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05-31-2004, 08:53 PM
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#1
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Dojo: Shodokan Honbu (Osaka)
Location: Himeji, Japan
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,319
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Self Image During Training
All this talk about personal warrior code got me to thinking along slightly more general lines.
What self image do you have during training.
Do you see yourself as Stupendous Man (ala Calvin and Hobbes) or the recipient of Takuan's teachings in the Unfettered Mind (specifically The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom). Is it hard ass-ed warrior training or just someone who likes training the Aikido techniques. Street fighter or purveyor of peace and harmony.
Now I realize that it might be a combination of several and not necessarily one of the above - but if you had to say in ten words or less what it was - could you?
I like training in Aikido techniques.
PS I am referring to the state of mind during the actual training.
Last edited by PeterR : 05-31-2004 at 08:55 PM.
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05-31-2004, 09:00 PM
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#2
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Dojo: Tonbo Dojo
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 374
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Re: Self Image During Training
Humble. And always intrigued and asking questions to myself
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"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity"
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05-31-2004, 09:49 PM
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#3
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Dojo: Houston Ki Aikido
Location: Houston,TX
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,038
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Re: Self Image During Training
No mind.
or at least working toward it
while at the same time I just like
doing aikido technique.
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05-31-2004, 09:52 PM
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#4
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Dojo: Seiwa Dojo and Southside Dojo
Location: Battle Creek & Kalamazoo, MI
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,677
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Re: Self Image During Training
Mostly like this....
Bronson
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"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence. A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy he chooses non-violence."
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05-31-2004, 10:02 PM
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#5
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Dojo: Shodokan Honbu (Osaka)
Location: Himeji, Japan
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,319
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Re: Self Image During Training
Hi Craig;
I like No mind also - the core of Tomiki Aikido is afterall Mushin Mugamae but for me during training, watching the instructor, trying to improve the technique, trying to help my kohai improve theirs, No Mind just can not describe my state of mind during training. It is however an ideal.
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05-31-2004, 11:09 PM
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#6
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 126
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Re: Self Image During Training
I try to have the image of a solid line through my body and a ball of electricity outlining my body waiting to be projected. I understand the no mind idea for use in combat, but in training I believe it is very useful to have an image of yourself and things to improve upon.
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05-31-2004, 11:13 PM
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#7
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 126
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Re: Self Image During Training
And to answer my state of mind during training. I treat training as an "encounter" that needs to be respected as if your uke intends to kill you. Focused, relaxed, alert etc. Training is mellow and trusting but as the saying goes "How you train is how you perform." My uke intends to kill me and I am not going to allow that to happen.
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05-31-2004, 11:17 PM
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#8
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Dojo: Aikikai Dobunkan/ Icho Ryu Aikijujutsu
Location: Indiana
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 247
Offline
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Re: Self Image During Training
It depends on the day, what we are doing, (and recently) if I'm the one teaching
For example- atemi day- I AM GOD!!! Fear my mawashi geri and elbow strikes
kokyu ho day- don't grab so hard...I'm just a little shodan
teaching day- mae ukemi? eh? what's that?!?
irimi nage day- tin man on a rainy day.
nikyo day:
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06-01-2004, 12:24 AM
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#9
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Location: Adelaide, Australia
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 136
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Re: Self Image During Training
No mind for me isn't a choice sometimes..
*where did I leave those car keys*
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06-01-2004, 08:57 AM
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#10
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Location: Florida Gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 3,902
Offline
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Re: Self Image During Training
IMHO, self-image by definition is the internal visual representation that my learned ego identity uses as a frame of reference. I try to lose it as much as possible in training and in life. While its useful, it often gets in the way of new learning because it tries to make sense of something new in terms of something I already know and identify with.
When we had to rebuild the Dojo after a fire, many of us were happier without the mirrors.
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Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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06-01-2004, 09:15 AM
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#11
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 166
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Re: Self Image During Training
"Is that really me or does this gi make me look fat?"
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06-01-2004, 09:25 AM
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#12
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Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
Location: Phila. Pa
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,615
Offline
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Re: Self Image During Training
I'd say most of the time I'd have to go with Lynn's reply. If I can dump the self image I can get down to learning. I don't sucseed nearly as often as I should. Nearly all of my 'problems' on the mat are due to not being able to maintain the 'self image' of the moment, whatever it might be.
