Dear Mike,
Your post is toughtful.
May I come back to it.
Quote:
Mike Sigman wrote:
Someone wants to tell me that I'm a "jerk" for thinking that some koryu isn't subject to the realities of life? I think it just got proven.
|
No one thinks you are a "jerk" for thinking that some koryu isn't subject to the realities of life. The fact that you think means you undergo a process within wich you name something "realities of life" and proceed in establishing their influence on koryu. Koryu and for me it is Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu is mainly concerned with life. Its teachings are alive as Iwami soke says. But what is the difference between realities of life and life? Life is a concept difficult to explain but everyone has something to say about realities of life. Mainly, they are what each one of us is concerned with. For some, it is driving safely a cab in a big city. For others, it may mean street fighting. For me, it is living in France after having lived in Vietnam at war. So I can say that my realities of life seem quite safe now and driving a cab too compared to driving in a country at war. Koryu is not done to answer each one's concerns about going home safe. It can respond to it but that is not its aim. Sorry!
Should I try to prove something here? Certainly not as we have to search in the dojo and not on a forum. Should I be convinced on this forum that it would not have great value. Only the sword in hand can I find something of worth.
Quote:
Mike Sigman wrote:
As any pragmatist will point out, no robotic teacher ever produced exact robotic copies of itself.
|
I may be pragmatic when I am not foolishing around but in no way I am a pragmatist.
The Headmaster of a school is chosen so that the koryu may go on through centuries. See this part of the
2006 interview of Iwami soke :
Quote:
|
Nguyen Thanh Thiên: Your koryu, traditional school, has inherited the teaching elaborated by MIYAMOTO Musashi and has been updated over the centuries. How do you manage to strike a balance between required evolution and the necessity to preserve the heritage of the art of Musashi, as each generation evolves and adapts to its own time?
Iwami Toshio soke: To pass on Musashi's teachings and seiho faithfully to the next generation without forgetting or losing anything, this is the tradition, this is the Japanese kokoro.
|
and the
2011 interview of Iwami soke:
Quote:
|
Nguyen Thanh Thien: What does learning with the soke mean? (For you in relation to Imai soke and for your students in relation to you).
Iwami Toshio soke: Soke means the only one who has succeeded in proper thoughts and skills. We have to learn these through Soke as through a mirror; we could also say Soke is like a needle and pupils are like threads, i.e. Soke leads us like needle and threads.
|
The soke is THE one and only one to challenge the task of transmitting without failing to forget or lose anything. He has abilities that others don't have, neither you or me. The only way to check the tradition is to practice and maybe come to understand what tradition means.
The other way to check is to have been in position to see the founder and understand him and to meet the successor and be in position to understand him too. Then you can compare. But this is not possible. So saying things have or not evolved is something you cannot check out.
As you said, "any" is not the chosen one for his abilities. Evidence may seem on your side but Dogen wrote that translations of sutras better the sutras. I understand that as when you reach the heart of the matter, you attain something that does not wither.
If you are truly concerned with how koryu walk through centuries, you are welcome to study them. It is better to have studied before talking about any subject. Koryu can only be studied with an earnest heart.
I understand Toby Threadgill from TSYR in his appreciation of having to answer some questions about his study. We have the same too in Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu: people arguing that techniques are not as they should be. This is not the way to study. It is a loss of time for the study. I am having interest in answering on this forum but it has to have some link with my study. I hope I have not offended any one and have given some people interest in koryu. We have nothing to prove, we as students have to study.
