Re: why do people outside Aikido for IS?
While I have not had the pleasure to attend one of Dan's seminars I have had the pleasure of training with one of his students and have found it beneficial. The IT exercises have helped me find another way to work on certain aspects of my aikido. Largely having to do with posture and being able to remain in balance while in motion.
I was happy to step outside of aikido into a class on basic bellydancing excercises and this helped me to gain a better understanding of muscle isolation. This understanding helped me quite a lot at the past weekends seminar with Heiny sensei in which we worked on things very much related to this. And added to that mix, this weekend, the kotodama and chanting in order to inform our aikido. I have been finding that incredibly useful. It was an amazing seminar.
I step outside of aikido again when I work with my horse and look for ways in which I can use what I know of riding and horsemanship and interaction with large animals to inform my aikido.
And I stepped outside of the horse world into aikido in order to make me a better horsewoman. And it has enhanced that in ways far greater than I had expected.
I really don't understand why it should be seen as wrong or bad to look into other worlds in order to find new ways to inform the one you live the most within. I believe that being open to seeing seemingly unrelated things and finding ways to learn from them is very useful and beneficial in so many ways. To shun and avoid such seems to me a way to limit your own potential.
I don't know anything of a crisis in aikido relating to people looking to other resources in order to deepen their training. But I must say I am very glad I train in a dojo where such experimentation and exploration is not only allowed but encouraged.
If this is not the road someone wishes I don't see why that should be a problem either. But it seems that perhaps if someone protests so very loudly ,that they do not want any part of it, instead of just continuing about their business, that perhaps that person is actually really very interested in learning more but perhaps a little afraid to step out of their comfort zone in order to find out for themselves.
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