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Old 12-02-2008, 01:32 AM   #46
Stefan Hultberg
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 26
Denmark
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Re: Aikido too spiritual at times?

Hi everyone

Distinctions, boundaries, differentiation. What is spiritual? What is physical? What is buki waza and what is tai jutsu. When i do shiho giri do I also practice shiho nage? I find that there is no distinction, no borders, especially between the spiritual and the physical. At the minute level the consciousness of the observer chooses the outcome of superposed quantum states - the mind chooses the physical reality. Sometimes I train with a lot of physical power, the tanto flashes towards nage, is blocked and I'm thrown with a kote gaeshi, a loud kiai and a slam against the mats, a moment of sanchin and yet another repetition of this physical dance. Physical, yes, but on my way home afterwards I'm happy, feel light and in harmony with life. That's spiritual. A sensei once said that we, when starting training, should bow towards our training comrades with a feeling of eager expectation. After training we should fill our minds with gratitude which should be projected towards our friends as we thank them for the training we just had. Is this physical or is it spiritual?? The body, the mind, and the spirit are one, no distinctions necessary and no distinctions meaningful. The children in the club are very physical, but when I tell one of them that her sword techniques looked great and that she had a great focus in her training - that's såiritual coaching as well as physical. Her techniques are physical, but her joy at being praised for her progress is spiritual - which next tuesday again turns into physical motivation and focus. The realms are intertwined in a complex dance of unity and they are, ultimately, neither physical nor spiritual - those are just words with no real meaning. Just practice, practice allways and you will improve in all directions, sometimes benefitting from the physical and sometimes the spiritual, sometimes as a confirmation of your expectations, sometimes a joyous surprise.

"Allways practice in a joyful and vibrant manner", sigh - what a man!!

Yours sincerely

Stefan
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