This video was taken from a seminar I did in Torino, Italy, in October, 2008. It is from a class on “Bokken Jiyu waza” (free techniques of sword) and includes exercises on “form transcendence”, body/ ken integration, applied techniques and applied principles.This aspect of weapons work comes at the end of the weapons system we practice and is based on the foundation of the complete aiki-ken system. Bokken Jiyu waza should be considered the fruit of the practice as it is the peak of “applications” training and is “beyond form”. For a reference of our more form based practices check out these videos from an earlier post.

Watching the two videos in comparison should show the different expressions of the practices while at the same time recognizing the thread of unity that runs through both. It is all the same aikido.

“A wise man will understand the need to use a boat to cross the river. Only a fool will continue to carry the boat with him once the river has been crossed.“

~ Wan Shu~

So, here’s the Aikido Bokken Jiyu Waza.

It seems that where ever we look these days our home planet and beloved Earth is in Crisis. Whether it is environmental, financial, political, ecological, social, or cultural, there is no denying that things are pretty bad these days. So in the face of our current global predicament just how are we to respond? Do we allow the global crisis in all its myriad of forms to aggravate the tendency for self and culture to contract and increase the worlds separation and fragmentation? Or do we chose to meet our current challenges by not losing sight of our higher vision and integral perspective?

Which ever direction humanity will go still remains to be seen but I am personally optimistic. Isn’t it possible that this current crisis is exactly what we need to catalyze humanities shift to a higher level of complexity, concern, and consciousness? Looking back over history this has obviously been the case. But will we make the evolutionary cut this time around? Well, I guess that depends on you and me. What will we do and how do we respond to the current crisis? It could go either way, but like I said, I’m an optimist. Looking around at the amazing minds and creative solutions that are emerging in the world today (even amongst all the bad news) I feel that we still have a lot of potential.

Integral Naked published an episode a while back of The Stuart Davis Show on this very issue. Stuart is an Integral rocker and bad boy who likes to shine an integral light on all taboo subjects that are near and dear to the hearts of the “mean green meme”. The “green meme” refers to those of us whose values are grounded in pluralism, and “mean green meme” is a rather radical version that is as serious as cancer  and tends to lack a sense of humor, especially when one brings a little levity to  the issues that deserve a lot of gravity ( which, in fact, they do). One of today's  comics who brilliantly pokes fun at the green pluralist's blind spot is Sacha Baron Cohen with his characters Ali G, Borat and Bruno.  Another is Stuart Davis.

In the below clip Stuart rationally dissects many of the sacred cows of the green paradigm. And he does so in a beautifully integral way. Enjoy!....or not, depending on your level of consciousness, of course (if you'll pardon my ranking...)

What ever perspective you happen to be taking, depending on the point of view, or the lens you are looking through, it will actually determine what you will see. Like with the moonwalking bear. On average more than 80% of people miss it in the first viewing (if you’re really focusing on the passes). If you change the perspective from a partial whole (the white team’s passes) to a more global view of the whole picture then it is quite obvious. You’d have to be blind to miss it.

Whether from an interior or exterior p.o.v. (point of view), an individual or collective p.o.v., an ego-centric, ethno-centric or world-centric p.o.v., a gross, subtle or causal state p.o.v., or what ever the specific perspective may be, reality does not just exist out there on it’s own. It co-arises together with the perspective one takes. Just like with the proverbial rose colored glasses, what ever lens you may be looking through will color your experience of it.

It is important to see perspective taking as a practice. The practice of “taking multiple perspectives”. Integral attempts at the very least to take into consideration as many perspectives as possible. And a good integral practice will attempt to continuously open us up to these perspectives by making them part of our practice. A never ending practice of feeling into reality, into any given perspective, deepening our understanding of life’s richness and increasing our overall functionality in the world. The perspective will arise and become available to us. But only with practice.

As a test watch the video one more time. Again focus on the white team and see if the moonwalking bear is part of you view. Most likely it will be.

Like the old saying goes;

Q: What does a pick pocket see in a crowd if saints?
A: Pockets

Conversely, and with some practice, we could extend the saying;

Q: What does a saint see in a crowd pick pockets?
A: Potential saints.

It really is all about perspective. So when it comes to practice it is very helpful to always ask yourself “did you see the moonwalking bear?”

“When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.”
Max Plank