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Old 12-08-2008, 11:21 AM   #21
C. David Henderson
Location: Santa Fe New Mexico
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 606
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Re: Why did O'Sensei create aikido?

Quote:
Michael Gelum wrote: View Post
And is not that exactly what he had become in his later years?
I'd guess he was much more than that, and was that at times too.

Maybe it's the topic, but the more people address the question in the OP, the more they appear to be sketching their own and sometimes competing views of O'sensei as an individual.

Did the young man who wanted to be and became physically very strong later change his views about what "strength" and "power" meant as well as how to achieve them; did his earlier ambitions seep through and underlie later, more philosophical/spiritual statements?

Did the man who actively supported the imperial system of Japan fundamentally change when he moved from Tokyo during the war (along with his art), or was he present still?

A friend once told me he wanted the following words on his tombstone -- "It's all true." A good way of looking at a life sometimes.

Regards

DH
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