Quote:
Nicholas Eschenbruch wrote:
I
It cannot. Do IS-teachers of all sorts strike you as a particularly religious bunch? Sagawa? Does aiki improve any religious practice you do?
A disciplined physical practice can of course serve as a "meditation" method of some sort of course, towards certain goals, like counting the breath or using a rosary. But that would really be an almost banal point.
|
I'm not going to go into this here, but in Daito Ryu there are explicit relationships between Japanese Buddhist and Shinto practices/philosophy and the techniques/worldview of the art itself.
These relationships are also prevalent in in traditional forms of Japanese flower arrangement and music. These are just two that I am in some way familiar with. In fact, pretty much any traditional form of Japanese art should have these philosophical links IMO.
My point is that Daito Ryu is not "merely" a vehicle for "Internal Strength" training. It is an art with its own traditions, history and "spiritual" (For want of a better word) worldview.
A great post, by the way!
On a separate point, has anyone posting on this thread ever actually trained with Alan Ruddock or Henry Kono?