Pragmatically speaking, it seems to me that the history of aikido as importaint in being a proficient aikidoka as, say, the history of mathematics is important for being a proficient mathematician. It is interesting, but not decisive. I'm not talking about the philosophical aspects of aikido - it would be reasonable to look more thoroughly into the origins and the development of aikido over the years to better understand the philosophy behind it. But for me, being on the mat as much as possible is much more important. At least for now.
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