A meme is an idea that spreads from person to person within a culture - For example, I first heard the idea about Bu as "stopping the spear" in a meeting of the Kobudo Shinkokai, in a little speech given by Kuroda Ichitaro, of Shindo Muso-ryu jo. He spoke about the question on whether it was "self-defense" (stopping another's spear) or "forbearance" (withholding the action of one's own spear). After hearing this, I began to pass on the idea, as exemplified in my essay. See
Wikipedia for more on memes.
I would like to continue this discussion in the language section, so I'll be starting a new thread there.
Ellis Amdur