Someone Else's Epiphany
http://anticdevices.livejournal.com/143737.html
This article doesn't at all reflect my personal experience with aikido, but I like the way it ends. And the accompanying video.
Thanks for sharing the epiphany but be careful of who you emulate to my eyes --the video shows fairly fluid typical hombu style behavior-- note the downward component in all the wrist throws and shoulder locks, the accelleration into locks, the wide footwork and the static poses at the end of some throws like aikinage/kaitenage etc.-- all indicative of throwing with power or perhaps more precisely, excessive use of ikioi (power delivered from parts of the body while center of gravity doing something else) and deficency in hazumi (power delivered from the whole body in motion)--- generally we try to minimize ikioi (not wrong but used for special occassions only) and maximize hazumi (get in motion, stay in motion and throw on the move)-- this demo indicates a habitual use of ikioi (kinda becomes a crutch and is prone to higher probability of failure under critical conditions) -- they are skilled ukes though and the over all video is aesthetically quite nice largely because of the sweet falling skills and people who are obviously celebrating speed and power-- such can be quite intoxicating
Thanks for the description of the action; I'll rewatch with that in mind.
I'm afraid my current appreciation of such videos is the equivalent of a third grader at the Louvre saying, "Look at the pretty colors." I'm rather far off from being able to distinguish a Rembrandt from Van Gogh.
thats compeltly understandable-- what boggles my mind is how the folks in the video (obviously been around awhile) and indeed the whole system it represents remains fixed technically to principle errors -- same stuff has been happening for a long long time -- i think it has something to do with the way they imagine aikido, for many of them the founder was the pinnacle and the ultimate of the what and how and all technical progression can only approach that static example-- rather than study it with an eye to axioms of pure principle which can yield evolution-- Finally we must ask, are we studying a dead language? an artifact? or a living breahing organic whole- i pick the later