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Keith wrote:
Things don't really "devolve", they just evolve. Whether the ways things have evolved are good or not is a completely separate issue.
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I think "devolve," here, denotes bad evolution, but I completely agree with everything else you said, Keith. Those were some great guidelines for how Aikido will hopefully evolve over time, with mindfullness intent.
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Ron wrote:
Without the ability to not be mercifull, there is no ability to be mercifull.
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William wrote:
[it's]Not to play around with the idea you're merciful just because you know how to hurt somebody and choose not to.
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I think what might be complicating this is the notion that learning aiki somehow necessitates also learning how to not be merciful. I think what Ron is saying is that in learning how a body may be harmed, we learn how to avoid that harm and in that sense have a greater capacity for expressing our mercy. If I'm right, i think I agree with you both because I also agree that learning how to hurt doesn't make one merciful. All that's required is simply knowing how to be kind...and of course that can take all kinds of shapes (altruism, etc.).