O Sensei on BS

~~Sometimes I wonder what O Sensei would think if he could read us here on Aikiweb; discussing every angle of Aikido and him, arguing our precious points, using this global community as a sounding board.

~~Would he think it a wonderful outreaching of his Aikido or yell at us all to cut the BS and just train! Any thoughts, or just another one of my BS topics?

I love your topics. They always generate a lot of interest!

I'd love to know what sorts of posts O Sensei would make--which threads would pique his interest and which one's he'd pan.

He'd give us the straight skinny on ki, for sure.

well, at least "doka of the day" will be kept updated and new everyday.

If the boards were around during the 30's and 40's, I would imagine they would consist of thrilling posts like "Sensei, are you going to Iwama this week?", "Yes I am."

I can't really imagine there being much discussion on technique or "what should I do against attack X". One of the original dojo regulations that O Sensei posted was, essentially, "Don't show these techniques to everyone, be careful who you teach to". Not to mention, his students have stated he was not one to explain much, if anything, verbally. There are probably some high-ranking practicioners alive today who would find most of what is discussed here inappropriate. A common response to many questions that are posed here is, "Ask your teacher." , or "Depends on your school.".

The thing that is nice about message boards is not that they can teach aikido, its that they provide a sense of a community of martial artists and aikido practicioners. The feeling of community is important. Its something that was always there for O Sensei, or any other great martial arts instructor. Its something that is there for some of the serious and/or high ranking practicioners today...but its something that is missing (beyond the dojo itself) for us average joe aikidoka.

People who already had a strong community around them would probably just use these boards for convenient communication of everyday matters.

I'm sure there was plenty of BS in O'Sensei's time -- a lot of it from him. At a seminar a few years ago, Kobayahsi and Toyoda shihans got told O'Sensei stories after dinner. These were more of the "what a lovable, cranky old man" type stories. They really showed him in a very human light.

More to the point, Toyoda and Kobayashi shihans talked a little about their days as young men and aikido students. Guess what: they fought amonst themselves, had doubts about the efficacy of aikido techniques, felt the need to prove their training, and complained about stuff just like we do.

We look at these old guys and see their wonderful technique, and we think they must have been all seriousness and purposefulness (if that's a word). In reality, they're human too.

One of my favorite stories of O'Sensei is told by Terry Dobson and relayed by Ellis Amdur in Dueling with O'Sensei. Apparently, Dobson was attending O'Sensei, and had to get up with him for midnight bathroom visits. On one such visit, O'Sensei and Dobson passed a young woman in the hallway, who flashed her breasts at the old man as she calmly walked on. O'Sensei apparently skipped down the hall the rest of the way to the bathroom after that with a big smile on his face.

I like to think of that old guy with prostate trouble being so happy about a little flash. That image seems so opposit to the mystic aikido master. :-D

So, BS away. I think we often take this stuff too seriously.

Regards,

-Drew

Sometimes I wonder what O Sensei would think if he could read us here on Aikiweb; discussing every angle of Aikido and him, arguing our precious points, using this global community as a sounding board.

One of the reasons why I dislike and distrust appeals to rank or authority figures....

Would he think it a wonderful outreaching of his Aikido or yell at us all to cut the BS and just train! Any thoughts, or just another one of my BS topics?

What is "his Aikido"?

You tell me.

Regards,

Paul

~~Thanks, Drew, loved the story! In a human light is definately how I care to view anyone

Bruce Lee said that, "the secret to immortality is to live a life that is worth remembering."

I think O'Sensei would be please we are here, then he would tell us to get back to our training.

I remember reading a quote from him once, it was something like "All talk about aikido is idle talk." Has anyone heard this before and remember if it's accurate? That being said, I'll shut up now

Lynn Seiser (SeiserL) wrote: Bruce Lee said that, "the secret to immortality is to live a life that is worth remembering."

On the subject of immortality, I'm with Woody Allen.

Sean

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O Sensei would probably post something deep and mystical. Five or six people would [color="orange"]flame[/color][color="red"] him[/color] with others calling him a [color="green"]Troll[/color]!