View Single Post
Old 04-27-2012, 07:51 PM   #4
Tom Verhoeven
Dojo: Aikido Auvergne Kumano dojo
Location: Auvergne
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 295
France
Offline
Re: Dog Chases Tail, Tail Wags Dog

Thank you for this article. It is an interesting read. I liked the image of what happens between aite and shite during their movement as one.

I wonder if there is not too much emphasis on kuzushi in Aikido? In fact, I seem to recall that once the emphasize was on aite to be in balance in order to apply a technique.

I agree that it is a mistake to think the brain as separate of the nervous system. That mistake is the last remnant of Cartesian dualism. The whole body is one - the mind can move the body, just as the body can move the mind. What always has intrigued me about Aikido is that while in some of the other martial arts one tries to move the body of the other in order to gain an advantage or a result, in Aikido it seemed to be more or just as much about moving the other's mind.

Niall's comment was intriguing. Do we have to destroy the balance first in order to redress? It reminds me of a classic philosophical point of discussion; is not every act of creation a form of destruction or violence? If we think about the myth of Izanagi and Izanami thrusting a spear into the water to create an island, is that not an act of violence? Or if we put a brush to a piece of white paper do we not ruin the whiteness of the paper. Or think of a bronze sculpture, by casting it the original gets lost forever.

Today we brought our horse to another field. For some reason she did not want to stay there and she became upset. She ran around the field trying to get out, tried every trick to get past me, came straight at me in full gallop stopping right in front of me, turned around and kicked her hind-legs into the air. It was a battle. A struggle for dominance. But it ended peaceful and no-one got hurt or injured. It was almost like a game, a dance. It was like Aikido.
So I think shifts in balance can happen without destruction. Better still, shifts in balance without destruction are at times the very thing that makes growth possible.

Thanks again for the article and both your comments.

Tom
  Reply With Quote