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Old 04-18-2005, 01:55 AM   #35
Chuck.Gordon
Location: Frederick, MD
Join Date: Sep 2000
Posts: 509
United_States
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Re: Practice without tradition

Quote:
Stuart Norton wrote:
Why do you have to mouth Japanese words and use Japanese etiquette for it to be budo?
It's not just mouthing ... it's learning the cultural construct and historical context within which budo became budo.

Quote:
Surely budo is in your heart and mind and spirit, not the words you say or the gestures you make?
I think that's putting too much stock in Budo as a thought-system and not keeping it in context as a cultural practice of historical combat methodolgies and the modern congates that are based on those older systems.

Can you do budo without doing the technicues of your chosen method? I don't think so.

Without the physical framework of technique, kata, etiquette, there is no budo. Likewise, without the inner workings of philosophy and theory, there is no budo.

And the cultural trappings, appurtenance and practices are just as important to budo being budo.

Quote:
But if that's all that makes it budo, then could tae-bo with a bow-in ceremony and "ich-no-san-shi and tsuki!" be called budo?
Nope. Tae-bo has a (very loose) basis in Korean arts, mixed with western boxing, aerobics, exercise theory and a very heavy dose of marketing.

For it to be budo, it would have to be spawned from a Japanese martial root, and nurtured with the cultural, physical and philosophical trappings thereof.

Ikebana, for instance, has more connection to budo than tae-bo ...

Chuck

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