Thread: The Leather Man
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Old 07-31-2007, 04:02 PM   #46
Lee Salzman
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 406
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Re: The Leather Man

Quote:
Mike Sigman wrote: View Post
Actually, the "fascia idea" has been pushed in other places for at least a couple of thousand years, Lee. I can't see where it particularly means anything in relation to how long it's been on one Aikido forum, if that's what you're talking about. It's just a name that more or less points to and corrals a bunch of different phenomena... phenomena which most people don't seem to realize are actually related. For instance, in yiquan, which you seem to have some experience with, the hairs standing on end (pilo-erection), the startle-releases Wang Xiang Zhai learned from Bai He, the connection of the body via the standing, etc., are the same "fascia" phenomena that Tohei works on with some of his breathing techniques, that Shioda expouses when he suggests expanding/spreading the hand, and so on. Are any of these Aikido and Yiquan practices "helpful"? If so, then the fascia idea, by pointing out more about what's going on should be helpful, too. How is "force vector" helpful in a discussion about "ki strength" or "kokyu power"? To me, it's pretty helpful to know that it ain't no mysterious, green-glowing magical force.

Best.

Mike
I guess I lay my cards on the table by saying this, but, if we're talking yiquan, then the process of learning coordinated strength via the yiquan I learned does not suppose fascia, nor does knowing about fascia shed light on how one trains yiquan in this way. Doesn't mean it might not be involved, it just means it doesn't inform the bulk of the training at all, anymore than say the myonucleus, myofibrils, or the cytoplasm, because practical issues do instead.

And if you tag ideas onto a concept, that while maybe is tangible, but on the other hand isn't predictive or prescriptive, then how much better is it than magic? Because it still opens the door for very subjective interpretation, and thus for people to start turning it into magic, because the framework for explanation is still lacking. -- "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- How many people really know how their TV works? Or even how to program a VCR? I don't think buzz words help. If anything, discuss the practical exercises, and reason from there, but reasoning from a nebulous buzz word down...?
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