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David Yap wrote:
Without the experience of competition, how can we stop aikido from being watered down as a martial art as it is passed down from generation to generation? Perhaps, years to come, our future generations may go to temples to learn aikido instead of dojo to train aikido.
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Actually, the word "dojo" comes from a word for a temple originally - it was later adopted by martial artists.
Ironically, many of the people who are against competition use exactly the same argument - that competition leads to watering down of the martial arts as they are passed from generation to generation. Gichin Funakoshi argued from that perspective, and so do a number of prominent Judo instructors who ended up disillusioned with what competition did to the art,
Kisshomaru discusses this point quite fairly, I think, when expressing his opinions on the subject in "Aikido Ichiro". In the end, I don't think that either approach can really offer a guarantee - you make your choice, do the best that you can, and hope that things turn out OK.
Best,
Chris