Thread: common ground??
View Single Post
Old 08-13-2011, 05:54 PM   #6
Mike Sigman
Location: Durango, CO
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,123
United_States
Offline
Re: common ground??

Quote:
Mary Eastland wrote: View Post


This picture is so interesting me as an example of one point testing. I see it pop up from time to time in discussions including Dan, Mike and others. Each person seems to see something different.
Can we suppose for an instant than no one is an expert at what that picture shows and each one of us tells what it shows to us so maybe we can find some common ground.

Here is what I see: Nage is pushing uke's arm down and back in an appropriate test for uke's ability. Uke is keeping one point...shoulders relaxed, no pushing back just extending energy.

I see the value of this exercise as developing a correct feeling that can be used in life for balance, peacefulness and self defense.

Will you describe what you see...with no insults or negative comments?
Mary, there are a number of connotations of the whole qi/ki paradigm that are involved in what is translated as "extend ki". I have seen (and can show a limited few) of some of the facets of the larger context of qi/ki, but in the photo you're showing there is a physical act... which must be explainable by a physically logical reason. I.e. "peacefulness" or similar intangible concepts *may* be there, but they are tangential to the physical phenomenon being demonstrated.

What I'm saying is that let's look at the physical phenomenon alone. First of all, there is a generally discernible incoming force from Uke. Nage is not leaning, but for some reason is not falling over backward. A quick general evaluation of the static situation shows that Nage's only point of contact to something substantial other than himself is at the point where his one foot is in contact with the ground. The major idea is that somehow an incoming force is balanced at a not-vertical angle into the ground. Hmmmm ... somehow Nage has chosen to respond (and can actually do it!) at some angle that is not vertical to the incoming force such that everything is in equilibrium. If things are not in physical equilibrium, then they must move in some direction.

So let's think about the situation where a native porter of some country carries a large load settled on the top of his head. There have been studies showing that many native porters can carry loads on their heads much more efficiently than an untrainded westerner can. To cut it short, the big difference is probably that a trained porter simply relaxes and lets the force of the load go through his skeleton so that the ground carries the main load. An untrained westerner, on the other hand, starts worrying about actually holding the load against gravity, and hence does something quite different from what the native porter does, *even though a picture of the two of them will give them impression that what they're doing is the same thing.*

In the case of Nage in the picture, he simply lets the incoming force go through to the ground at an appropriate angle rather than "holding" it. In other words, most (if not all) of the "ki tricks" that you see Ueshiba, Tohei, the picture above, etc., do is to allow an incoming force go directly to the ground. This allowing the ground to hold a force, or to use the ground's force to push/hit someone, is what is called the Ki of Earth and why O-Sensei references it in his writings.

FWIW

Mike Sigman
  Reply With Quote