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Old 09-14-2008, 03:01 PM   #24
Peter Goldsbury
 
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Re: Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation 10

Quote:
Allen Beebe wrote: View Post
Good clarification Doug,

It is hard to be coherent when my 2 year old son is screaming at my 4 year old daughter as she hold whatever it is he wants above his head.

Anyway, between the two of us, maybe something makes sense.

Allen

I don't want to take the focus off of Peter's post so if anybody has information relating to this please PM me or Doug. Or if there is some huge response, one of us could open a thread on the forum. Let's put the focus back on Peter's column.
Hello Allen, Doug,

Since O Sensei used the term and I have quoted it here, I think it is relevant to this 10th column. Here are two more quotes from students of O Sensei: Saito and Takaoka (from Wakayama):

『剣には『松竹梅の剣法』がある。剣の3つ性格は互いに独立し、そして互いに結び合って変化する。その基本形が組太刀となっているのである。
それらは総てに渡って体術に 応用され、合気道を益々奥深いものとしている訳である。
 かくて合気道は、数百年の伝統ある武術を土台に、戦後(昭和20年以降)完成されたといわれているのである。』
 
Traditional Aikido, Vol 5, p.22. Ken has three characters called Pine, Bamboo and Plum. There characters are independent of each other and yet linked up together to produce variations, the basic form of which is kumitachi....

The following quote from Takaoka is more relevant to this column, because O Sensei once more refers to his ken training before the war and his encounter with the white phantom swordsman who told him to build the Aiki shrine. He termed the training encounters he had with the white swordsman (mo hitori no Ueshiba) "sho chiku bai no kenpo". However, as with the Tamura interview (in French) there are no technical explanations. As I have suggested in the column, and is supported by Saito Sensei's comment, this Sho-chiku-bai no ken, directly led to the Aiki-ken training in Iwama. He does not use the term in the Takemusu Aiki quotes, but it is obvious (to me) that the sword encounters described are identical.

私が稽古を付けていただいたが、あまりにも柔らかいので、私も稽古すれば戦前の翁先生のような力が出てくるのですかと尋ねました。
翁先生は「戦前は解らず力で稽古していた。今は力は不要。此れが武産合気じゃ」と申された。そしてその訳を話してくださいました。
終戦の年病で倒れ気が虚ろなり(天国)行こうとすると、天女が私に火を吹きかけてきた。それでも行こうとすると、一人の僧が出てきて帰れと言う。お顔拝見と言うとまだ早い 、修養がたりないと語られた。
その後病が回復され「合気神社に参拝しようと思い参道を行くと白い人が見えた。良く見るともう一人の植芝が木刀を構えて立っているから、打って行くと打たれた。また打つと 打たれた。今度構えていると、ぱっと消えた。この時から柔らかい技に変わった。此れが松竹梅の剣法じゃ」と話してくださった。

I understand Doug's point about more precision--how exactly kata froms are related to the symbols in O Sensei's own mind, but I discovered the three discussions by O Sensei's own deshi by searching the Japanese language version of Google. I have never found any technical explanations in O Sensei's own discourses (so far). (I had no time to translate the Takaoka discussion: I will do so if people wish.)

Best wishes,

PAG

Last edited by Peter Goldsbury : 09-14-2008 at 03:06 PM.

P A Goldsbury
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