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Old 04-24-2008, 08:20 AM   #37
Tharis
Dojo: Chicago Aikikai
Location: Chicago, IL
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 78
United_States
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Re: Can a dualist find success in Aikido?

Quote:
Brian Dewey wrote: View Post
Wow...this thread has really spiraled out of control. The debates and ad hominum arguments sparked here are perfect examples why I advocate a Jeffersonian understanding of Aikido training: leave your religion (along with your shoes and your ego) at the door when you come to train. An aikidoka, in my opinion, is free to believe whatever they want in regards to religion...just as long as they're willing to take ukemi just like the rest of us. Aikido is a budo first and foremost.
That's easier for some than for others. I probably couldn't leave my religion "at the door."

At the same time, the mat is not place for intellectual argument or *gag* proselytizing. Maybe that's better left to the bars or locker rooms.

And to the OP, as I just posted somewhere else, I think what you train, if you train sincerely, will change the way you think about things.

Whether that will lead you away from dualism or to a reinterpretation of said dualism isn't certain, but if you're really a gnostic (at least according to what I tend to associate with gnosticism), it may require some adjustment. I think I'd agree that Aikido generally requires a synthesis of spirit with flesh.

Last edited by Tharis : 04-24-2008 at 08:30 AM. Reason: Decided to append some thoughts rather than double-post
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