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Old 02-25-2010, 04:42 AM   #33
Peter Goldsbury
 
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Dojo: Hiroshima Kokusai Dojo
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
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Re: "British Aikido - Full Circle" by Henry Ellis

Hello again, Joe,

As for the splits within British Aikido, you should see the situation in Japan. Even in Hiroshima City alone, there are four different organizations affiliated to the Aikikai, plus all the others related to Yoshinkan, Ki Society etc. People think of aikido as harmony etc, but when you read the life of O Sensei and his teachers, you realize that it was never like that.

How are you spending your retirement? As you have gathered, I am writing history, but there is one other project that I am actively planning. This is an aikido murder thriller, on the lines of the Name of the Rose. Imagine the scene. A major residential training course, with Doshu and other high-ranking senseis. And then gruesomely murdered corpses are found in various locations and popular suspicion is leveled at some visitors from MMA, who really think that aikido is useless as a martial art anyway, because the attacks are not realistic enough. The problem is that the murders all follow a pattern, which would be completely unknown to MMA people unless they had read O Sensei's discourses etc etc etc. (Well, if Dan Brown can do it, so can I. )

Best wishes,

PAG

Quote:
Joe Curran wrote: View Post
Hi Peter,
Thanks for the quick response.Nice to know you are well.
Reading all the names being mentioned is quite a sentimental journey for me.Maybe we should all hire a venue and do the Aikido equivalent of a 60's Pop revival?British Aikido has done more splits than a Chinese contortionist over the last 40 years.Wonder how Aikido would have been if we had all stuck together?Still, no harm in musing .Recently had a joint course with the U.K.A/Komyokan/ B.A.F.Went quite well.Good time had by all and the social side was fine.
Read your OSensei article.Well researched.I bet your fingers were aching after typing out the manuscript on the old laptop.
Cheers, Joe.

P A Goldsbury
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