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Ted Marr wrote:
Aikido rituals are part of what makes our practice a -do, rather than a -jitsu.
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I disagree. The rituals are cultural, social behaviors that happen to come from Japan. Some like them some don't. Those rituals have little to do with the essence of jutsu or do.
I know quite a few koryu that consider what they do both 'jutsu' and 'do' depending on the application. Some of these koryu teachers have been saying things very similar to Ueshiba Morihei for a long time and practicing the same rituals in similar ways.
I look at it as practicing the physical technique is jutsu and the way we live, both in the way we feel about ourself and the way we get along with others is 'michi' or DO in it's large sense.
You could take away the Japanese cultural trappings and rituals but if the basic human attitudes of disciplined practice, etc. were still there it would be a WAY of life. The rituals are the flavor of how the practice is demonstrated and practiced.
I also happen to like Japanese cultural practices. Like all human activities, they can be abusive or uplifting, etc. depending on the people that take part in them.