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Old 07-03-2005, 05:18 PM   #1
Mike Sigman
Location: Durango, CO
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,123
United_States
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Possible Ki & Kokyu Workshop

I have been off-and-on talking to some people off-line about doing a sort of ki and kokyu "sharing" and rather than burdening one of the regular posters with soliciting for potential interest (which he very kindly offered to do, but I'm now thinking it unfair to saddle him with), I wanted to throw out the thought and see if there is any interest and at the same time solicit comments and make a few of my own.

What I have in mind is a one-time, Aikido-oriented workshop that is 2 days (about 6 hours each day) long. I'll do the workshop for free, but I'd ask that the attendees chip in to pay for my travel, lodging, rent of venue (if any), and meals. Assuming there are 20-30 attendees (I don't like to work with more than 30 people because I need to personally interact with people and 30 is enough), for the workshop should certainly be less than $100 (maybe a lot less), depending on where it's held geographically, etc. I can't do this workshop before late this year or (preferably) Jan-Feb of 2006.

I'll work up a syllabus, although I have a few general things in mind:

*How to form relaxed but powerful kokyu strength
*Using this form of strength in movement and shifting all movement to "from the dantien"
*Using this form of strength in selected applications, "ki tests", ukemi, joint locks, and pins, and hitting.
*Starting to develop ki: how to do it, some practices, relevant qigongs and how they actually work, etc.


Of course, it's sort of a pig-in-a-poke for anyone thinking about coming; particularly if they have preconceptions about what ki, kokyu, etc., are, what they already know, what I could know, etc. Not to mention you might get a situation reminiscent of the Mark Tennenhouse discussion. On the plus side, you'll get a chance to post your impressions of the material and my ability to do it... on the downside, I might get a chance to post my impressions.

On the other hand, there's a gamble in it for me, as well. It's fairly difficult and uncommon to find people who can not only grasp what the information is about in toto… it's extremely rare to find people who can not only grasp it but who can also recognize the magnitude of the required change and commit to it effectively. When I got my first inkling of the magnitude of the information, I immediately stopped practicing everything I had been doing and began to rebuild while looking for more and more information… but I was not a "teacher" of any sort, so there were no pride issues or other tangents from being a senior student or other pecking order stuff, etc.

The real problem is that this stuff is not an "additive" that can just be tacked onto what someone has been doing for x-number of years, yet it is a keystone to the arts that use ki in movement, as Aikido, Taiji, Bagua, etc., do. I know that from experience and I know from experience that most people can't really accept the idea of something basic being missing in what they already do, so they tend to reject the importance largely on that criterion. Some can, however, look at the problem and information without getting distracted by personal issues…. and that's the kind of people I'd like to get in the workshop if I'm going to offer my time and knowledge for free. I'd prefer to have ikkyu and up of people who will viably be teaching the next generation of Aikidoists.

Anyway, the idea is to see if there is enough interest to do it, determine an adequate location that is not geographically extreme, thoughts on places to hold it in a given locale, solicit suggestions and thoughts on content of the workshop, feasibility of the concept, miscellaneous thoughts, etc.

Regards,

Mike Sigman
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