no ready made solution

In thinking about the openness required in kimusubi practice i thought of a title of an art work by john ferris. No Ready Made Solution. This was a found piece of linoleum that by chance had the shape of Ireland. He presented this as an artwork – a Ready made.
I thought the title expresses the perpetual beginner frame necessary. Being without either formal “techniques” or dredging the traces of what we thought had worked in the past. This is challenging in that little can be taken for granted. All we have is the authenticity of our attention and our openness to our partners shifting focus in this moment.

Holding attention

Hiro and Peri and Paper

I may use my eyes to see the direction of your attention but  I can feel your attention upon me.

I can feel where your attention is.

I can sense when I hold your attention.

I can also break your attention. I can neglect your attention and move too fast.

In kimusubi our attentions  are like lights shining back at each other. And like a bright light I feel the “heat” of your attention.

In the past few weeks I have been focusing on our ability to be moved, to be motionally responsive to our partners attention. We experimented with one person restricted in their travel by having to remain on a large sheet of paper. This challenges the free participant to release thier mobility.

I was also interested how in a particularly fast engagement my own volition could override my responsiveness. I discovered that at speed I needed to allow my awareness to “fall” or “rest” in my partners movement. This receptivity allows for a direct connection with less of  the interuptive mediation of my will.

These past few weeks in order to hone our attention skills we have refrained from much actual physical contact.

Carl and Peri

This has been intense and rewarding in the distinction and clarity it brings to the practice. Kimusubi is about attentional linking. This can sometimes be muddied by the mechanics of a physical contact when pressure and weight bearing can be confused with attentional focus. It is the attentional focus that might distinguish Kimusubi free-form practice from, say, contact improvisation.