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Old 06-25-2008, 05:16 PM   #17
Mike Sigman
Location: Durango, CO
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,123
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Re: Aikido™ and Aiki…do. Where are we at?

Quote:
Shaun Ravens wrote: View Post
Hmmmm, I guess a good place to start here is by asking a few simple questions to level the playing field.
  1. Given the three sources you mention, would you say that the methodologies were basically the same?
  2. Given the same three methods, are the "stated" goals for the practice basically the same?
  3. In your opinion, or from what you have been told (please specify) what are the phase one goals of Misogi-no-Gyo
  4. If you care to speculate, or speak from your own experience, (seperate from the first few phase changes) what is/are the long time goal/goals of Misogi-no-Gyo?
[snipsky]
You know, there are different approaches to how these things are done, but the core principles are the same and can be explained rationally. There are different mysticisms that have been mixed in as veneers to complement different religions (like Buddhism, Shintoism, etc.), but the core principles are the same and can be explained rationally. There are different visualizations used by different people/styles, but the core principles are (and must be) the same... and they can be explained rationally. The idea that Misogi-no-gyo or any form of misogi is somehow working on different core principles is simply a wrong idea and somewhat of an alarm-flag raiser to boot.

Think back to the interview of Tohei in Aikido Journal (I think it's the first of a 3-part interview) where he describes O-Sensei's idea of why the hungover Tohei shouldn't be able to do the "unliftable" demonstration. Regardless of O-Sensei's religious mysticism, Tohei could still do the "unliftable" demonstration by "dropping his center".... because the core principle is the same.

Now someone may want to keep some exotic or esoteric explanation because it's colorful, but if they can really do these things, the baseline discussions by a number of people should be easily understood, even if those descriptions are a little bit different from what one is used to.... because "dropping your center" or "using the groundpath" are pretty obvious contextually, if you really know the subject. The people who argue "their way" seem to be the people for whom the common conversation doesn't ring obvious bells, in my experience. "Misogi" is fine... but why not also show that you physically know how to do these things, if you really know how? It would create so much harmony.

FWIW

Mike Sigman
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