View Single Post
Old 06-29-2007, 12:55 PM   #8
R.A. Robertson
Dojo: Still Point Aikido Center
Location: Austin, TX, USA
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 346
Offline
Re: Article: Restoring Harmony by Ross Robertson

I appreciate the thoughtful discussion people are bringing to this.

I can also sympathize with why O-Sensei may not have cared much what "his" art is called. If it's truly a universal way, then to name it anything is to separate it from everything else.

The deeper I look into aikido, the more I see it reflected in other arts. Like aikido, other arts can be done well or done badly. In nearly all cases, there are rare cases of an art being done in a manner that is indescribably pure. And with these cases, it is almost as if they are all doing the same thing regardless of the art.

Same general anatomy, same set of physics. I do think ultimately there is only one art, and that one is probably best left un-named. Even so, that's the one I want most to do.

And even so, I'll still call it "aikido," because that's the name of the path that I take to get me there.

Ross
  Reply With Quote