Marc Abrams

Jory:

My teacher put it simply: "Person X built a shrine to Aikido and O'Sensei, my students are my shrine." He is beyond the concern about the legacy of "his" organization. He is not politically petty. His direct students speak for themselves. His legacy is as a direct student of O'Sensei. My legacy, like others in our organization, is as a direct student of his. He is open to us training in whatever art we chose, and train with whatever teacher we chose, regardless of whether it is Aikido or another art. The legacy should not be the organization but the people who practice the art- simply my opinion.

I am criticizing the USAF for not participating in non-organization events. Once again, O'Sensei encouraged an openness that is conspicuously absent in the USAF. The USAF should be proud of it's students and encourage them, as a matter of policy, to interact with the Aikido and budo world at large, as opposed to remaining in an insular environment. They can accomplish everything that you talk about WITHOUT having to take the political, self-serving position that they do. I frankly see the ASU model as being a healthier model from an organizational standpoint than the USAF. I belong to neither, owe allegiance to neither, and make my comments from where I stand. I commend George for speaking out inside and outside of his organization. I commend the ASU for having seminars with people from different martial arts and different styles of Aikido. Xenophobic thinking has never helped any societies survive over long periods of time, so why would it be different from organizations within Aikido.

I do not wonder about the strength of Shin-Budo Kai when Imaizumi Sensei passes away. He would not support that kind of thinking. He is concerned about teaching those who want to learn from him. That was the legacy that he received and is passing on. That is the legacy that I have chosen. My Aikido and martial arts skills have significantly improved by being exposed to many different influences. It has better helped me to understand from and learn from my teacher. My teacher has fully supported all aspects of my learning, both from him and from other teachers. My concern as I teach my students is to share with them the knowledge that others have been gracious enough to share with me. The people and organizations do not "own" these teachings. The organizations and people would be well served to put their ego's aside and be open to learning from and experiencing the world-at-large. Knowledge is best served by being shared, rather than being "owned and kept for a select few." Knowledge "shrinks" when this happens, it "expands" when it is being shared.

Marc Abrams