On this I think even Mike and Dan would agree.

Anything works with a modicum of training and a fundamental trust that it can be done. The mind finds the path regardless of the odd imagery it may use ot get there. It is easy, therefore when presented with the "This works -- that doesn't" in person to

1) see that it works
2) therefore trust that it works; and
3) therefore be able to find the flow that makes it work.

Now find a way to commmunicate and to define objective criteria of some realistic dimensions of 1-3 conceptually without "hands on." There's the hard part. It is necessary for students to be able to do proper correctives on their own, which even Tohei recognized, albeit with a different attempt at solution.
Quote:
Tohei Interview wrote:
It bothered me that even these [taiso] exercises were not enough for people to remember it between my visits. They could do it correctly when I was there, but by the time I saw them next they had already lost it! It simply didn't stick. It then occurred to me what was missing. If the secret is that the mind moves the body, then just going through the physical motions is not enough.
Quote:
Mark Murray wrote: View Post
Or this part,
"Most people assume that if someone pushes on your body, you have no choice but to move or receive it. In fact, if you are relaxed and unified it is relatively easy to redirect the incoming force into your One Point and be stable as a rock, even with several strong men trying to push you over."
Really? I thought it was the ground and gravity they were using. Or else fascial strength.
As for me, and my interpretation of One Point, try "radius of turn reduced to zero, energy = ???" Do the math.

Quote:
Tohei Interview wrote:
The basic principles of the universe apply to anything you do. The reason people get poor results is because they try to go against natural principles. If you remember the principles and apply them subconsciously, they work for you every time. However, people have the bad habit of forgetting the fundamentals as soon as they make a bit of progress. That is why you need to keep training.
The bold portion is the key. Training is applying them. But Tohei recognizes you must have a statement of general principles that enables you to both remember them and then work out their applicaiton in novel cases.

Tohei's 4 principles do that, but they are not (nor do they attempt to be) a physical interpretaiton of what happens that can be used as an generally applied concept in the Western sense. They are a widely approved impression of feel for correct action -- they are not a rubric for detailed description of correct action. There are tools for doing this in physical terms, they just need to be applied correctly and consistently.

Last edited by Erick Mead : 03-19-2007 at 03:04 PM.

Cordially,

Erick Mead
一隻狗可久里馬房但他也不是馬的.
  Reply With Quote