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Old 05-09-2006, 04:03 AM   #26
PeterR
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Yann

I think you mean the grandfather and I think it would be putting it mildly to say that kaiso had misgivings about the inclusion of a competitive element into the training.

Still Tomiki was a member of the Aikikai and only set up a separate organization several years after Ueshiba M. died when things started to become difficult.

Peter Rehse Shodokan Aikido
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Old 05-09-2006, 07:54 AM   #27
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

While I tend to see 1 Aikido from Osensei being taught with different emphasis by different organizations, I find it a waste of time and energy to attempt to talk someone out of their politics. Its just another form of competition. Let people believe what they want from their own training, education, and experience. Its not right/wrong, good/bad, its just different and thats okay. Not everyone has to agree with me.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 05-09-2006, 10:28 AM   #28
David Yap
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote:
While I tend to see 1 Aikido from Osensei being taught with different emphasis by different organizations, I find it a waste of time and energy to attempt to talk someone out of their politics. Its just another form of competition. Let people believe what they want from their own training, education, and experience. Its not right/wrong, good/bad, its just different and thats okay. Not everyone has to agree with me.
I do.

For me, I don't bother with politics. My prime objective at a selected dojo is to be trained and to be educated and this depends very much on the integrity and competence of the instructor(s) to deliver these emphasis that I am buying into. E.g. if an instructor emphasize on SD then he should teach techniques inlaid with the principles of SD; anything short of these principles is misleading as far as I am concerned.
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Old 05-09-2006, 12:25 PM   #29
phil farmer
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

I have read this thread and am reminded that this argument/discussion has been going on for years. Yoseikan is one of the oldest branches of the aiki tree. Minoru Mochizuki did indeed leave O Sensei to create his own style. That style, Yoseikan, has always been considered a part of aiki. And, there has been randori for years, to test the skills of each practitioner. Mochizuki Sensei was a fierce competitor in his youth and early adulthood, as demonstrated by the story about him in Prannin's book about his two judo competitions in one day. Mochizuki Sensei was disturbed by the practice of martial arts for sheer sport and castigated judo for becoming, in his words godo, the way of strength and force not judo.

A student of O Sensei from the 50's was Hiroo Mochizuki, son of Minoru. He later was sent to France, in 1963 to teach, among other things aiki. Over the years, he developed Yoseikan Budo and it does have competition. Hiroo Sensei's belief is that his father's art should probably never have been called aiki but instead a soft jiujitsu. As aiki styles go Yoseikan is a very hard form, closer to aikijutsu or daito ryu than what we see practiced in aikikai and other dojo today. But in spite of all of this, Yoseikan does not forget its roots and always pays honor to the impact O Sensei had and still has on Yoseikan.

I was honored to attend a clinic with Kato Sensei in Houston Texas and he was very kind with regard to the Mochizuki family and Yoseikan Budo. Perhaps we should seek out our commonalities and interact based on those.

Phil Farmer
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Old 05-09-2006, 12:28 PM   #30
Chris Li
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Quote:
Yann Golanski wrote:
Which bit?

The first one was from Tomiki himself who said that Ueshiba never asked him to leave the Aikikai nor asked him to stop teaching randori. Shodokan home page reference

The second one comes from Ueshiba's attitude in his youth. He did not mind other "testing" his Aikido and that is a competitive attitude.

So, yeah I do know for sure.
As Peter said, you mean Morihei the grandfather, not Kisshomaru the father. Kisshomaru, of course, is on record publicly as to his opposition to the inclusion of competition in Aikido. Further, in "Take Musu Aiki" Morihei speaks a number of times of competition (both in the sense of being competitive and in the sense of holding competitive matches) as being "strictly forbidden" in Aikido (his words).

True, Morihei didn't mind "testing" his skills in his youth, but the leap from there to an endorsement of competitive matches (which is what Moriteru was talking about in "Best Aikido") is rather large.

Best,

Chris

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Old 05-10-2006, 11:00 PM   #31
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Transition from competition to non-competition

Hi all,

Quote:
Kisshomaru, of course, is on record publicly as to his opposition to the inclusion of competition in Aikido. Further, in "Take Musu Aiki" Morihei speaks a number of times of competition (both in the sense of being competitive and in the sense of holding competitive matches) as being "strictly forbidden" in Aikido (his words).
Chris, this is not a direct reply to your post, just borrowing your quote.

