senshincenter

Until you can demonstrate clearly that this was Osensei's intention and not a merely a philosophical potential of the practice in general that others were able to rightly tap into, it is indeed quite a bit to say it was intended so. Of course, please feel free to believe this, and to do with this position as you will. I'm not out at all to stop such things - having no will, no right, nor any power to do so. However, from a historical point of view, what you say is without support - and this remains true whether we wish to step out of dualistic thinking or not.

As I said, if you can offer some actual historical evidence, I would be most glad to reconsider and/or to continue this part of the discussion, but if all you can offer now is that "it must have been intended so, because we have seen it done," then we must simply acknowledge that this conversation has run aground, as that premise would never hold up in any kind of forum on the history of anything - including Osensei. For me, that is what we were trying to discuss. Outside of that, I really have little to offer regarding the contemporary practices of how Aikido is or is not marked by the culture in which it comes to be practiced and/or what general traits are related to that process across the globe and across time. For me, as you can guess, outside of what universal traits that I believe we practice at our own dojo, I would hold myself uninformed to comment on such traits in regards to the multiple cultures that Aikido is or has been practiced.

Thank you for your reply,
dmv