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Old 12-10-2008, 11:13 AM   #31
GeneC
Location: Henderson,
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 370
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Re: Why did O'Sensei create aikido?

Quote:
Paul Wallace wrote: View Post
....The fact is that none of us, not even those who were around him night and day his whole life, know why he founded Aikido.
He started his journey long before Aikido, in a way that many modern Aikidoka would sneer at, so it is obvious he changed his mind ATLEAST, once. He wasn't a god, he wasn't constant, he was a man. Subject to all the changes, growths, and decays of human life.
None of us are in his head no matter how hard we may study or research and no matter how much we think we know, all we have are theories. My theory is that Aikido is around because O'sensei wanted people to try. The Aiki the kokyu all that stuff is just part of the journey we should be taking. I think O'sensei wanted us all to be striving for perfection in whatever we do. Budo was just what he did. Why he wanted that I haven't given much thought to, but like I said, all I've got are theories.
ON the other hand, any "celebrity" who left a legacy and ALOT of writings and followers and film, one can accurately determine their intent, even if it changed several times, which it did in this case.

There is no secrets to his bio, it's well documented and he even said what his intent was in several different ways. What's also obvious is the direct religion that's incorporated into his life and manifested into Aikido ( much like religion is incorporated into America's foundation). According to his bio, he was naturally competitive and took pride to be the best at whatever he did. He was destined( as much as Bruce Lee) to seek and develope his own MA. Much like Bruce Lee, he studied many different MA, (which Budo was a way of life in Japan at the time and every self respecting Nipponji practiced it) and took the best parts of each and eliminated what wasn't. Further, obviously his connection to the Omoto religion influenced him to base his practice in a religious context , a common practice at that time, of peacful resolution and mercy (not so common at the time). Also, most MA are based in weapons techniques, because that's what was prevalent at the time. So much so that the general consensus is that if weapons are removed from a MA, it removes the martial aspect of the art.

My point is that alot of what was developed was simply a result of what was done at the time, as many know that Japanese culture was/is very strict. So he developed a hybrid MA within the constraints of current Japanese culture of the time. imo.

Only between a single breath is Yin/Yang in harmony
Emotion is pure energy flowing feely thru the body-Dan Millman
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