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Old 04-25-2008, 10:27 AM   #204
ChrisMoses
Dojo: TNBBC (Icho Ryu Aiki Budo), Shinto Ryu IaiBattojutsu
Location: Seattle, WA
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Very Disturbing news about Clint George

Quote:
Corky Quakenbush wrote: View Post
If anyone would please be so kind as to offer me instruction as to how I've misinterpreted the meaning of the following quotes of Osensei to mean something other than the one I have assessed to it, please do so.

Chris Moses has offered an alternate interpretation to the first quote, but I should have included with it the context in which the quote was relayed in Kanshu Sunadomari's book Enlightenment through Aikido:

...
I'll point you to my usual interview source.

Specifically:

Quote:
O Sensei: In Aikido, there is absolutely no attack. To attack means that the spirit has already lost. We adhere to the principle of absolute nonresistance, that is to say, we do not oppose the attacker. Thus, there is no opponent in Aikido. The victory in Aikido is masakatsu and agatsu; since you win over everything in accordance with the mission of heaven, you possess absolute strength.

Interviewer: Does that mean ~o no sen? (This term refers to a late response to an attack.)

O Sensei: Absolutely not. It is not a question of either sensen no sen or sen no sen. If I were to try to verbalize it I would say that you control your opponent without trying to control him. That is, the state of continuous victory. There isn't any question of winning over or losing to an opponent. In this sense, there is no opponent in Aikido. Even if you have an opponent, he becomes a part of you, a partner you control only.
(note: edited for clarity)

Note here that the harmony he's talking about is absolute victory because you act as an instrument in the will of the kami, not a coming together of equals or an appreciation of ones enemies ideals (a la relativism). I think there's an assumption from a lot of Western students that "everyone has a part to play in the world." I think OSensei was concerned with those working as foot soldiers for the divine order he believed in. In that sense, those in Aikido channel the power and purpose of something greater *in order to win over those whose ideas and actions lie specifically outside of that divine vision.* Key distinction, IMHO.

Chris Moses
TNBBC, "Putting the ME in MEdiocre!"
Budo Tanren at Seattle School of Aikido
Shinto Ryu Iai-Battojutsu
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