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Old 07-02-2013, 09:58 AM   #81
PeterR
 
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Re: No Competition in Aikido(excluding Tomiki)

Quote:
Peter A Goldsbury wrote: View Post
Personally, I think you cannot separate Ueshiba's views on competition from his views on religion and this also involves Omoto theology, and so I wonder to what extent Kenji Tomiki accepted the theological way in which Ueshiba expressed his views. This assumes, of course, that he understood them and I have no evidence that he did not. Kenji Tomiki became a student of Morihei Ueshiba before Minoru Mochizuki and it is plausible to believe that he changed his training methods and his views about teaching after the war, partly as a result of his own wartime experiences.
I have always wondered about the theology connection. Tomiki, apparently studied all the Omoto-kyo texts in an attempt to understand Ueshiba's Aikido - he certainly thought the connection was important. Relatively few of Ueshiba's students delved to that depth and even today his honbu dojo has an Omoto-kyo shine (regularly blessed). That does not mean Tomiki accepted the Omoto-kyo teachings or that there wasn't a particular connection with Ueshiba's views on competition and his religious leanings but it does make me wonder about your premise.

Peter Rehse Shodokan Aikido
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