Quote:
Cady Goldfield wrote:
Hi Jason,
I wasn't referring to AikiWeb, but to the writings that Chris has translated here. However, you are right -- what I stated could be applied to the IS/Aiki discussions on AikiWeb as well, although the "Watch my hands..." snippet doesn't apply at all -- no one here is intentionally trying to distract or mislead anyone. I addressed the reason why everything is written so vaguely, in response to your post on the "tomato, tomahto" thread (second part of my post) here:
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showth...375#post320375
The close-to-the-vest nature of Japanese (and other Asian) teachers who traditionally withheld knowledge intentionally from their own students, may rub many of us the wrong way, but I think we can appreciate why Sagawa and others who wrote of aiki would not disclose training methods publicly (in books, etc.) when they were considered so precious. Inventors take out patents and copyrights on ideas, but body methods are not protected that way.
I agree that it is often unproductive when we come to a public forum and allude to "special things," but then do not elaborate on what they are and how they work. But I also appreciate the reasons and have been "guilty" of it myself for the reasons stated. I do think that the greater idea behind some of these discussions is "There's some deep stuff out there, and we're willing to show it to anyone who sincerely wants to know, but we won't broadcast the specifics on a public forum." |
The words you use here and in other posts (the one you referenced, for example) that give me real pause when discussing IP stuff are "precious", "patents and copyrights", and "proprietary". Those words when added to the IHTBF claim really smells bad to me, especially when I can't seem to get much substantial technical info (physics, biomechanics, definitions) about what is happening. The rancor between people discussing IP along with the whiff of profit motive keeps me firmly in the skeptic's camp.
Yes, I will find a seminar. I will feel this for myself. I have attended a handful of Ikeda's seminars where he has claimed to be teaching IP stuff, but I am not yet satisfied that he is not simply doing on a more practiced level what I learn in my own dojo. I intend to make an IP seminar next year, if not a couple. I will feel this for myself.
However, I am also resistant to the idea that my individual experience at an IP seminar would be necessary and sufficient (in the mathematical sense) "proof" for me. I am not an entirely rational player, no one is. I prefer to rely upon a strong consensus from a large number of people who are also predominantly rational and trained in examining physical phenomena. I am happy to be a data point, I am happy to give my most rational assessment of my experience, and I am thrilled to hear from others. I've read enough to agree that there is something worth looking at, questions need to be asked, explored and answered to the extent possible. I am not yet satisfied by other people's answers, or their questions, for that matter.
A side note. One
projection of "dual opposing spirals" is a lissajous. It does not follow that a lissajous is necessarily a projection of "dual opposing spirals". My evidentiary standards are pretty high. All squares are rectangles, not all rectangles are squares.
I've gotten some response for expressing my discomfort with what seems like a profit motive. It is argued that the vast majority of aikido teacher teach for money, and that is certainly true. However, I have met few aikido teachers, and few martial arts teachers in general who use nondisclosure agreements and who forbid basic recording of their seminars. I have agreed a few times to not share the good and useful stuff I've learned in a class, but I dont really fully buy the whole secret art that is too deadly for mere folks can cause demonic health problems song and dance when the agreement is viewed under the spotlight of protecting paid access to a product provided by few individuals. Precious patented and copyrighted proprietary product, or a true return to real aikido? I dont know. I'm just uneasy with the tone of some of the discussion. The responses have not fully eased my mind.