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Old 11-30-2006, 04:40 PM   #2
Don_Modesto
Dojo: Messores Sensei (Largo, Fl.)
Location: Florida
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,267
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Re: JUTSU - DO arts, technically different?

The teleology of DO you offer is largely discounted these days. I addressed this once on budoseek: http://www.budoseek.net/vbulletin/sh...d=1#post150110

"It's hard not to get all caught up in the
character development stuff, since all the arts
seem to lay claim to it. History clears the vision
of the misty-eyed,however.

"In the 19th Cent., the Mombusho (Jp's Ministry of
Education) rejected MAs for inclusion in PE
curricula for being beastial. After the
exhiliration of being the first colored race
(yellow) to beat the white race (Russo-Jpn war),
enthusiasm for things military came back into
vogue, this just into time to ramp up for the 15
year war (1931-1945) and its attendant racism,
militarism, fascism, and thought police.

"This, not the Tokugawa Peace, is when "jutsu"
became "do," a very conscious process of political
indoctrination and not some sort of process of
evolution. A highly placed policeman was
publishing articles encouraging the change of
names. "DO" here is an abbreviation for Bushido
which was itself the name authorities gave the
military code it had borrowed from the Russians
(sic). In practice this code held that good Jpn
gave themselves body, mind, and soul for the
Emperor even unto death or the rape of subject
peoples.

"When said policeman became head of one of the
departments of the Butokukai, he made this change
from JUTSU to DO himself. This is why GHQ outlawed
judo and kendo and not because they were dangerous
fighting methods.

"So much for the legacy, honor, and romance of
samurai. In fact, some samurai commentators during
and before the Tokugawa held that, far from
slavishly following the dictates of their lords,
samurai might indeed prove their loyalty by
throwing themselves against his wishes to prevent
him from commiting folly. This wasn't what the
militarists of the 20's and 30's had in mind,
however, anymore than dissent is what W. has in
mind when he speaks of the glories of being an
American.

"So the origins of the "character development"
we're talking about when we talk about Budo is
rather toxic. As always, CAVEAT EMPTOR."


Also, see http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showth...ighlight=jutsu for references to Karl Friday on this. He suggests that JUTSU was the same as DO from inception.

Don J. Modesto
St. Petersburg, Florida
------------------------
http://www.theaikidodojo.com/
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