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Old 07-23-2007, 10:06 AM   #12
odudog
Dojo: Dale City Aikikai
Location: VA
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 394
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Re: Bowing to Kamidana/Kamiza

Joshua's post was extremely well done. I would like to add to his post this little tid bit. The kamiza, notice za at the end, is the same as the za in seiza. So the kamiza is the God's seat. In the old days and probably still today depending on the dojo, the Sensei would sit at the front on a little stool and conduct class from that location. The Sensei is the "God" of that dojo. Hence kamiza being used for the front of the dojo. Most people didn't speak Japanese when the arts came to the West so I'm sure you can understand the mixups with the terms.
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