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I'm sure there was plenty of BS in O'Sensei's time -- a lot of it from him. At a seminar a few years ago, Kobayahsi and Toyoda shihans got told O'Sensei stories after dinner. These were more of the "what a lovable, cranky old man" type stories. They really showed him in a very human light.
More to the point, Toyoda and Kobayashi shihans talked a little about their days as young men and aikido students. Guess what: they fought amonst themselves, had doubts about the efficacy of aikido techniques, felt the need to prove their training, and complained about stuff just like we do.
We look at these old guys and see their wonderful technique, and we think they must have been all seriousness and purposefulness (if that's a word). In reality, they're human too.
One of my favorite stories of O'Sensei is told by Terry Dobson and relayed by Ellis Amdur in Dueling with O'Sensei. Apparently, Dobson was attending O'Sensei, and had to get up with him for midnight bathroom visits. On one such visit, O'Sensei and Dobson passed a young woman in the hallway, who flashed her breasts at the old man as she calmly walked on. O'Sensei apparently skipped down the hall the rest of the way to the bathroom after that with a big smile on his face.
I like to think of that old guy with prostate trouble being so happy about a little flash. That image seems so opposit to the mystic aikido master. :-D
So, BS away. I think we often take this stuff too seriously.
Regards,
-Drew
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