hi everyone,

just out of pure interest.

If you could have a one to one chat with o'sensei, what would you ask him?

Regards

Paul.

Although there are many questions that I would ask, I'd probably ask him what he meant by this:

"Aikido should be the doctrine endowed by god to clarify the workings of the universe. The past, the present, and the future are the routes which the universe should follow. This includes the human body, as it has the universe within it. Purify the universe and harmonize it with the three worlds of the manifest, the spiritual, and that of the gods. Following this continually is Aikido."

Jim23

'What was your childhood like?'

I'm not the one who said that. Too deep for me.

Jim23

onigaishimasu.

Anne Marie

I'd ask for his thoughts on ki...

lol Jim.. I think mj was directing that question to O'sensei..

mj,

I thought you were talking to me - sorry about that.

Anyway:

At the age of seven, Ueshiba was sent to Jizodera, a Shingon temple near Tanabe, in Wakayama prefecture, "to study the Confucian classics and Buddhist scriptures. He was enthralled by the miracle tales....of Kobo Daishi.

Jason,

"There are two type of ki: ordinary ki and true ki. Ordinary ki is coarse and heavy; true ki is light and versatile. In order to perform well, you have to liberate yourself from ordinary ki and permeate your organs with true ki. That is the basis of powerful technique."

Does that help you understand? ;)

Jim23

:confused: jim23... what the hell has history to do with someones childhood? jeeesssuuusss, get a grip man..... I mean.... for ****'s sake, cant you make sense and stop talking for long enough to EVALUATE what I meant.... I mean *&%@??*&*&*%, goddammit what I MEANT was
'Osensei (for thats who it is, right?) I could not, at my stage in life, comprehend any answer you give to me, except maybe 'keep trying' :D but maybe I could 'start' to get my head around the start, long long ago... I certainly wouldn't end up in the same place, or on the same path, but we all had a childhood. Or in some peoples cases - still have :p

mj,

I'd like to respond to you, but I have to admit I don't understand anything you've said to me. Maybe if I just lit this joint. ;)

Try again in 12 words or fewer.

No really, I don't understand what you've said.

Jim23

:p Ok, try this, 10 words, (none of them nasty :p). We all walk a pathless path, you can't copy anyone else.

mj,

Now I can understand you, I think (it's just your accent - kriky).

I like to say: I'll take the high road and you'll take the low road. ;)

Couldn't resist that one.

Jim23

Hoots mon, ah cannae ken whicht ye mean lad, wid ye stop blitherin yir pish, :D kin ye no specht eenglish ye stoopid bugger, ach... awa wi ye... (enough of the racism please.... FREEDOMMMMM!)

Good one mate!

If you saw my daughter's red curly locks and freckles, you'd realize that there's no racism here. :)

Jim23

:( I apologise to everyone for getting sidetracked on this thread, which could be really cool, hopefully. Jim23, I'm sorry about your daughter. (Now I'm really really sorry!) No, really, I have a son AND daughter like that, and a daughter with long brown hair too, and they are all lovely like yours jim23. Take no umbrage, I meant none.
(Jim23, you're not english, they spell 'krikey' differently!)
Let's just get back to the thread.

I think this was already covered, but if I could ask O Sensei anything, assuming this meant he is alive, I'd ask if he would permit me to train under him.

If it is more of a post-mortem speaking with spirits thing, I'd have to settle the age-old weapons debate, "O Sensei, would you recommend for or against weapons (jo, bokken, tanto, etc) training as a part of aikido?"

To which he'd most likely reply with a riddle (or poem) which will take years to decipher and result in the debate continuing on and on.....

:) Happy Training,