Thread: What the hell?
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Old 12-24-2003, 02:25 AM   #81
Bronson
 
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Dojo: Seiwa Dojo and Southside Dojo
Location: Battle Creek & Kalamazoo, MI
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Quote:
Joshua Cripe (Usagi Yojimbo) wrote:
My whole point about that comment is to call someone a dog is a most dishonourable statement, and to therefore bind together Aiki and dog in such a manner is a dishonouring remark to Aikido, as if a dog could practice it.
In Chinese culture the dog is a symbol of loyalty and honesty. See below from a website on Chinese astrology. A quick search for the Japanese zodiac found an almost indentical description.
Quote:
People born in the Year of the Dog possess the best traits of human nature. They have a deep sense of loyalty, are honest, and inspire other people's confidence because they know how to keep secrets. But Dog People are somewhat selfish, terribly stubborn, and eccentric. They care little for wealth, yet somehow always seem to have money. They can be cold emotionally and sometimes distant at parties. They can find fault with many things and are noted for their sharp tongues. Dog people make good leaders. They are compatible with those born in the Years of the Horse, Tiger, and Rabbit.
From a site on Native American Totem Animals I found this:


Quote:
Dog energy is loyalty. It is through Dog that we learn to accept others as they are, and to serve others with no thought of self.
Some more folklore concerning dogs from choronzon.com
Quote:
Dogs - Faithfulness and protection, strong spirit. In Celtic from the Hound or the Dog (Abach) is an animal of the hunt, frequently associated with humanlike intelligence. The hounds of Fionn mac Cumhail, Bran and Sgeolainn, are actually transformed humans, The Cwn Annwn, are the Gabriel hounds that accompany Gwynn ap Nudd during the Wild Hunt as well as guarding the gates to the Underworld or Annwn the kingdom of the God of the Dead, Arawn. Cuchulain the Champion of Ulster gets his name from replacing the Hound of Cuchul that he kills. He is called the "Hound of Ulster" from this event. The hound is also his totem animal.Guardian hounds occur widely in shamanic Otherworldly lore. The Altaic shaman encounters a dog that guards the underworld realm of Erlik Khan. When the Yukaghir shaman follows the road to the kingdom of shadows, he finds an old woman's house guarded by a barking dog. In Koryak shamanism the entrance to the land of the dead is guarded by dogs. A dog with bared teeth guards the entrance to the undersea land of Takakapsaluk, Mother of the Sea Beasts, in Innuit shamanism. The custom of burying a dog and the skin of a favourite reindeer with a dead man was still current among Ugrian people of Siberia earlier this century.
Bronson (who happens to have been born in the year of the dog and is damn proud of it )

"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence. A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy he chooses non-violence."
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