Interesting post from Chris Li. Food for thought.
Chris translated a Japanese interview of Shigenubo Okumura, a student of Morihei Uyeshiba.
“Don’t wait until something important happens and then move, don’t anticipate and move, call the opponent towards you. In other words, take the initiative from the beginning. This is Aikido.”
Shigenobu Okumura sensei
Q: Is this the same as “Go-no-sen” (後の先)?
A: No, it’s different. At first glance it appears to be “Go-no-sen”, but O-Sensei said “You cannot divide timing into three (“Sen-sen-no-sen” / 先先の先, “Tai-no-sen” / 対の先, “Go-no-sen” / 後の先). That’s no good for Aikido. There is only one kind of timing in Aikido, that is to always take the initiative.”. This is an area that is difficult to explain. It’s just that your psychological state is different. I was told “For that reason, Aikido does not have attacking techniques, they are unnecessary”. So, in my thinking it is that form appears to be “Go-no-sen”, but in your feeling it is “Sen-sen-no-sen”.
Q: I think that I see the nuance, but it’s very difficult, isn’t it?
A: Yes it is. Since I have been doing Kendo since I was a child it was hard to get rid of the habit of “Sen-no-sen”. One time, when I and Nao Sonoda-san (園田直), who was working at the Foreign Ministry, went to the Founder and asked “After all, is Go-no-sen really no good (for Aikido)?”, he scolded us, saying “How long have you been doing this?”. (laughing)
Here is the entire interview.
http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/int ... ra-part-2/