If we care to research into the backgrounds of the great martial artists of the last century we would note some of these great and enlightened masters who advocate non-violence and non-competition were those who could walk the talk. These guys at their prime were competitive fighters and from these experience they concluded their versions of "true budo". The fact that we know they were at their prime is from the records that they were accepting challenges from others and M Ueshiba was amongst these greats.

All if not, most of the first generation shihan and current shihan have had made that transition - coming from competitive martial art/martial sport such as kendo, judo or karate. For some, karate is not even consider a martial art (budo) but a civil fighting art. The point I am trying to make is that our present aikido techniques are developed from such challenges - it is a fighting art to begin with. This draws some of us to aikido (the art). Some of us may be drawn by its philosophical appeal (the do) and even that (if I may speak for myself) most in these group of ppl have prior competition experience in other MA before aikido.

It is often said that we "fight" (depending ourselves) we train. Yet I see the words "Self-defense" in flyers and advertisement put up by aikido dojo (Aikikai included). In these dojo that purport to teach/emphasize self-defense, some instructors have no competitive experience let alone in a real fight. They proceed to teach beginners flowing aikido - "this is what you do when someone grabs you here or here..."

Without the experience of competition, how can we stop aikido from being watered down as a martial art as it is passed down from generation to generation? Perhaps, years to come, our future generations may go to temples to learn aikido instead of dojo to train aikido.

Just my thoughts.

Best training

David Y
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Old 05-10-2006, 11:27 PM   #32
Chris Li
 
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Re: Transition from competition to non-competition

Quote:
David Yap wrote:
Without the experience of competition, how can we stop aikido from being watered down as a martial art as it is passed down from generation to generation? Perhaps, years to come, our future generations may go to temples to learn aikido instead of dojo to train aikido.
Actually, the word "dojo" comes from a word for a temple originally - it was later adopted by martial artists.

Ironically, many of the people who are against competition use exactly the same argument - that competition leads to watering down of the martial arts as they are passed from generation to generation. Gichin Funakoshi argued from that perspective, and so do a number of prominent Judo instructors who ended up disillusioned with what competition did to the art,

Kisshomaru discusses this point quite fairly, I think, when expressing his opinions on the subject in "Aikido Ichiro". In the end, I don't think that either approach can really offer a guarantee - you make your choice, do the best that you can, and hope that things turn out OK.

Best,

Chris

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Old 05-11-2006, 01:11 AM   #33
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Re: Transition from competition to non-competition

Hi Chris,
Quote:
Christopher Li wrote:
Actually, the word "dojo" comes from a word for a temple originally - it was later adopted by martial artists.
Probably Taoist.

Quote:
Ironically, many of the people who are against competition use exactly the same argument - that competition leads to watering down of the martial arts as they are passed from generation to generation. Gichin Funakoshi argued from that perspective, and so do a number of prominent Judo instructors who ended up disillusioned with what competition did to the art,
Competitions do not kill the art, the rules of competitions do. Competitions are transitional - things that we do in our youth. Funakoshi also said that karate-do is a lifelong study. Personally I have made the transition from competition (kumite & kata) back to traditional. It was this pursue that took me to aikido. At one point, I was disillusioned with aikido and I concentrated just on traditional karate. Studying the oyo of the traditional kata I saw the similarities with aikido movements and I realized the weakness was not in the art but with the people purporting to teach the art. Sadly, there are more serious injuries in aikido than I have seen in karate and most of such injuries were dished out by incompetent instructors - an unilateral act of violence perhaps due to lack of competition.

I read that J Kano sensei also realized the pros and cons of competitions. Aside from randori, he also drew up sets of kata for the purpose of solo practice and to preserve the martial techniques. Are these kata still practised in Kodokan and in all judo institutions?

Quote:
snip..In the end, I don't think that either approach can really offer a guarantee - you make your choice, do the best that you can, and hope that things turn out OK.
This I agree. Morihei Ueshiba didn't emphasize on the concept of Shu-Ha-Ri to transmit his art. For him, aikido is ever evolving. But for us the students, the path has to start from one point. The differences (or some may see it as a competition itself) between the various aikido schools and even between the aikikai shihan are because they started us on the path at different points. Somewhere on this path is a stretch that is marked "Competition"; it is either one passed through this stretch or take a detour. The detour may cost us the extra time and effort and like you said, there is no guarantee that we will arrive.

