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Matthew Story wrote:
Everything I see in a brief investigation of Daito is that aiki in the Daito context is a physical and martial principle. I think it's pretty clear that Ueshiba wanted to stretch aiki beyond those boundaries.
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Certainly, but that doesn't mean that his streched definition was incompatible with the technical definitions of Daito-ryu. For Ueshiba they were not two distinct things, but one seamless whole. In fact, I would argue that it is impossible to sever one from the other without the result becoming something different from Ueshiba's Aiki, and that he said as much himself. But that's a longer discussion that I'll put together at some point, perhaps.
Quote:
Matthew Story wrote:
To hear Ueshiba tell it, the word aikido is just an arbitrary name that someone from the Ministry of Education came up with for Ueshiba's martial art. Ueshiba did not create the word as a guide for us to follow; he accepted the word because his art needed a name. We need to define the word according to our practice of the art, not try to make our practice of the art fit the word. I think it's putting the cart before the horse to look into the word aikido and break it down into its etymological parts, and then try to make our art fit those parts, as you seem to be suggesting.
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The Ministry of Education story is, unfortunately, not true, even though it was one that came straight out of Ueshiba's own mouth. In any case, a quick read through "Take Musu Aiki" leaves little doubt as to his opinion on the importance of the word "Aiki".
Quote:
Matthew Story wrote:
What is this "Aiki" and how do I "investigate" it? Is there more to this investigation than aikido training?
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There could be, or not, YMMV.
I suspect that most people already know my opinions on how to investigate it...
Best,
Chris