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Old 12-26-2008, 11:19 PM   #661
Joe McParland
 
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Dojo: Sword Mountain Aikido & Zen
Location: Baltimore, MD
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Re: The continued Evolution of Aikido

Quote:
Clarence Couch wrote: View Post
Without the slightest opening
Nor the least thought of the enemy
And his encircling swords,
Step in and cut!

- Morihei Ueshiba

Does anyone see anything wrong with that saying?
Presume first, just for a minute, that this poem has O-Sensei telling us something about aikido. Next, see that you do not understand it.

Two natural ways to bridge the misunderstanding are these:

(1) O-Sensei makes no sense in his poetry, so why should I expect his aikido is any better. I can fix aikido to make it make sense to me...

(2) I don't understand what he's talking about. Is there a chance I don't understand what his aikido is for either? I wonder if it's worth investigating...

I wouldn't say that either way is the right way or the wrong way for anyone; but, I do think the point is relevant to the entire evolution discussion.