Ron Tisdale

This can be a very interesting, and somewhat contentious issue in some quarters.

I have to agree with the majority of posters when they say that Yoshinkan aikido does not overtly teach religeon. Self development and spiritual issues are left up to the individual to treat as they wish. But...to say that there are none of the types of exercises specifically referenced "funakogi, furitama, kodotama", etc., might not be strictly accurate. In that one viewpoint of exercises like these is that they are exercises to develop certain body skills, and not just religeous rituals, I think it would be a mistake to dismiss them. I have seen "the rowing exercise" practised in yoshinkan dojo, and our warm ups are standard enough in Ki_society dojo that a 6th dan from that school remarked "those are ki exercises". Now, of course, they have never been referred to as "ki exercises" to me by any Yoshinkan instructor. It is worth noting however, that chinkon kishin, which has it's roots in esoteric shintoism, is a part of those warm ups, and has also been described as a form of marital qi gong.

So....no, no overt religeous tones, but there are elements that have had religeous tones in the past, that are kept because of their application to physical aspects of training, in my opinion.

Best,
Ron