Best regards

David Y
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Old 05-11-2006, 01:12 AM   #34
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Competition is the only way to safely test your skills. Competition leads to a water down of techniques to make them safe so that both practitioners can go home happy. This leads to less effective techniques and "rule playing" instead of real training.

Those I think are the two views on competition. We are not going to decide which is best -- both points are in fact valid and too general to be of any use. What saddens me is that people who practice a martial art sometime called "the way of harmony" show such disregard for the opinion of others. That comment applies on either side of the divide.

Personally, I use competition as a way to train in and improve my Aikido. If I want a nice gold medal, I can get one for 20 pences and it's made of chocolate.... Hum... chocolate.

On a final note, Aikido (whatever the style) gives you an edge in self defense/fighting. So does a knife, a gun or Buba the giant psychopathic red neck who would die for you.

The people who understand, understand prefectly.
yann@york-aikido.org York Shodokan Aikido
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Old 05-11-2006, 01:34 AM   #35
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Re: Transition from competition to non-competition

Quote:
David Yap wrote:
Hi Chris,

Probably Taoist.
Buddhist, actually, Taoism never made it big in Japan.

Best,

Chris

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Old 05-11-2006, 01:48 AM   #36
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Re: Transition from competition to non-competition

Quote:
David Yap wrote:
Somewhere on this path is a stretch that is marked "Competition"; it is either one passed through this stretch or take a detour. The detour may cost us the extra time and effort and like you said, there is no guarantee that we will arrive.
Oops! I forgot to add that for some of us who choose to pass the "Competition" stretch of the path - some took too long to pass and some didn't move on at all.
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Old 05-11-2006, 04:13 AM   #37
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Try other MA 1st?!!

Different styles, IMHO, come from the different MA style background of O'sensei's diciples. Don't you think so?

Since a lot of those disciples picked up Aikido after they were masters in something else, I would also think and assume that their approach to teaching, to training, to testing, to experimenting and to application would be different say from those who started Aikido without any prior other MA.

Should we follow some sort of similar paths (eg, juijitsu->aikijutsu->aikido, or juijitsu->judo->aikido)? And I don't mean we have to get experts and be masters in those MA before we go to Aikido, but rather feel and try their main principles and then head straight to Aikido.
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Old 05-11-2006, 04:27 AM   #38
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Re: Try other MA 1st?!!

Quote:
Maumote Chami wrote:
Different styles, IMHO, come from the different MA style background of O'sensei's diciples. Don't you think so?
To a certain extent... but that is making things too easy.Btw, what do you mean by "style" here. Style from a techincal point of view, in which case there are many different styles within the Aikikai, or style meaning organisation?
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Old 05-12-2006, 08:33 PM   #39
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Quote:
Maumote Chami wrote:
How do I politically correctly put it to him that althought they're diff. schools of style but at the end it's a 1 Aikido with the same principles w/ diff. flavors??
One interesting thing I've noticed when training with different teachers within the same style and training in different styles is that if you can look at what is the *same* as opposed to what is different then that leads to a greater understanding of what "Aikido" is (at least for me).

My advice would be to suggest that he look at the Aikido's being shown in different styles and focus on the similarties.

Hard to do because some things are really different...but the essence and the priniciples are the same.

Weirdest thing was working with an Aikikai person and discussing our different perceptions on techniques. Many times we used the same principle to describe why we were doing something, but the application of that principle was completely different.

--Michael

Hiriki no yosei 3 - The kihon that makes your head ache instead of your legs
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Old 01-05-2010, 07:26 PM   #40
Eugene Leslie
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Very informative thread!
I'm an Aikido beginner. Forgive any terminology faux-pas I may make in this post, and please correct my terminology so I may improve.

I was referred to this thread by Amir Krause whom I thank for such.
I had asked about the different "styles". I'm now better informed of the fact that there are really no "styles" but evolutions and offshoots.

