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Old 11-06-2006, 08:54 AM   #8
jeff.
Dojo: aikido of morgantown
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 42
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Re: Poll: Does aikido contain an ethical code for you to follow?

i think this entirely depends upon your definition of aikido. it seems, broadly speaking, people define it in one of two ways:

1. a martial art (sort of the minimum definition)
2. a martial way, which contains the full teachings of osensei and his students

in the first case, the answer to the poll would be no in the explicit sense. tho i tend to agree with ian on the implicit ethics involved (at least via most teaching methodologies).

in the second case (which is what aikido is to me), i would argue that osensei (and the bulk of his students who continue(d) to teach) had a very specific ethical code in mind. which, i would agree, revolves around muteiko. tho i'm not sure if equating this term with our western understanding of "non-violence" is accurate. at least not in the sense of non-violence = pacifism. but if we understand non-violence to be the middle ground between pacifism and belief in violence as a solution (broadly speaking), then maybe muteiko would mean "non-violence". this would explain osensei's speaking against violence, while teaching self(and other)-defense techniques that are potentially very violent. such a middle ground allows room for the gray areas, and the possibility of using lesser violence to end greater violence, etc. while still remaining critical of violence, and being aware of the slippery slope that violence is.

but yeah: i suppose what i getting at is that muteiko would, i think, be the center of the ethical code for aikido -- but that it has far reaching implications, and itself likely based in the principles of bushido.

fun!
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