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Old 01-20-2011, 08:06 PM   #84
Marc Abrams
Dojo: Aikido Arts of Shin Budo Kai/ Bedford Hills, New York
Location: New York
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,302
United_States
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Re: Ikeda Sensei Demos of Ki

Quote:
Budd Yuhasz wrote: View Post
When it was just one, it was easier to find ways to include him at the dojo I belonged to then, as the dojo was kind of home away from home and the wife trained, too. With two, there's no ability to tag team and the new gym I'm more of just another participant/shmoe there to work out - so not as conducive to integrating babies into the training.
Going from one child to two is always the hardest! Going from 2 on up, much easier! NYC dojo is one hour each way (two hour class). My wife and I made major sacrifices to allow us to continue with our training. I fully understand your situation. Raising a family is all about major sacrificing.....

Quote:
Budd Yuhasz wrote: View Post

That reads a bit as a backseat comment to the backseat commenting. I think if we keep the conversations at the level of "Here's how I think it works" and "here's what I'm doing to get it to work" - in this case, looking at the vids of Ikeda that are available and trying to dissect that . . it can go a ways towards then bridging that gap towards being able to "do" and then "do better" what the teachers are trying to show us.

On that note, if there's folks that Ikeda, or Ushiro (or anyone else) are more successfully transmitting (or maybe better put are more successfully learning what is being taught) their knowledge - I think that's also fair game to being looked at from the standpoint of the "how to's" and "how's it work" because folks like that can hopefully make it more understood for the rest of us.

If we start going down the path of insisting that "You cannot conceive of the stupendous awesomeness of this or that practitioner" .. then that's going to be its own self-limiting trick bag (along the same lines of why some people try to keep Ueshiba on this pedestal of unattainable ability).
I look at things differently. I like to get together with people and actively train together and hash out things. We both are old wrestlers, so we both know how important hands on is in working things out. I currently work with a growing bunch of wrestlers. There is no substitute for experiencing what they actually do, as opposed to what I think I see on video or from the stands. I frankly find using video after I work with someone can be a little more useful. I do not engage in idolizing others. If I can learn something from somebody, that is great. If I can't, it is my loss. It's too easy to pick apart things "wrong" or not good enough. It's a lot harder finding useful information in the most unlikely places.

Regards,

Marc Abrams