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Old 10-07-2012, 09:54 PM   #42
Erick Mead
 
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Dojo: Big Green Drum (W. Florida Aikikai)
Location: West Florida
Join Date: Jun 2005
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Re: More on Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven

Quote:
David Orange wrote: View Post
The real question is, would you demonstrate that your abstraction results in the kinds of things we're talking about? Can you show the power as well as diagram it?
What are looking to see?

Quote:
For instance, from your quote of Abe Sensei:

"In a case of Aikido, there are invisible heart and breathe there. And, if one trains the method of breathing mainly by oneself, one's own Aikido will be established. The way of training of body is depend on where one places Minakanushi. It means that heart, breathe, and body should be united and, when one practices, heart, breathe, and body must be located at the center."

Even after all these years and what I've been learning, my impulse to the words "located at the center" is to feel my "one-point." Many people would read that English sentence and translate it as "located at the one-point" or maybe "hara."

What do you think?
I think that when a hostile situation begins, the center of the participants is objectively undefined -- but the attacker invites the target to take the center. a person in harmony accepts this and so the two are subjectively in harmony to begin. If I make my heart ,my breath, my body the center in the way that draws all to the center then I can arbitrarily enter and my center becomes THE center, -- the objective center -- and then rest is less continued effort than it is continuing attention on maintaining the effect.

Quote:
In other words, if you don't have a million dollars, how credible will your "Make a Million Dollars" book be?
Ask Sandy Coufax how good a pitcher he honestly was and he would tell you he was as good as Norm Sherry could make him -- he had power but not control. I think experience makes observation relatable and applicable -- but observational aspects of knowledge are worthy topics.

Many pitching coaches -- were catchers, often back-up catchers. Why? Because they were good and constant observers -- as well as decent throwers in their own right, with experience to apply to their observations. While pitchers were busy pitching -- the catcher was watching the pitching, and better able to relate errors more immediately to his own throwing approach. Making pitching prowess the threshold measure on the value of observations would have left Sandy Coufax with a scorching but very unreliable fastball.

Some people learn martial arts to make themselves the best fighter possible. Some people try to help people become better people -- especially when they are being attacked. I don't think those objectives are all inconsistent. One's aim depends not only on talent -- but also perspective -- and target.

Cordially,

Erick Mead
一隻狗可久里馬房但他也不是馬的.
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