Re: Basic elements of Aikido
Sorry, one final point I thought of after the editing function disappeared. There is a lot of literature in Japanese on ki/kokyu, etc., both considering Chinese material, and material in Japanese spiritual traditions. Those fluent in Japanese could spend half a lifetime establishing the details of Mike's claim - that ki and kokyu training is derived, in large part, from Chinese sources. Not exclusively - sure. Just as Japanese Buddhism is, in some significant ways, different from India and China, so too, surely, are the martial applications of ki/kokyu. With the impact of the shamanistic world view of Shinto and the particular requirements of the Japanese style of warfare and later, dueling combat, these methods surely permutated in some uniquely Japanese directions. Again, I doubt 100% that Ueshiba went to China to learn them, or that he had a secret bagua teacher in Tokyo. That would be no more necessary that it would be for Americans to go to England to learn parlimentary rules. Our system of government and law is certainly different from England's, but the roots are there. But we can learn at home, unless we wish to do English "style."
Ellis Amdur
|