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Old 01-20-2011, 12:54 PM   #51
lbb
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,202
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Re: The Essence of Training

Quote:
George S. Ledyard wrote: View Post
I think it is worth considering what Aikido was when it started and what it has become...

When the Founder taught, Budo was a serious pursuit. To train directly with the Founder, you had to apply and be accepted. Someone he knew and respected had to vouch for you. You had to be serious, not just for yourself, but also because not to be serious would embarrass the person who had been your sponsor.
All true, but I think it's worth pointing out that the "seriousness" you're talking about was a luxury that few could afford. Those who pursued budo, or koryu before them, were not what you could reasonably term productive members of society: they and the arts they practiced were luxury items, each of which required a certain number of productive members (rice farmers, fishermen, craftsmen) to support him. In economic terms, the budoka you describe is a member of the leisure class, and in societies that lacked the resources, knowledge and level of social organization to create the surpluses necessary to support these luxuries, a leisure class simply didn't exist. As for "seriousness", again, that's historically been a privilege of the leisure class: the resources necessary to commit significant time to non-productive pursuits. Modern-day prosperity, and particularly that of the western world in the post-World War II era, has had something of a democratizing effect on this, by creating some access to leisure for those who must still live by their own efforts and who are not privileged to live by the efforts of others. This window of leisure, taken on weekends and at the end of a working day, can't support "seriousness" of the same type that the life of leisure of the privileged class can. Being "serious" as you describe it is not merely a matter of attitude; it is not even a matter of doing your very best with the resources you have. Such "seriousness" is not possible except for a privileged few.
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