Thread: Feeling
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Old 01-29-2012, 11:24 PM   #57
David Orange
Dojo: Aozora Dojo
Location: Birmingham, AL
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,511
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Re: Feeling

Quote:
Mark Freeman wrote: View Post
I'm guessing (hoping) that you are using the name of Mr Poole in an ironic sense? I can't imagine why you would be using it otherwise
Mark, I really know little about Mr. Poole except what I've heard from T. Rex Sensei and the documentation on his website. So I guess you'd have to call it an ironic usage. But I did wonder to what UK aikido lineage Graham has connections. Not that I would know many of them at all. But if he could explain how this aikido comes to him from Ueshiba....it would be helpful.

BTW, did you see the thread on "the sock of ki"? It's here:

http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20775

Quote:
Mark Freeman wrote: View Post
I hope to be seeing Graham in the not too distant future. I am happy to practice with anyone. As for me being able to show 'actual' aikido...not sure about that... I can only show him 'my' aikido, which is not the same as Henry Ellis' aikido. Personally I don't feel the need to prove anything, I do however have a desire to find the truth out for myself.
Fantastic. My regards to you both. Would you remind me of your own lineage?

The spirit of yoseikan has always been "find out for yourself what is true". So I applaud your efforts. That's exactly why the Japanese martial artist's response to any claim has always been "Misete!"--"Show me!". The were looking for the truth and it was hard to come by. And where there was little entertainment, anything new was also interesting.

If you made a claim and they said "Show me" and you did but it wasn't effective on them, ,they had no respect for it. But they would at least respect your willingness to step up and put your claims on the line and they might teach you if your ego wasn't too big to learn from them

If you made some claim and they said "Misete!" and you wouldn't back up your claim, they might get very angry. It wasn't like you could go a lot of places. You were in a very local village, so you couldn't get away from anything you said in this little circle of hard-working, strong, high-spirited and easily irritated people. And you were going to stay pretty much around them for most of your life. And if they took a bad attitude toward you, it could fester in that little town. And many fights started that way. So people learned not to make claims if they weren't willing to show their ability. And out of a couple of thousand years, the Japanese people developed pretty much a culture of speaking very politely and modestly.

The popular image is that the Japanese have bred the impolite and crude and harsh out of their culture, but they adhere to that today not because it's bred out fo them but because it is still very active among them. Anything you say will lead to a thousand repercussions and embarrassments. That is still a very real and potent element of daily life among Japanese.

And remember that in the beginning the "Show me!" is said in a real spirit of sharing. Meaning "Share that with me!" though it might also of course mean, "Prove it!" But if two people are on friendly conversational terms and one of them makes a strange claim, if the listener really gets the idea that the speaker could possibly really have this ability, he will enthusiastically say "Show me!" The more real power and experience he has, the more likely he is to have the "Prove it!" attitude. But the beginning is usually friendly enthusiasm.

If anyone has great ability, budo people share that root desire to learn it also. Budo is certainly a quest for wonders. Still, after awhile, one gets a sense of what's likely and what's not, and can develop a pretty good BS meter, so...Graham just seems to set off the meters of a lot of pretty experienced people. Is what I'm saying.

Quote:
Mark Freeman wrote: View Post
I'm One of the main reasons to quit working and travel out into the world looking for it, for some time (for that read, 'as long as the money lasts').
You posted a general plan for that a bit back, didn't you? Are you really doing that? How old are you? It seems great to do it and I wish you luck. Please let me know if you get into the southeast US.

Quote:
Mark Freeman wrote: View Post
I'm p.s. a good teacher doesn't automatically guarantee a good student
Well, I'm proof of that. But having a better teacher does give you a wider view of the world of martial arts and does at least give you the experience of seeing someone who really does have deep ability. My survival all these years (56 so far) has been because of God's protection and not because of my skill. But God also put me with Mochizuki to see great ability and experience great character over some years. I remain constantly grateful for that experience and more amazed as the years go by that I actually had it.

Let me know when you're coming.

David

"That which has no substance can enter where there is no room."
Lao Tzu

"Eternity forever!"

www.esotericorange.com
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