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Old 03-12-2007, 05:21 PM   #18
Ellis Amdur
 
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Location: Seattle
Join Date: May 2003
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Re: "Non-Aikido Martial Traditions" Forum

Hi Alec - Is Daito-ryu related to aikido? Yes - - - - and - - - no. Is Daito-ryu related to koryu? Yes - - - - and - - - - no. Is Aikido related to Chinese martial arts. Yes - - - -- and - - - - no. To karate? Yes - - - and - - - no. It seems that, for many readers of the blogs, the "no" shade far outweighed the "yes" in a number of threads, and the "yea sayers" were saying, "No, it's yes." And that, some found quite aggravating. Particularly when the "yes-sayers" added so many negatives. And on the contrary, the "no" sayers often said "no" to the "yes" sayer with the "no" in the middle in such a way that the "yes - sayers" said "no way." Given that aikido IS the "way," this caused some problems, because the "yes" sayers said they were either on the way, found the way or showing the way, and the "no-sayers" found this to be way out there, that the way was Osensei's, and the "yes-sayers" said that this was, in fact true, but the "no-sayers" and the "yes-sayers" found that the truths they agreed upon were diametrically opposed to one another.
This is not to say that you cannot say "no" or "yes" on the new subsection or the old, but everyone is asked to be both direct (irimi) and (courteous) tenkan about it - something we all can agree on, yes?

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