Pranin Sensei is wrong at least in part. I say this based on what O'Sensei said about his own Aikido development after the war and also what Saotome Sensei wrote about the difference between Aiki Jujitsu, pre war Aikido, and post war Aikido.
Listen to yourself. You just claimed that most people accept that there's no difference between pre and post war Aikido and that they believe that O'Sensei had little influence after the war. This claim, that most people accept Pranin's claim or your claims, is refuted by posts on Aikiweb and basically everywhere except among the Saito Sensei and pre war Aikido practitioners. You might be right (though you are not right) but it is not true that most Aikido practitioners agree with you.
How many of your crowd who address Doshu so dismissively and make these arguments hold rank with Hombu? I'm not saying everything that has ever happened there was right. But maybe your crowd should have the decency to leave an organization that you regularly bash.
Dan and crowd have repeatedly argued,that no one has done Aikido properly since O'Sensei (or perhaps Saito Sensei). When they make these blanket statements they insult all of our teachers. If they won't back up these claims better than they have then they should expect to be criticized for having done so.
Quote:
Christopher Li wrote:
This should start you out: http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=34
It's a 15 year old argument, at a minimum. Not many people really contest the issue anymore.
That kind of push test is nothing like what Dan is doing - or rather, it's just the very tip of the iceberg.
Morihiro Saito didn't think so. He used to carry the 1938 edition of "Budo" around to prove it. In any case, after the war he was largely retired.
Best,
Chris |