Quote:
Toby Kasavan wrote:
but some people are not comfortable with it. Many people seem to want to make aikido over to reflect their own focus.
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I am not sure what is meant here... How do you mean Aikido is being made over? From what into what? My teacher trained with the Founder and I have trained with a number of other teachers from that era in addition to having read just about everything published by Stan Pranin on Aikido Journal. As far as I can see, the vast majority of the the direct students of the Founder felt that Aikido was a form of Budo and by that I believe that they meant that it had martial validity, A good part of what gives any Budo practice some "transformative" aspect is the intensity. I see Budo as first and foremost helping an individual to become increasingly less afraid. Budo is about coming to terms with ones mortality on some level.
Much of what Aikido has become lacks much, if any of this aspect. The art has been changed to allow people of every different physical capability and disposition to not only train but progress up the ranks and even become teachers. It would be my contention that the folks who allowed the art to change in this way were indeed "making it over to reflect their own focus". But I do not sense that this is what you meant.