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Old 10-13-2009, 11:17 AM   #27
Toby Threadgill
Location: Evergreen, Colorado
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 166
United_States
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Re: Internal Training in Aikido in Colorado Springs/Denver?

Hello,

Pardon me, but this feels very weird. Reading about myself like this.... I think "Are they talking about me?" LOL

Michael,

Thank you for the kind words. I know your visit had to be short but you were quite respectful, so you are welcome back during future forays to Denver. I encourage you to go anywhere and everywhere you can to learn... If I wasn't beholden to TSYR, I'd be a budo mutt, learning from as many sources as possible. But koryu is not like that. My job as the TSYR kaicho requires maintaining archaic traditions that are quite diverse and that is a full time job. Those outside koryu cannot appreciate the weight of what it is we are tying to do. It is mind numbing in it's complexity and political intrigue, especially when your eyes are not as almond shaped as some would prefer.

Josh,

Shingo Ohgami is a budo historian who was introduced to me by my teacher, Takamura sensei. He is most well known in the karate community an advanced Wado ryu practitioner, but he is also an advanced student of several koryu. We are writing a book on Shindo Yoshin ryu history and technique, but our historical research is still ongoing with at least one more research trip to Japan in the cards. Consequently, a publishing date for our book is still undetermined. FWIW, Shindo Yoshin ryu is to Wado ryu, what Daito ryu is to Aikido, so the book will have an obvious bias towards the Wado ryu practitioner.

and Dan,

Thanks for the comments and accurate explanation of koryu culture.

I'd like to expand on something Dan said. Koryu are rather secretive and people need to understand that this is not out of some desire to be snobs or believe ourselves superior to others. We take an oath to protect the veracity of our lineages. If too much information is placed in the public domain charlatans will inevitably try to attach themselves to our traditions in an attempt to legitimize themselves and fraudulently lay claim to something that the have no investment in. In TSYR our curriculum is divided into categories which determine what I can teach outside the formal student, and what I can't. So at public seminar I am free to teach our sotoden, our "outside the walls" curriculum. ( I'm not sure how many koryu are similarly organized.) So, half the Yoshin ryu internal training methods are officially sotoden. I'm pleased people are interested in them and finding them useful in whatever art thy study.

On Aikido

Aikido is a wonderful expression of budo but like all forms of budo it suffers from its own unique issues surrounding isolation and transmission. I encourage everyone in aikido to not limit themselves and keep an open mind to the possibilities of broadening their access to knowledge. Exceptional aikidoka like Ikeda sensei are at the level they are because they know how to pull relevant information and skills into their bodies from various sources. This is something I have found common in many of the aikido greats.

Respectfully,

Toby Threadgill / TSYR
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