Haven't been on aikiweb much lately.
Interesting thread, going through my mind too is that while yes, we have a separate ranking for what you could call our IT, there are those among the high ranked who were trained by Tohei Sensei for many years that I have felt a whole another level from and I have been trained by that are at the top of my priority list to seek out because they also teach well. (some have now passed away, because that is an older generation mostly) I have a reasonable confidence in what I know because my teacher that I started back in the early 90's and his teacher were actively interested and actively cultivating in their own unique ways such internal skills. Unfortunately, not being on the east coast, I can't just hop in a car and visit some of the people mentioned. In person, I'd rather have the attitude that I don't assume I know anything until I experience it. If it connects with anything I may know that will manifest itself soon enough and those discoveries are fun to make. However
, one of the plans in my business for the next year is soon to start traveling out of Texas, so I would love to know of people doing this that are open to visitors interested in comparing notes and who I could learn from.
Quote:
Mike Sigman wrote:
Well, first of all let me go back to something that I don't think has really penetrated very clearly.... these skills aren't unique to Aikido nor were they unique to Daito Ryu, nor are concepts for different styles/factions unique, and so on. Notice that Tohei has a separate ranking for the ki/kokyu skills outside of his Aikido ranking. Note that O-Sensei's cryptic quotes are obliquely sometimes and specific many times in quoting standard Chinese directions/admonitions about these skills.
When people start talking about "ki" and they have Yin-Yang dichotomy and "A-Un" and Five Elements, etc., we're talking about the same basic skills with the same basic rules and principles. Some Koryu or Aikido faction that uses different techniques and applications, that's fine but the basic ki skills by necessity must be the same, depending upon how purely they're done.
FWIW
Mike Sigman
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