External, too
To me, it's not only internal, but external, too. Flows of intention, both from tori and uke.
Actually, I feel increasingly that what is going on in aikido is the whirling and turning of those flows of intention. The bodies and their movements are mere shadows of this.
The essence of an attack is the flow of intention from the attacker, and the essence of the defense is how the defender's flow blends with it, and redirects it. Their bodies follow.
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