Quote:
Jay Gerard (Aribu) wrote:
Is it ok to traditionalize shinto religious practices so that they are acceptible to Americans, or would it be better to drop them entirely since their meaning is no longer present in many dojo?
|
Not every dojo still uses Shinto practices. The ASU uses the shinto bow, the USAF does not. Even in the USAF, some teachers use Shinto warmups, like the rowing exercise, while some use more modern methods. Some dojos use Shinto shrines for their kamiza, some use a non-denominational tokonoma. Here again, I think the ASU, on average, employs more Shinto symbology than the USAF.
There is really nothing wrong with removing the Shinto aspects of the art in this country. O Sensei was personally quite enamored of the neo-Shinto cult Omoto but he never required his Aikido students to study or beleive in this religion. I think Shintoism is one of those cultural artifacts not directly related to Aikido that are sometimes needlessly dragged along with the art as it migrates to another culture. Another example of this is excessive use of Japanese in the dojo. The reason that they count and say "Thank you" in Japanese in dojos in Japan is because that is how those things are done in everyday life in Japan as well. Blindly mimicing that aspect of dojo behavior in the United States makes no sense.