Bits and pieces

"Everyone gets a certain look when I use that word. Moral. It’s a word with very bad PR, thanks..."

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:06:00 +0300

““Everyone gets a certain look when I use that word. Moral. It’s a word with very bad PR, thanks to certain pressure groups that have come and gone over the last several decades.” … “However, it was one of the tenets of the church I grew up in, waiting to use something until you’re moral enough. It sounded like a great idea. But according to the church, we’re only moral enough for a very simple level of living.”
…
“Obviously, a better idea is to be, oh, immoral enough to manipulate something instead of being manipulated by it.””

- Synners, by Pat Cadigan

“Junbi Taiso,” by Nev Sagiba

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:01:51 +0300

“Junbi Taiso,” by Nev Sagiba:

In the equestrian world, non-riders, in a similar way like to think that horses are for sitting on and they can’t wait to hop on. They get dumped. If you don’t understand a horse from the ground up, you will never be a true rider, merely a bully with no understanding. In the few instances I’ve taught people to ride they do not get to sit on a horse until they are ready. If that takes six months then that’s what it takes. They first have to develop a relationship with the horse on the ground and get to understand and be understood by the horse. Just as with horse sense, Aiki sense begins from the ground up. Positioning is paramount in both instances. If you can’t catch a horse on open ground by drawing the horse to you, you are no horseman. Until then you do not really deserve to ride or be considered a rider. The true equestrian catches untamed horses like this as well. It’s nothing mystical, but a skill. There’s no need for hard chases, yards, ropes, pulleys and buck jumping. That’s for the unskilled.

"Life is like a gathering at the Olympic festival, to which, having set forth from different lives..."

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:01:49 +0300

“Life is like a gathering at the Olympic festival, to which, having set forth from different lives and backgrounds, people flock for three motives. To compete for the glory of the crown, to buy and sell or as spectators. So in life, some enter the services of fame and others of money, but the best choice is that of these few who spend their time in the contemplation of nature, and as lovers of wisdom.”

- Pythagoras

"Horse’s Prayer To thee, Oh my master, I offer my prayer My life and health I give to your..."

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:06:48 +0300

“

Horse’s Prayer

To thee, Oh my master, I offer my prayer
My life and health I give to your safe keeping
From you I ask food and water
Shelter in winter and summer
A kind hand and a quiet voice
And when I am old And have served you well
Pray, Oh my master
Do not sell me to slavery and a cruel end

”

- Equines in India

On Writing Zen Combat

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:06:48 +0300

On Writing Zen Combat:

“Zen ken shu!” my white-bearded painting and calligraphy teacher said to me one day. “Zen meditation is the sword is the brush! Understand one and you understand all. But you cannot come to understand one without the other two.”

Three Techniques That Have Everything

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:05:50 +0300

Three Techniques That Have Everything:

The three principles of aikido are kokyu-ryoku, tai-no-sabaki, and ki-no-musubi. Each of these principles is used to properly train and execute every aikido technique.

“Aikido is for losers,” by Bruce Baker

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:05:49 +0300

“Aikido is for losers,” by Bruce Baker:

So if losing the attitude, losing the blindspot, losing the stupidity is what Aikido helps one do, sure, add it to your list of things to try out. Move it up on your “bucket list” you should have made when you were a kid realizing that you ain’t gonna live forever and there are things you want to do before you die.

The Aiki Academy » Conflict and Conflict Resolution

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:05:50 +0300

The Aiki Academy » Conflict and Conflict Resolution:

When we can’t run away, aikido can give us another way to respond, a way that is neither fight nor flight. Aikido says: “Don’t fight. Don’t flee either. Let go instead. Let go of the whole situation. Go inside it. Follow it through. Use only your intuition”.

“Long Term Victory,” by Nev Sagiba

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:05:12 +0300

“Long Term Victory,” by Nev Sagiba:

In most ancient cultures, lasting thousands of years longer than the stultified, limping histories we laud so much because of a few gadgets, their story survived all manner of attrition because of something that transcends all gadgets: Respect. In these true civilizations based on higher, more noble values of contribution, rather than mere fear of lack, it was mandatory to be a well rounded, highly skilled participant of the mechanism of the group, tribe nation, whatever. As part of this, an initiatory schooling which combined connectedness with heaven and earth, all the directions and the Centre of existence foremost; multi-skilled warrior training, hunting, gathering, farming including natural horticulture or as now labelled permacultiure, animal husbandry, communication skills, social technologies of the era, sciences of the era, healing arts and all the attributes which have nowadays become considerably specialised, were mandatory learning before one could claim humanity. Storytellers became the historians of the tribal ways evolving into the archivists of today. Ability in all the required skills of the era were the expectation of a well rounded human being who considered not only all human beings, but indeed all life and creation as manifestations of the sacred.

"А с другой стороны, есть такие люди, шо у них душа как тот пацюк у подполе, грызёт и грызёт, и всё..."

