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Old 03-30-2011, 07:53 AM   #296
Walter Martindale
Location: Edmonton, AB
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 802
Canada
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Re: To bow or not to bow

Well heck. This is an old thread and I haven't re-read it. Life's too short.
The bow (rei) in Japan is roughly equivalent to the handshake in Europe and the Americas. Not religious.
I take my hat off when I go indoors, manners in a western context.
I bow when I enter a dojo - manners in a Japanese context.
Sure, I think it's a little silly to do a real low kowtow to the photo of a guy who developed Aikido and died more than 40 years ago, but it's not religious, it's manners - in the dojo context.
Yes, bowing to Mecca, bowing in church, and all that other stuff is an outward and visible show that you've bought into/been indoctrinated to that religious thing. People could have all that spirituality in their hearts/minds without doing all the bowing but they'd be chastised by the rest of the bible/koran bashers who do actually do the bowing, so they join the throng.

In the dojo it's manners.
IMO - and that's what counts for me...
W
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