Timing and initiative are related concepts, especially once one steps onto the mat and is required to embody them rather than merely discuss them abstractly. In my earlier article, Jo v Bokken article, I deliberately used traditional budō terminology, rather than exclusively use concepts from George Silver, Bruce Lee and John Boyd. That choice wasContinue reading “INITIATIVE: TERMS AND CONCEPTS”
Category Archives: Class Notes
THE AXIS OF THE ENCOUNTER
Aikido pedagogy has a recurring failure mode: it introduces words long before it stabilizes their referents. Terms like center, connection, and timing are used frequently but imprecisely, because they are experienced with the body (somatically). The very point of practice is to refine how those concepts are felt, both individually and in a partnered exchange.Continue reading “THE AXIS OF THE ENCOUNTER”
SHU HA RI
The Japanese formula shu ha ri comes from classical Japanese arts where preservation, rupture, and departure were recognized as essential phases of learning. Shu means to protect or obey. It carries the sense of guarding something fragile and important, like tending a fire that someone else lit. Ha means to break or detach. The characterContinue reading “SHU HA RI”
Protective Arts 