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:16:43 +0300

“А с другой стороны, есть такие люди, шо у них душа как тот пацюк у подполе, грызёт и грызёт, и всё ей не в радость, и всё ей не так. Своё счастье не видит, чужому завидует, так шо ж… Жить не научишь - или оно есть, или нету, от так…”

- Вернуться по следам, Глория Му

Saving the Raja's Horse | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:17:20 +0300

Saving the Raja's Horse | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine:

The Hindu Rajputs resisted India’s Muslim conquerors for hundreds of years before accepting Mogul control in the 16th century. In that era of almost constant war, the Rajputs employed a legion of bards to chronicle their exploits—in songs of great horses as well as great men—tales so bloody they make the Greeks and Trojans of the Iliad look like Quakers.

Thinking About "Dan" From "Dô(Tao)" Endô Seishirô, Aikidô Saku Dôjôchô

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:41:49 +0300

Thinking About "Dan" From "Dô(Tao)" Endô Seishirô, Aikidô Saku Dôjôchô:

Grading is a means of objectively evaluating one’s capacity and progress by one set of standards. However, I believe that such a viewpoint has no relevance to seeking the Tao. For how far and how deep one has gone are internal questions that only the practitioner can answer. I have come to believe that it is impossible to measure each person’s depth in their pursuit using a fixed standard.

"Кто не ездил галопом, тот ничего не знает о счастье. Галоп - это словно ты летишь, да,..."

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:33:10 +0300

“

Кто не ездил галопом, тот ничего не знает о счастье. Галоп - это словно ты летишь, да, низенько-низенько, в каких-то двух метрах от земли, но всё-таки летишь или несёшься с неудержимой силой на гребне резвой и мощной волны.

Наверное, лошади не самые умные животные в мире - Геша, тот и вовсе называл их безмозглыми тварями, но тут же добавлял: “А зачем лошади мозги? Она и так всё понимает”, - но лошадь единственное живое существо из тех, кого я знаю, кто способен дать человеку ощущение полёта.

Лошадь - это чистая эмоция, стихия.

Можно управлять ею, можно отдаваться её власти, но наиболее ценным является момент гармонии, единения, того самого полёта к призрачной, возможно, цели - ведь спорт, в общем, это призрачные цели и условные достижения, и, может быть, конный спорт - и конкур, и гладкие скачки, и стипль-чейз - это всего лишь повод полетать. Во всех смыслах этого слова, уж извините.

”

- Вернуться по следам, Глория Му

Memorable quotes: Yukiyoshi Takamura on pacifism

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:34:49 +0300

Memorable quotes: Yukiyoshi Takamura on pacifism:

Some aikido teachers talk a lot about non-violence, but fail to understand this truth. 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. He chooses peace. He must be able to make a choice.

Solo Training - Why Iai?

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:34:50 +0300

Solo Training - Why Iai?:

Some practitioners of modern martial arts deride kata training, claiming that an adherence to form is inherently weak. They claim that one trains stereotyped responses by rote and repetition, thereby rendering oneself unable to respond with freedom to an unpredictable, random attack. On the other hand, one’s freedom is limited by one’s neurological organization — stereotypical patterns of action and reaction entrained through another type of kata training — the repetitive, habitual patterns of movement one arrives at simply by living. Proper kata training is, in fact, a means of teaching one’s nervous system new patterns of response. Without sufficient repetition — ideally, mindful aware repetition - the nervous system will not develop new interconnections to coordinate new patterns of response. It is, paradoxically, through limitation and delineation, that one is able to approach freedom.

“You Have To Understand With Your Whole Body,” by Nev Sagiba

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:34:51 +0300

“You Have To Understand With Your Whole Body,” by Nev Sagiba:

To “get” Aikido you have to understand with your whole body. This means DOing. Aikido is a DO so we must do before we can understand.

Aikido (good summary article)

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:34:10 +0300

Aikido (good summary article):

Aikido is a Japanese martial art that includes techniques for bare-handed wrestling, using weapons, and dealing with the armed enemy.

“The Rules and Limitations of Aikido,” by Nev Sagiba

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:30:01 +0300

“The Rules and Limitations of Aikido,” by Nev Sagiba:

We live, for the time being, in a softened and protected society. This may not last forever. How you comport yourself in the face of more, shall we say, feudal circumstances, greater challenges the future is to bring, remains to be seen. Will we, under similar circumstances, have the moral integrity and far reaching vision to intend to BUILD a world, a family of humanity, as the ancients displayed, starting out in really bad and primitive conditions? And to forge on despite all adversities that meet us? Who really knows.

Ki

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:06:39 +0300

Ki:

Ki means many things to many people. There are many ways of defining it, ranging from scientific and bio-mechanical explanations to extremely spiritual viewpoints, and people’s feelings about it run the gamut of complete disbelief to mystical adulation. O Sensei believed in Ki, and he apparently talked and certainly wrote about it a lot. He did take a rather mystical approach to it, which can be rather hard to understand, and perhaps even harder to put to use in the actual practice of Aikido, let alone in daily life. I’m not going to debate the reality of Ki here, I’m just going to offer one way to look at it that may help some people relate to it, and perhaps even offer a way to bring it into their realm of experience.

"Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess?..."

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:45:26 +0300

“Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us?”

- Dune by Frank Herbert