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Old 07-22-2001, 03:38 PM   #6
Nick
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 563
United_States
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ok then, perhaps I can put it this way...

if a koi (carp) is put in a pond with nothing around it, it will grow fat and soon become sick. However, if you put a stone in the pond, the koi will remain strong by swimming around it.

Tradition is the stone we swim around. If we take little bits of the stone away, at first it won't really make a difference (E.G. using japanese in the doj---training hall) but, as we continue to take bits and pieces off of the stone (We don't really need to bow to O'sensei, I mean, he's dead, who cares?), what will be left for us? Certainly not aikido... or should we not even call it aikido? Is that too conservative?

The upholding of tradition is what allowed you to learn aikido in the first place. If we wish for aikido to continue into future generations, we must continue to swim around the stone of tradition...

Nick
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