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Old 03-11-2007, 01:36 PM   #44
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Dojo: Team Combat USA
Location: Olympia, Washington
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Re: Aikido as External Art -or- Where's the Chewy Center?

Justin wrote:

Quote:
We'd have to go back to what the founder and family of this martial art actually say.
No, I don't think we need to go back to what they said. We all pretty much know what they said. My sensei knows what he said, cause O'sensei told him directly, as well as many others.

In Dan's quote of Ikeda, I do think it is important to look at what Ikeda is saying, and it is not blind fundamentalism.

O sensei's goals and philosophy was pretty clear. Just as in most religions, we look at the dogma and the text and the actual practice evolves over time to be re-interpreted based on the collective experiences and meanings of the current society.

Christianity is not practiced the same in any given country or society.

Aikido kinda really falls into this same category. It is important to allow for the freedom of growth and discovery as long as the goals values, and philosophy remain the same.

Appealing to past authority for all your source of judgement is fundamentalism and you run the danger of being irrelevant or out of sync with the rest of society for the sake of ole times.

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