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Old 03-11-2007, 11:52 AM   #40
DH
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,394
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Re: Aikido as External Art -or- Where's the Chewy Center?

Kevin
I'm not going to expand on views I've expressed a hundred times.
I've been very clear. If you don't understand my views by now, you never will.

You wrote
"Aikido doesn't need a saviour, Dan....."

Uhm,.... yes it does. Who it may be, or where they come from is up for those in it to decide

Ikeda 2006
"Even if the number of people practicing aikido reaches the tens of thousands, there is no meaning if we are fighting among ourselves. It only means we are moving in the opposite direction from O-sensei's philosophy. Peace cannot be made unless we all come together - not just karate and aikido, but all budo.

The kind of power through kokyu that Ushiro sensei has been teaching is completely different from what is usually thought of as kokyu. All of the people who came to this camp experienced this. It may have been only an introduction to this kind of practice and this kind of power, but I think it was a real plus for people to be able to experience it.

As a teacher, one of the most important considerations is how we are bringing up new people in the art, both now and into the future. There will be no growth if we just repeat what is currently being done. For ourselves and for the Aikido of the future, it is necessary to completely change the way aikido is practiced. I think we have come to this critical crossroads."


And from Ushiro

The Essence of Budo: Nullifying the Opponent's Power, and Ki
In aikido, practice often consists of using circular movements to avoid or lead an opponent's attack. However, this category of response is possible only against certain categories of attack. When up against the straight and explosive strikes of Okinawan karate, circular movements would never be fast enough.

In modern karate and other competitive martial arts, most practice is comprised of nothing more than moving the hands and feet in response to different attacks. This kind of practice depends on strength, speed, and timing. As one gets older, however, there is no guarantee that one can continue using this kind of strength. Everyone, at some point, will hit the 'wall of advancing age'.

In order to address this limitation, it is necessary to find something that is not based on physical power - something not visible to the eye, something that controls the opponent even before contact is made. This is ki. If one can cultivate ki, then one can utilize it in all aspects of life,
says Ushiro shihan.

I think Ushiro's and Ikeda's words will by and large fall on deaf ears.
Just as Ueshiba's did. And everyones going to just go back to searching for paths of power in Kissomaru's technical syllabus and coming up empty.
Mike's 2% will make the leap and start looking elsewhere like I did.
The word is out, the low level Aikido teachers have now felt the power available to them and the means to get what Ikeda admits has been missing. And we are willing to share with them what we know and possibly what their teachers can't or won't teach.
Which leaves us to ask Ushiro just who he thinks he is.
"Who am I?
I'm the guy doing his job.
You must be the other guy!"

.........From the Departed

The whole article is here.
http://www.aikidojournal.com/article.php?articleID=688
Thanks again to Stans work at Aikido Journal.

In closing I hope we can disagree-even strongly-as friends and not enemies. I'm sure we'll meet up and train and laugh and train and just be (as Meik Skoss says so elequantly) two more bums on the budo bus.
Dan

Last edited by DH : 03-11-2007 at 12:01 PM.
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