seishinbudojo (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

beautiful music.

punchy999 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

lol

TekoKashima (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

The best!

punchy999 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

creation of "aiki" is definable skill created through the manipulation of jin and qi. Indeed present in most traditional arts, just being able to "blend" or "harmonize" or use your "center" does not mean your creating "aiki".Please refrain from throwing words around to describe actions you personally cannot define or reproduce. It belittles the hard work true aikido and daitoryu masters have done throughout a lifetime to attain those skills.read kimuras book "Discovering Aiki"

daijishin (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

But... what is "aiki"?I want to say "harmony"... but that's not exactly correct... "unity"? Doesn't sound right either... so I don't bother translating it and kept it as is...And uke does not need to create anything... do without doing... The mind of no mind - mushin no shin - 無心の心... which is also true for the shte "Aiki" is not created... it just is... the natural way...So what is "aiki"? How could one explain "aiki"?It is best just to do the exercise... and "feel" it...

daijishin (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

"Aiki" is not solely an Aikido (the gendai budo) concept... The "aiki" concept has been around for ages, perhaps even before Daitoryu coined the term for their martial arts. This concept (aiki) sometimes remained nameless or it may uses other names. One could only feel it, not really describe it in words"Aiki" and "Ju" is as much of a Kenjutsu concept as the Budo that specifically uses those terms directly. Other schools: Yari, Naginata, Jo, Bo, etc., even Karate have this concept in a way

punchy999 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

All I can say is wow. If I ever needed proof that a 500 year old koryu kenjutsu kata could be filtered and viewed through the lens of aikido, your explanation would be it. Thank you.So uke creates "aiki" through a "ken". Now I wonder what would you call that kind of practice?

daijishin (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

It is quite difficult to understand the practice even for people who only took a lesson or two in Kashima Shin-ryu Kenjutsu... Imagine how difficult it is for people who have not taken any lessons at all. Watching videos, copying movements, or reading books do not substitute actual lessons.I was very fortunate to be able to meet Inaba-sensei first hand and practice with him and his students (deshi). It was a very valuable experience... I hope I could meet and practice with them again...

daijishin (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

There should not be any "pulling" motion for the uke, but a natural movement... It is like the uke feeling the shte through the shte's own sword...And an experienced shte could feel the feedback of the hit... how the two swords meet... both should be able to feel the connection... "aiki"...It is not an easy practice though it looks simplistic to the untrained eye... It takes a while to realize the purpose of this practice and to get the feeling right...

daijishin (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

When the uke receives the full force of the hit, he should not pull back his sword intentionally, but it should be in a natural fluid motion... in other words... "aiki"...Pull it too late, the vibration may goes through the body and it will feel like blocking strikes. If uke is not strong enough to receive the strike, the whole body could be affected. If using a regular bokken, it could also break (happened to me)Pull it to quickly, then it is just timidity, afraid of being "too late"...