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Old 04-21-2012, 10:55 AM   #255
Chris Li
 
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Dojo: Aikido Sangenkai
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Join Date: Dec 2000
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Re: The Founder's Teaching Ability

Quote:
Jim Redel wrote: View Post
and so, a thought experiment ...

A troubled martial artist is training hard ... as he's found it's the one thing that seems to give him some relief. Somewhere between his relentless training and his spiritual studies he stumbles upon something we will call a 'universal truth'. It immediately gives him great comfort. And also being a naturally compassionate man he now wants to share this knowledge.

So, he contemplates and first realizes that the message (this universal truth) is nearly impossible to articulate and second, what he knows best are the martial arts and Shintoism. He makes the logical choice to frame his message primarily in the vocabulary of the martial arts and secondarily in the vocabulary of Shintoism. And so world has a remarkably unique new martial art replete with some esoteric Shinto sub tones.

And to Ueshiba's dismay, no-one is getting it. As all the sages before him, Ueshiba learns first-hand about a human's nearly infinite capacity to fixate on the medium (in this case aikido itself) at the expense of the message. The ultimate paradox is, of course, that the aikido student must realize that what stands between him/her and this universal truth is the very thing they've dedicated themselves to mastering.

Is there really any wonder why so few of Ueshiba's students ever got it?
I think that:
  1. He didn't stumble on anything, he was taught, and that has been shown.
  2. That he was taught, and that he was employing old and verifiable training methods is clear enough to see from his own statements, his training history, and his demonstrated technique.
  3. No need to make up anything about a "remarkably unique new martial art" (something which has never been shown to be true, in spite of the traditional party line) - weren't you the one who wanted to keep it simple?

Best,

Chris

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