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Old 09-05-2009, 08:26 AM   #36
L. Camejo
 
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Dojo: Ontario Martial Arts
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Join Date: Aug 2001
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Re: "Hidden in Plain Sight" - Specific Internal Training

Dan has a point. It is very difficult to determine what someone's meanings might be based on his skill as a martial artist alone. Martial skill and deep knowledge about the history of Japanese Budo etc. are two very different fields of study.

But Tomiki was a scholar of Japanese Budo on many levels, seeing very early on how his Aikido and Judo training fit within the greater reality of all Japanese Budo and the place of Aiki waza within the overall scheme of Japanese armed and unarmed Budo.

From the Shodokan website here - http://homepage2.nifty.com/shodokan/en/rekishi3.html - we get more details of his knowledge base, which can be seen to be comparable in excellence to his martial skills:
Quote:
... with Ueshiba's permission, went to Manchukuo to teach as an instructor of Ueshiba-ryu Aikijujitsu. His techniques were praised enthusiastically by the chief of staff Hideki Tojo which promoted the spread of aikido there. In March of 1936 he became a lecturer at the Daido Institute that had been established in Manchukuo. In the spring of 1938 he moved to the newly established Kenkoku University lecturing in budo and was in charge of a new course in aikibudo (the name used by Ueshiba at that time) on the curriculum.

From this period Tomiki made great progress in his research and he wrote various books and papers, such as 'The Future Of Judo and Aikibudo' (1937), explaining the significance of judo and budo in aikibudo. As a result, he received recognition and support from many people in budo and judo including Jiro Nango, the second president of Kodokan.
Imho it is known that Tomiki was well studied in Budo history and physical education, using these skills to develop not only Aiki Budo but also Kodokan Judo (the development of the Kime no kata readily comes to mind). So imho he knew exactly what the symbol from the Ten no Maki of Kito Ryu meant and would also know precisely why he selected that symbol and its accompanying concepts to represent his school of Aikido. Of course Dan's point still holds true in that we are reading an English translation of what Tomiki said in the website above and not the original Japanese. But I think given the evidence of the man's high level of theoretical and physical studies in Budo the connection between the Shodokan symbol and Kito Ryu is far from mere coincidence.

To Peter and Ellis, it's good to have the support of people who know a lot more than I do. I am learning from you guys all the time.

Just a few thoughts. They may be worth only what you paid for them.

Best
LC

--Mushin Mugamae - No Mind No Posture. He who is possessed by nothing possesses everything.--
http://www.tntaikido.org
http://www.mushinkan.ca
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