Quote:
Attilio Anthony John Wagstaffe wrote:
What I am getting at or dismissing is throwing "ki" balls and the like, or shouting or "looking" at someone is going to throw them, it's just complete and utter nonsense, woo woo and "money" to me, we all know that.... or should do....  |
I think it's important to differentiate between training tools and practical effects, though. I'm not a fan of the idea of shooting ki balls out my fingertips, either, but thinking in those terms *does* have a clear and measurable effect on the guy holding onto my arm. Looking at my partner's eyes is more effective than looking at my own wrist. And so forth.
We can argue all day about what ki "really" is or what is "really" happening at a physical level to produce these effects. It's an interesting discussion, but from the standpoint of learning, teaching, and using this stuff, I just don't care. If a given visualization helps someone to do something I can't, or (better yet) helps them teach me to duplicate it, then I couldn't care less whether that visualization reflects physical reality or not. If you want to mock Tohei Sensei's ki exercises (or whatever), fine, but how does your aikido compare to his?
Katherine