Thread: Unbendable arm
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Old 06-19-2007, 04:41 AM   #11
Ecosamurai
 
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Dojo: Takagashira Dojo
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Re: Unbendable arm

Quote:
David Skaggs wrote: View Post
I learned "unbendable arm" when I practiced Aikikai Aikido. I am not sure what other styles use it. It might be more up to the individual sensei.

David
It originates from Koichi Tohei, if you learned it in an aikikai dojo it's probably one of a few possibilities:

1) They have a ki aikido background and have since joined the aikikai
2) They have an ordinary aikikai background and just retained it after Tohei left the aikikai
3) Someone picked it up cross training and thought it was cool.

At a guess (I don't mean to be presumptuous) I'd say that if it's no 1 then you might have unbendable arm right, if its 2 or 3 chances are you've only got the baby level of unbendable arm that takes 5 minutes to learn (that's what I described in my other post).

There are many levels and subtleties to this exercise, most people who dismiss it as a trick tend to have only seen the baby level in my experience. Exceptions granted as its a big world and I am not omniscient.

Cheers

Mike

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
-Martin Luther King Jr
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