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Old 06-18-2009, 08:17 AM   #7
lbb
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,202
United_States
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Re: Aikido and Driving a Vehicle

Maarten, I agree with you, but I think the two of us may be the lone voices in the wilderness here. There is a strong tendency/desire here, particularly among people who are new to aikido, to view all of life through the aikido filter. I think that it's a mistake to ascribe certain mental states, brain-body connections, etc. as being the product of aikido or unique to aikido, when they are far more universal to the human condition and can be experienced in a myriad of circumstances. At the same time, though, I think the "aikido filter" has a simple explanation; namely, that prior to their aikido training, many people here did not notice these states or connections, and so did not consciously experience them. I think it's great if aikido training can make people more aware of the subtleties of how their minds and bodies work; I think it's a big mistake if they believe that such workings, or even their new awareness of them, are the products of aikido per se; and a worse mistake still if they insist on using aikido metaphors to structure their experience of these phenomena outside of an aikido context.
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