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote: View Post
While I tend to see 1 Aikido from Osensei being taught with different emphasis by different organizations, I find it a waste of time and energy to attempt to talk someone out of their politics. Its just another form of competition. Let people believe what they want from their own training, education, and experience. Its not right/wrong, good/bad, its just different and thats okay. Not everyone has to agree with me.
As harmonious Aikidoka, is this not how one should approach the issue? I agree.

Jorge Garcia spoke of jurisdiction and authority; that's so true in today's internet information overload age and the motives of less-than-stellar-characters and dojos. It helps me make sense of this world of "fast-food" type TKD franchises and pay for rank testing MAs regardess of real skill.

Quote:
Mark Freeman wrote: View Post
the quality of your teacher and his/her teaching is far more important than the name of the organisation or the 'validity' that is given or not by a 'governing body'.
I have no negative thoughts regarding any other aikido 'group' as long as they uphold the spirit of O'Sensei's teaching.
Again. Thank-you for the insight. I Agree.
The spirit of Osensei's teachings are very important to me and what drew me to Aikido.
On the other hand, the fact that an instructor is affiliated with an accredited organization with a traceable pedigree gives a new, green practitioner like myself confidence in an art as deep (I don't pretend to know how deep) as Aikido which at first appears "soft" and unpracticle. But the examples of men such as on this site are inspiring; inner development.
I have taken other MAs in my quest and lack of spiritual content and rivalries between dojo's really turned me off.
Which brings about another newfound insight, thanks to these posts, into the competitiveness within Aikido circles which this thread respectfully digressed into.
It's a two edged sword to be sure because of the origins of Aikido in Budo and the martial spirit; It was born in the fire of competition and war; but perhaps Osensei (and the samurai who died over the centuries to perfect it all) did the competing for us and the world truly is evolving toward peace and the harnessing of aggression and ourselves. If Osensei said no competition in Aikido then I'll go with that and it makes perfect sense when one considers his vision. My experience with MAs competitions has been that it was a game of tag and it was the rules that one was actually competing against.

Quote:
Jorge Garcia wrote: View Post
I think almost everyone I have met at one time or another has had an attitude like that. It is human nature to believe we are attached to the best and to look a little down on our neighbor thus lifting ourselves up. It has to do with a desire to build our self identity.
It's a disease of the fallen soul and a part of even the best of us. The most we can do is to catch ourselves when we do it and to try and be as charitable as possible. A Sensei once told me that he was strictly taught by his Shihan never to criticize other instructors but when his Shihan was drunk, all he did was to criticize other instructors. Thankfully, when he was sober, he never did but deep in there, the criticism lived. The alcohol weakened his resolve not to criticize so it was revealed at those times. In a way, it is admirable that he would hold it back but revealing to know that it was still there.
That's great stuff, thanks. Makes me ponder "sincerity" which I think Aiki practioners have moreso than other MAs.
It also makes me meditate on the "dropping of ego" and "cleaning house spiritually" as eastern cultures are wont to do as opposed to the popular western view of ego being the main ingredient to success.
There are advantages to "I'm the best because I belong to......." and that's when it comes to team competition and war...it's a case of belonging to the best squad of the best platoon of the best company, etc. Gung-ho confidence. Food for thought for myself. When is pride o.k.? Hmmmm.

"It is the philosophy that gives meaning to the method of training."

Jorge Garcia's signature....great stuff but I've been told otherwise by others on this site. Namely that I should concentrate on the simple techniques and the concepts will come later..I guess there's a case for both but I personally sifted through other MAs and eventually found Aikido because of the philosophy behind it.

Ron Tisdale
-----------------------
"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)

Just Great! Now I'm compelled to learn about St. Bonaventure because this quote is just awesome.

Self-discipline is the chief element of self-esteem; and self-esteem the chief element of courage. Thucydides
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Old 01-12-2010, 07:53 PM   #41
Andrew Macdonald
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

this is a very interesting arument and one i have come across about what is real and what is not

strangley i don;t see many other styles having this sort of debate, karate, taiji, etc seem to be happy and celebrate the differences rather than tryingt o say that theirs is real and no one else's

or maybe it is just the people i know
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Old 01-13-2010, 10:25 AM   #42
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Quote:
I got into an arguement with someone who implied that Aikikai IS the authority on Aikido and that "all other federations are not recognized by Aikikai Honbu dojo"
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Yoshinkan aikido recognized by, or at least on good terms with, Aikikai Hombu?
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Old 01-14-2010, 01:09 AM   #43
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

long time reader but seldom a contributor.... but I've just noticed that my original post got resurrected after 4 years!

