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Old 08-01-2008, 07:07 PM   #17
Peter Goldsbury
 
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Dojo: Hiroshima Kokusai Dojo
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
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Re: Black, Grey or White: "or you can do combinations".

Hello Fred,

For me, the answer given by Ellis (Post #3) gets the tone about right.

I never asked Iwata Sensei why he favoured white, so I don't know. However, I suspect that E J Hobsbawm's 'Invention of Tradition' has some relevance here. Japanese weddings and student graduation ceremonies are a good subject to study in this respect.

Do you know Takano Sensei? Very nice man. I think he's 6th or 7th dan. Has been a Hombu student for years. His dojo is in Azabu and he does "combinations". One back panel is dark grey, the other is white. Similarly with the front. I once asked him why and he mentioned purity and the reverse, yin and yang, the balance of the universe: a combination was clearly more 'cool' than one or other extreme--and then you can bring in all the stuff about harmony, for which aikido is so famous.

Hikitsuchi, Bansen Tanaka, Iwata all wore white hakama, as did O Sensei himself on occasion. Kisshomaru favored a grey colour and this seems to have been exclusive to him. The present Doshu regards it much more as a uniform, with little scope for variations.

I myself am skeptical about the 'shinto' explanation: it covers too many things here to have enough depth. I am sure I could order a white hakama from Iwata tomorrow, use it in my dojo and explain to those who batted any eyelids that I do so for the same reason that all taxi drivers wear white gloves. That would be enough.

Best,

Last edited by Peter Goldsbury : 08-01-2008 at 07:10 PM.

P A Goldsbury
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