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Old 02-09-2011, 10:58 AM   #44
Diana Frese
Dojo: Aikikai of S.W. Conn. (formerly)
Location: Stamford Connecticut
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 386
United_States
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Re: Legacy and the Founder

I a m very happy that more and more people have entered this thread. One thing that I have been thinking about and might be able to make a small contribution to, is the question of the role of the man who we were told was to be called Second Doshu, the first being Kaiso Morihei Ueshiba. I'm not sure if it was mentioned otherwise in some of the threads and I hope Francis will clarify this for us. I remember Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei being referred to as Nidai Doshu in Japanese and in some threads, maybe even this one!

People sometimes question the iemoto system and I wonder if it is appropriate for me to bring this up in this thread of comments. Some of those questions that people have in other threads deal with martial effectiveness. It's too bad I couldn't make it to more of the 6:30 a.m. classes but from what I did see Second Doshu Kisshomaru Sensei's aikido was the perfect and correct form, the standard, if you will. These were the techniques, but the other instructors had their own ways, and yet they were all there teaching class on the weekly schedule. I feel that Second Doshu was like that, he respected his father's students and they respected him. In addition I heard it said years ago "Doshu fed us"
this was when he was still alive and called simply Doshu.

Evidently in the old days when the economic situation was dire, he got a regular job to help feed his father's students and they never forgot that.

As a person, he seemed kindly and what you might call "unassuming" if you saw him in the hallway his smile had a quiet radiance. I don't have the writing skills of many on Aiki Web but I just had to make the attempt.

When I was teaching at the local YMCA and had a few students I recommended they come to NYC to see him. I mentioned he was very thin but oboy could he throw people. They came they saw they said I was right. They were wide-eyed. I leave it to others to decide for themselves whether the iemoto system is purely administrative. I'm sure Third Doshu Moriteru Sensei in addition to writing books (which I look forward to reading) and promoting Aikido both in Japan and internationally, in his teaching passes on valuable Aikido knowledge and technique just as his father and grandfather did. Though there is great teaching outside of Aikikai too, the iemoto system is an important way to insure Aikido continues on into the future. It has meant immense dedication among those who have accepted the mantle, so to speak. And among the other students, notably Osawa Sensei, Kobayashi Yasuo Sensei if I remember correctly, and Sugano Sensei many have passed on the treasure of Aikido to their children as a legacy for the future.
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