I also like training in aikido techniques...
Ron
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Ron Tisdale
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"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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06-01-2004, 10:51 AM
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#13
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Dojo: Kiburn, London, UK
Location: London
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 899
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Re: Self Image During Training
The calm centredness of Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" coupled with the murderous power of "Babe" from "Babe II" and the social integrity of Jaws - seriously Peter, stop smoking what ever you're smoking, I'm used to these type of questions from aiki-fruities like wot I'm meant to be...
Quote:
I don't sucseed nearly as often as I should.
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- Ron, are you saying you're a budgie with a bent beak? - sorry, old joke, couldn't resist.
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06-01-2004, 11:52 AM
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#14
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Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
Location: Phila. Pa
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,615
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Re: Self Image During Training
cough...that should be succeed...
Good one!
RT
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Ron Tisdale
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"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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06-01-2004, 12:53 PM
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#15
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Location: Harrisburg, PA
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 420
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Re: Self Image During Training
The gi definitely makes me look fat.
I just got back from four days of training at the AAA Eastern States Instructors Seminar. It's been a while since I trained so much in that short a time. For the most part, I found that I really didn't think much about myself during training; I simply thought about what I should be doing.
On the other hand, when I got back to the hotel room, I was surprised to see that I'm bigger than I felt. I'm a pretty big guy, but I've lost about 40 lbs. over the past year. So I'm enjoying being smaller than I was a year ago. But on the mat, I feel lighter and more agile than somebody who looks like me should be.
Oh well. If I continue to lose weight, I'll eventually fit my mental image of myself.
Regards,
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----
-Drew Ames
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06-01-2004, 02:34 PM
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#16
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 258
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Re: Self Image During Training
if I have meaning, I see nothing, if I see everything, it has no meaning
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06-01-2004, 03:01 PM
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#17
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Dojo: Houston Ki Aikido
Location: Houston,TX
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,038
Offline
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Re: Self Image During Training
Quote:
Peter Rehse wrote:
but for me during training, watching the instructor, trying to improve the technique, trying to help my kohai improve theirs, No Mind just can not describe my state of mind during training. It is however an ideal.
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Not sure I understood.
Yes, it's an ideal, but how wouldn't it help to foster that in all those situations you describe ? Such as bringing a full attention to detail at each moment. Like the full meaning of the kanji for "i" that begins iaido. At least that is how I look at it.
Craig
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06-01-2004, 04:21 PM
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#18
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 73
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Re: Self Image During Training
I agree with Jordan Steele.
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06-01-2004, 05:15 PM
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#19
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Dojo: Aikido Musubi Ryu/ Yoshin Wadokan
Location: Hamilton
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 306
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Re: Self Image During Training
Self image?
I thought about this question for a long time after reading all the other comments.
The only answer that came to my head was this; I want to come across as my seniors. I aspire to them. I want to be as good as them, so I try to duplicate what they do, including being a good sempai to those below me.
I know this is dangerous as eventually I need to become my own teacher, but I accept this is where I'm at in my training.
So I don't have my own self image as such. I just like having fun in the dojo.
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"flows like water, reflects like a mirror, and responds like an echo." Chaung-tse
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06-01-2004, 09:11 PM
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#20
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Dojo: Aikido of Midland, Midland TX
Location: Midland Tx
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 660
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Re: Self Image During Training
focus,trying to make relaxed concentration.
(ten words or less... remember?)
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Play nice, practice hard, but remember, this is a MARTIAL art!
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06-01-2004, 09:41 PM
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#21
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Dojo: Bond Street Dojo
Location: New York, New York
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 123
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Re: Self Image During Training
I don't think 'self-image'; I try to be water, or mizu:
I don't think of the kanji for water either; I think it's rather a handsome character (like myself). Seriously, for me there's little "I" on the mat.
--Chuck
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06-01-2004, 11:02 PM
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#22
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Dojo: Aikido Shudokan
Location: Melbourne
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 225
Offline
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Re: Self Image During Training
"Unco b*****d".
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