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Last Login: 8/27/2008 12:13:41 AM
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| Well, the semianr for April 06 is over. I've seen a lot of interesting movements, heard some amazing ideas, and fallen asleep on my living room floor twice without really knowing when. What did you guys get out of it specifically? What was that one or two thing(s) you especially enjoyed?
*Phil
Enso Aikido Dojo
Burnsville, MN
"Q: If you're rolling along the ocean on a jet ski and the wheels fall off, do you still have enough pancakes to cover a doghouse?
A: Purple, because ice cream has no bones." |
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| | Where do I start?! Firstly, my body is achin' and my mind is trying to sort through all the concepts we explored. Each time I start to think one through more, I realize there are a dozen others I am leaving behind. Tomorrow, when I can keep my eyelids from constantly drooping shut, I will compile my notes from today's sessions. After that, I will post again with the most noteworthy things I'd like to work on. I will start with one that I felt was both obvious and fundamental: the idea that we must understand the movements and limitations of the human body, and every limit of it. In a best case, including noticing or feeling the differences in different people as well as being able to feel the tautness when the range of motion is at it's end. These things are the tangible reasons why aikido takes so long to learn well, that the human body is very complex. Most martial arts are merely about you controlling your own body. In the grand scheme of things, that's pretty easy to do. Controlling your body AND someone else's in tandem, while they are trying not to cooperate, increases the difficulty by a factor. Those who have gained understanding of this complex art have my utmost respect. This weekend, I felt that I came close merely to seeing what is possible with that understanding. I just LOVE this art! |
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| I had forgotten for so long that I've always wanted to get a life-size skeleton for the dojo, and Bonifay sensei reminded me of that interest. Hmmm.
And, Mr. Tristan, you need to write a book on how it is relatively easier to control your body/-self, I'll buy it! 
Enso Aikido Dojo
Burnsville, MN
"Q: If you're rolling along the ocean on a jet ski and the wheels fall off, do you still have enough pancakes to cover a doghouse?
A: Purple, because ice cream has no bones." |
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| I've got a friend who knows a medical supply company that sells seconds of skeletal components. These are rejects that don't make it to hospitals and universities for costmetic reasons, and they sell them relatively cheap. I'm not sure if they have full skeletons available, but I'll ask him for the contact info. He has told me that a full skeleton is normally very expensive. IIRC, over $1K. A skeleton would look COOL hanging in the dojo! It could keep Janice company.  Oh, and the book would be very short! Most punching and kicking involves very little contact with another person. Sure, you have to keep your balance or you'll look like a clumsy oaf (covered that one many times), but to kick or punch someone takes little or no awareness of their center and only rudimentary understanding of their movement. This is why someone can be a very competent striker in two years or so. Two years of aikido is just a beginning. Not to belittle the striking arts, because they can be devastatingly effective. |
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| | 1)I found it amazing that a subtle weight shift can have a profound effect. I'd like to to explain more but every part of my body is sore including my two typing fingers. 2)The more I learn, The more I realize I don't know anything. 3)You can in fact fall asleep while helping your daughter with math. 4)Johnson Sensei can make mats appear and disappear at will. 5)Ellefsen Sensei has a pretty good Tenchi Nage. and Finally, Bonifay Sensei IS cooler than Chuck Norris. Chuck may be able to kick your butt, But Bonifay just makes you kick your own and wonder what just happened? |
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| | The muscles are recovering, but the brain is still buzzing. A few things I came away with: - The real stuff of aikido is going on so small that it is easily missed. Being uke for Bonifay Sensei is a TREAT because of this (among other things). You can watch and see the effects of his energy, but to be there feeling it is a whole different level of perception. - Explosive kokyudosa. Just WOW. - I noticed how my own perception changed when we were in a crowded environment. Several times, I felt when there was an obstruction behind me without having to see it. It was probably just the sound. - Let's see if I can word this one so it makes sense. Aikido is not about you, it's about uke. What nage does is hinged entirely on uke. Your own movements are only about the relationship they have with uke's, to look at it from another perspective. There can be no pattern because uke will have no pattern and his energy will be unpredictable. - It's all about the feel. I saw a guy who can tell if a playing card is a face card or a number card by feel (face down) just by the extra weight of the ink. Aikido seems to have a similar (maybe not quite that precise) need for a perceptive touch. - A question that has come to me once again (equivalent to the chicken and the egg): Do martial arts attract crazy people or create them? Our dojo is somewhat of an anomaly among the martial arts world in that we have people that I enjoy being around and can have a real conversation with, for which I am very thankful for. Or perhaps I'm merely the same brand of crazy as everyone else. That's it, my brain is done for the day. |
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| | Wow! Nice thoughts! I can barely think straight after the weekend! Tristan, I love how you vocalize about Aikido. You are very eloquent that way. I sometimes have trouble expressing the internalized sense of Aikido I have. I love the depth that Aikido has. I love how it makes me FEEL. I love how beautifully it is all connected. And I hope to do "old woman Aikido" someday! Powerful stuff. Bonifay Sensei is amazing-on and off the mat. I feel very, very blessed to be a part of the Aikido organization we are in. We are blessed with incredible instructors. I am proud to be a part of it. I look forward to a lifetime of learning. Etc Etc..... And I wish I would have taken off today from work!!
Faeth "Be content with what you have. Rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." |
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| Adam,
I, too, learned new sleeping patterns. Mainly, I learned how to fall asleep for a couple hours in the middle of my living room floor (twice) and when I woke up, wonder just how the hell I got there. Wife says she was tapping me with her foot, and I didn't move. Phunny.
Enso Aikido Dojo
Burnsville, MN
"Q: If you're rolling along the ocean on a jet ski and the wheels fall off, do you still have enough pancakes to cover a doghouse?
A: Purple, because ice cream has no bones." |
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