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Old 08-28-2013, 12:12 PM   #31
Chris Li
 
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Dojo: Aikido Sangenkai
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Join Date: Dec 2000
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Re: Is ki just good physics?

Quote:
Corky Quakenbush wrote: View Post
Dear Chris, I merely copied what it says on the author page of the book.

But if you mean to imply that Kisshomaru, his translators and editors presented something not in keeping with the Founder's intention or teaching, and that Morihei Ueshiba was such an ego-maniac that all he cared about was having his picture in the book (I read a similar story in Remembering Osensei about an aikido newsletter which had no picture of him in the first edition, which he dismissed, but then approved of the second edition which did display his picture) to the extent that he let his life's work be misrepresented, then we will have to find another honorific for him besides "Osensei" - something that means "Great Fool." I would assume only great trust or massive stupidity would inspire the Founder to give free rein to his son to literally "write the book" on Aikido.

I could be wrong of course, but it seems to me that wlth all the reverence with which Osensei's son writes of his father, his father's work and intentions for Aikido, that he would not have attempted to conspire with editors and translators to add two main points out of nine (or three, if you count "breath power" as another description of ki) to the "Basic Knowledge" section of book Aikido that were not in keeping with his father's budo.

I do appreciate K. Ueshiba's efforts is giving us something easier to grasp than the esoteric sounding words of his father regarding ki, and I enjoy his exploration of the nature ki in The Spirit of Aikido in which he relates ki to modern science, but a word of caution: Mentioning ki as a physical force of nature in these forums may incite the torch and pitchfork mob!
I'm not disparaging Kisshomaru's efforts - but Morihei was not really all that involved in things during the time that the book was written, most of the time he wasn't even around, and yes, it was pretty much laissez-faire in terms of how Kisshomaru was running things.

Best,

Chris

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