Reading my OP I noticed how much my Aikido changed in term of attitude and in term of practice (for better or worth ??).

Since my OP, I'm now:
1. practicing under an affiliated Aikikai dojo/instructor.
2. I love watching the Yoshinkan members (at the same dojo) & I try so to grasp those nice emphasis of angles, position, kamae, kihon dosa, etc.
3. I'm getting more & more addicted to Iwama (Saito's) bokken and jo suburis, kihon waza vs. ki no nagare, etc.
4. I keep exploring and trying to understand the Aiki discussion of IS/IT and it's roots (CMA, Daito, etc.)
5. ... and I was just intrigued and now trying to decipher Tomiki's and Yoseikan Budo's ashi sabaki kata and how they would apply to different waza's sabaki.

+ +
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Old 03-22-2010, 10:10 AM   #44
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

'The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood as a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek competition are making a grave mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst sin a human being can commit.'

- Morihei Ueshiba

There's also a quote which i can't quite recall about competition being the cause of wars etc.
Having read it, i was bewildered when i went to a Shodokan website and it said that O'Sensei never disagreed with competition...

I think if i wanted to test my aikido, i'd go out looking for a fight - that would surely be a true test: no rules, no referee - a true 'life or death' situation, where the adrenalin has a chance to get going, and you don't know what the other person can do to you...?
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Old 03-22-2010, 10:55 AM   #45
Chris Li
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Quote:
George Howard wrote: View Post
There's also a quote which i can't quite recall about competition being the cause of wars etc.
Having read it, i was bewildered when i went to a Shodokan website and it said that O'Sensei never disagreed with competition...
There were some claims for a while that it was only Kisshomaru (the son) who actually disagreed with competition.

This was mainly based upon some speculations on the difference between "kyoso" (as in being competitive) and "shiai" (as in a competitive match), the argument being that the founder was opposed to "kyoso" but not necessarily "shiai".

Of course, this bit of historical revision falls apart if you check "Take Musu Aiki", where the founder specifically refers to "shiai" as being "strictly forbidden" in Aikido.

Best,

Chris

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Old 03-22-2010, 02:42 PM   #46
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Quote:
Christopher Li wrote: View Post
There were some claims for a while that it was only Kisshomaru (the son) who actually disagreed with competition.

This was mainly based upon some speculations on the difference between "kyoso" (as in being competitive) and "shiai" (as in a competitive match), the argument being that the founder was opposed to "kyoso" but not necessarily "shiai".

Of course, this bit of historical revision falls apart if you check "Take Musu Aiki", where the founder specifically refers to "shiai" as being "strictly forbidden" in Aikido.
For the information of all I have attached the link to an earlier discussion of the statement in question. Some very valuable evidence was given by Peter Goldsbury on this matter. See the entire thread here - http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/archiv...php/t-998.html

Goldsbury Sensei's statement is below:

Quote:
1. The word which O Sensei uses for 'competition' is KYOU-SOU. The first character is composed of the Radials 117 (standing) and the character (344 in Nelson's dictionary) for 'ani' (brother). The second character is also read as 'araso' and the meaning of the compound is basically 'rivalry'.

The word SHI-ai has the sense of two teams meeting for a game or match and is not used by O Sensei.

2. Where does O Sensei discuss competition in Aikido? I have seen no evidence for any general declaration made by O Sensei against competition. There is a reference to sports understood by O Sensei in a western sense on Page 50 of Hideo Takahashi's book, "Takemusu Aiki", which records lectures given by the Founder. A translation of O Sensei's ideas is given on Page 21 of Issue 117 of Aikido Journal. There O Sensei does talk about competition as applied to aikido, always using the Chinese character I explained above. His views are clearly old-fashioned and he makes statements about Japan and western sports which are no longer true.

