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Old 10-23-2003, 02:06 AM   #20
Chris Li
 
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Dojo: Aikido Sangenkai
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,313
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Quote:
Michael Ellefson (MikeE) wrote:
Jeez Chris,

My cup is half full. How is yours?

So, the "bulk" of the Founder's actual writings have yet to be translated. A broad and encompassing statement like that should be qualified with sources. Not that I disagree with you. In fact, I admit my ignorance. You obviously are better connected to whomever is in control of O'Sensei's writings.
"Takemusu Aiki" and "Aikido Shinzui" are both openly available in Japanese, but not in English. In "Takemusu Aiki" Morihei Ueshiba discusses in a fair amount of depth his conception of what "Aikido" is, and, after reading it, I realized that what is available in English is really more or less a collection of out-of-context clippings. They're not wrong, but it's the something like the difference between someone quoting bible passages at you and actually having the full text of the book in front of you. Even things like the only really comprehensive biography of Morihei Ueshiba ("Aikido Kaiso, Ueshiba Morihei Den" by Kisshomaru Ueshiba) have yet to make their way into English.
Quote:
Michael Ellefson (MikeE) wrote:
I just think that the portion we have of O'Sensei's principles are a good start for guiding our training.

What do you think?
Maybe, except that I could bring you ten different students of Morihei Ueshiba with ten different interpretations of the "Founder's principles" (each an every one stating definitively that they adhere to said principles). I've found the situation to be even worse when you get a couple of generations away and into a foreign language (English, in this case).

Best,

Chris

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