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Old 10-18-2012, 04:41 AM   #15
Carsten Möllering
 
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Dojo: Hildesheimer Aikido Verein
Location: Hildesheim
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 932
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Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art

aikidō came to France in the beginning fifties.
aikidō came to Germany around the 68th (Is this understandable in the US? 1968 marks the beginning of a deep change of society in Germany.) And it flourished in the seventies.
aikidō in France was very different from aikidō in Germany!

It's my understanding since long time that different ways of understanding aikidō refer to different social or better historical contexts. I remember that years ago aikidō very often was mentioned in esoteric journals here. Often it was taught to be kind of spiritual dance of connecting energies of two persons.
Interesting enough: The people brought aikidō to Germany were judōka and police men. After only few years the people who took up aikidō were mostly what could be called "hippies".
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