3. The reference to Tomiki Sensei and competition appears on pp.184-188 of "Aikido Ichiro", by Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Doshu explains that Tomiki Sensei became a professor at Waseda University in 1954 but often came to visit the Founder in Iwama and Tokyo. Tomiki Sensei was a POW in Siberia and developed a system of aiki-taiso, probably to stay alive, and explained his system to O Sensei. In Kisshomaru Doshu's words,

"On seeing this (sc. Tomiki Sensei's system), my father said,

"If you call this sort of thing "Aiki", it will cause problems."

Kisshomaru Doshu then goes on to discuss what happened afterwards. I muself have had lengthy conversations with Kisshomaru Doshu and with Okumura Shigenobu Sensei (9th dan), who first learned aikido at the hands of Tomiki Sensei and was later deputed to negotiate over whether Tomiki Sensei should use 'aikido' for his art. Okumura Sensei was clearly torn between loyalty to his sensei and loyalty to the Founder.

Best regrds to all,

Peter Goldsbury
It has been indicated that the person who actually disagreed with competition was Kisshomaru Ueshiba. It is interesting that the only source quoted by Goldsbury Sensei above that indicates a "conflict" or direct opposition between Tomiki and Morihei Ueshiba regarding competition was Kisshomaru's account of their meeting.

Are there any other first hand accounts to support Kisshomaru's statement?

Also, IIRC the so-called aiki-taiso was a series of fundamental movements and exercises developed by Tomiki during his time as a P.O.W. While this is done by Shodokan practitioners today at the beginning of class, the "aiki-taiso" (which we actually refer to as "taiso") does not represent the main body of Tomiki's Aikido curriculum.

Just some thoughts.

Best
LC

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Old 03-22-2010, 02:51 PM   #47
Chris Li
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

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Larry Camejo wrote: View Post
For the information of all I have attached the link to an earlier discussion of the statement in question. Some very valuable evidence was given by Peter Goldsbury on this matter. See the entire thread here - http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/archiv...php/t-998.html
The kanji for "shiai" are used specifically by the founder in "Take Musu Aiki" - I posted the page numbers at some point, but I don't have them on hand right now.

It seems that Morihei Ueshiba had one view of competition and Kenji Tomiki had another - why not leave it at that?

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Chris

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Old 03-22-2010, 05:09 PM   #48
L. Camejo
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

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Christopher Li wrote: View Post
The kanji for "shiai" are used specifically by the founder in "Take Musu Aiki"
Are they? Or are they the kanji chosen by the author or transcriber?

Quote:
Christopher Li wrote: View Post
It seems that Morihei Ueshiba had one view of competition and Kenji Tomiki had another - why not leave it at that?
I totally agree with this. But there is a difference between two men agreeing to disagree on a 1 to 1 personal basis and the other option of that disagreement becoming official policy that determines what is or is not Aikido.

Best
LC

Last edited by L. Camejo : 03-22-2010 at 05:13 PM.

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Old 03-22-2010, 06:04 PM   #49
Chris Li
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

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Larry Camejo wrote: View Post
Are they? Or are they the kanji chosen by the author or transcriber?

I totally agree with this. But there is a difference between two men agreeing to disagree on a 1 to 1 personal basis and the other option of that disagreement becoming official policy that determines what is or is not Aikido.

Best
LC
The kanji were transcribed by Hideo Takahashi - but given the context as I recall it I would think that the chances that "shiai" was somehow inserted instead of "kyoso" are fairly small.

It's only a problem of "official policy" if you accept that the Ueshiba family has the power to define Shodokan Aikido. Isn't one of the major reasons for cutting a branch that you can write your own definition? That's generally what happens in Japanese arts anyway - "Billy-ryu" branches into "Billy-bob-ryu" with a new and wonderful set of concepts.

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Chris

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Old 03-22-2010, 06:48 PM   #50
Boris Spassky
 
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Re: Diff. styles, 1 Aikido

Great thread!

I am one of those guys who comes from an "independent" dojo but that does not bother me one bit.

My Sensei trained with Hirata Sensei (uchi deshi to Tohei Sensei) and Tohei Sensei himself, beginning in the 1960's but is unaffiliated.

He is getting older (79) and I am just happy to have had the time with him, he is a wonderful teacher, friend, and someone whom I truly respect.

I can appreciate and respect the different styles here but am just as happy training in our small independent school with a Sensei that noone has ever heard of...LOL

Zenshin

Still looking for authentic Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu!
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