Thread: Chinkon Kishin
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Old 02-05-2008, 02:35 PM   #199
Allen Beebe
Location: Portland, OR
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 532
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Re: Chinkon Kishin

Quote:
Mike Sigman wrote: View Post
Well, the exact relationship in the precursor Buddhism is probably something to look at. Take a look at the Kongourikishi statues (the A-Un gods, aka "Buddha's Warrior Attendants"). These are the Yin-Yang powers that appear to have originated in India, but were commonly seen in China and Japan, too:

http://www.koumatsuba.zansu.com/kongourikishi_as2.JPG
http://www.sendai-biyori.com/news/im...0722083747.jpg

"A" and "Un", like in "Aunkai". The point is, how do you differentiate these obviously warlike statues of Buddhism into "secular" and "religious"? I doubt that the differentiation is all that clear, so for Ueshiba to use Chinkon Kishin training and say that he adopted "religious" practices is not a definition we could do easily. Well, it's pretty clear that these are body-training exercises and that's what Ueshiba used and so to teach "Aikido", that's what Tohei had to use.

YMMV

Mike
Uh huh. Off hand, it seems like the preponderance of the evidence seems to point in that direction (at least as far as Chikon Kishin goes.)

BTW, your Sendai-biyori link brings back nice memories of that pretty city.

Last edited by Allen Beebe : 02-05-2008 at 02:37 PM. Reason: I'm not so smart.

~ Allen Beebe
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