Thread: True Warfare
View Single Post
Old 10-26-2011, 07:25 AM   #94
Marc Abrams
Dojo: Aikido Arts of Shin Budo Kai/ Bedford Hills, New York
Location: New York
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,302
United_States
Offline
Re: True Warfare

Quote:
Torbjorn Saw wrote: View Post
Please do not mistake my use of Love of not containing Aiki. Real love is more than just good intentions as anyone who has tasted the spirit will clearly know. Religion is based on a spiritual truths. Some will understand it superficially not having had their own direct insight into the very subtle domains, while others have dipped deep and can speak with authority upon the matter. Its the same in Aikido, some do hardcore exterior "martial" aikido without its accompanying inner quality of sensitivity (they name it Real Aikido). Others who want to explore further, venture into the inner qualities through their daily practice.
I practiced Iwama aikido under Morihiro Saito sensei and can say with certainty that he understood the the blending, the aiki, the awase's inner sensitivity of non-violent engagement. I take it that he learned it from O Sensei. Alas, most Iwama practitioners today, as well as most aikikai people, continue to train "execution" aikido with "good intentions" added for good measure.

To me the OP is all about Aiki and we can physically train it on the mat. Then when we begin to feel it we start to comprehend why O Sensei would use words like love and non-violence and peace to describe his Aikido. It hasn't gone soft or modern. It's just that we begin to appreciate the inner engagement of the art without loosing touch with the basic form and structure of kihon.
Love then, is Aiki in action and very effective still.

Please do not read the poetic language to be a substitute for daily practice, which is the misogi O Sensei left us with.
Bjorn:

I am not really sure what your understanding of Aiki is? Mark Murray makes very cogent points regarding many people's misunderstanding and misperceptions about what aiki really is. What you think is aiki, might not really be it. If that is the case, your foundations fall out from under you. Iwama style Aikido does not practice aiki, as described by Mark Murray, Dan Harden and others (at least I have yet to see any practitioners in that style demonstrate it). You might want to see if you can be squeezed in to the next seminar that Dan Harden teaches in England to see if what you think is your aiki, actually lives up to the stuff that people like O'Sensei had and could do.

The Aiki Expo's that Stanley Pranin set up years ago, opened the eyes of many of us in that what we thought we had, was not really it. Those experiences left many of us with two glaring realizations: 1) The major impediment to our really learning things is what we believe that we already know; 2) Practicing something one million times will not insure that we learn much of anything, unless we are actually practicing the right stuff- in order to do that, go back to point #1.

Having genuine aiki enabled O'Sensei and others to be able to focus on love. As to the rest of us, back to exploration, discovery and integration thanks to the guidance and instructions of those who actually have Aiki and can teach it.

Regards,

Marc Abrams
  Reply With Quote