Welcome to AikiWeb Aikido Information
AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information
AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.

Sections
home
aikido articles
columns

Discussions
forums
aikiblogs

Databases
dojo search
seminars
image gallery
supplies
links directory

Reviews
book reviews
video reviews
dvd reviews
equip. reviews

News
submit
archive

Miscellaneous
newsletter
rss feeds
polls
about

Follow us on



Home > AikiWeb Aikido Forums
Go Back   AikiWeb Aikido Forums > Foreign Language Aikido Discussions > Japanese

Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history, humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.

If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced features available, you will need to register first. Registration is absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 07-03-2007, 10:30 PM   #26
wxyzabc
Location: Japan
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 155
England
Offline
Re: Aikidoka learning Japanese

"However, if you want to learn spirit of Aikido,you had better learn Japanese"

mmm..sorry...but imho as the spirit of aikido has to be a personal thing then I would have to totally disagree with this statement....Japanese is not necessary at all...in fact some of the best "aikido" I have witnessed (from my perspective anyway) has been from people not practising aikido (techniques) at all...

Kindest regards

Lee
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-04-2007, 12:36 AM   #27
Peter Goldsbury
 
Peter Goldsbury's Avatar
Dojo: Hiroshima Kokusai Dojo
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,308
Japan
Offline
Re: Aikidoka learning Japanese

Quote:
Takao Hattori wrote: View Post
However, if you want to learn spirit of Aikido,you had better learn Japanese.
http://www.geocities.jp/yokosuka111/
Yes, I think one needs to be very careful about this.

Here in Hiroshima we hear very much about Hiroshima no Kokoro ヒロシマの心 (with Hiroshima always in katakana), which is always translated as the "Spirit of Hiroshima".
Do you need to speak Japanese to understand the Spirit of Hiroshima? I believe that the (Japanese) politicians & bureaucrats who run the Peace Park & A-Bomb Museum would definitely think not. If you did, much of Hiroshima's mission to make the world aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons would lose its point.
I prefer to ask the annoying questions, like: does Hiroshima no Kokoro go beyond the mere words and issue in actions, especially in respect of people like the ethnic Koreans, whose kin were brought to Japan and forced to aid Japan's war effort?

The Spirit of Aikido is the accepted English translation of 合気道の心. At least, this is the English title of Kisshomaru Ueshiba's book with the same title and in another thread it was suggested that the Engish translation had Doshu's blessing.

With Hiroshima no Kokoro there is an unexpressed assumption that (1) understanding it has an ethical dimension and (2) the phrase has a cultural context that many Japanese believe to be unique. The ethical dimension was clearly demonstrated recently with the sacking of Fumio Kyuma, because of comments he made that could be taken to justify the atomic bombing. The cultural context is an assumption that the 'A-Bomb Experience' is unique, in other words, if you are not Japanese you cannot understand what it was like to be atom-bombed. (Again, the fact that there many Koreans and even US prisoners of war were in Hiroshima at 8.15 on 6 August 1945 is conveniently forgotten here.)

I think that similar assumptions exist with Aikido no Kokoro and they should be seen for what they are.

P A Goldsbury
_______________________
Kokusai Dojo,
Hiroshima,
Japan
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-04-2007, 06:53 AM   #28
Peter Goldsbury
 
Peter Goldsbury's Avatar
Dojo: Hiroshima Kokusai Dojo
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,308
Japan
Offline
Re: Aikidoka learning Japanese

Quote:
Jo Adell wrote: View Post
japanese is a "building block" language, so once you know a few words it gets easier to figure out words that incorporate the same blocks.
Hello Jo,

Would you say that English is the same?

Best,

PAG

P A Goldsbury
_______________________
Kokusai Dojo,
Hiroshima,
Japan
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2007, 05:32 PM   #29
aikido_diver
Location: Brisbane
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 38
Australia
Offline
Re: Aikidoka learning Japanese

With regards to this quote:
"japanese is a "building block" language, so once you know a few words it gets easier to figure out words that incorporate the same blocks"

I totally disagree with. Anyone who has studied Japanese to a high level (not just 10 basic lessons), will agree that once you learn a few words, you build upon that. Japanese to me has not just vocab, but grammatical structures, naunces, kanji, counters, etc. Japanese isn't as easy as people think.

Thanks.
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-09-2007, 11:25 PM   #30
Carl Thompson
 
Carl Thompson's Avatar
Location: Kasama
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 507
Japan
Offline
Re: Aikidoka learning Japanese

Quote:
Jo Adell wrote: View Post
japanese is a "building block" language, so once you know a few words it gets easier to figure out words that incorporate the same blocks.
I see what you mean by building blocks. It's an agglutinative language-- I've also heard it described as a mathematical language in that there is a lot of order to it and by learning the basics, you can build up to the more advanced stuff. But the thing is, it just keeps on building up! I also agree that it usually continues to be a hard language if your own native language is radically different. The order helps, so you get better at certain things, but there are always more things…

If you find a language interesting though, you'll enjoy learning it.

With regards to aikido, it's the language of the founder and his disciples, the language of the country from which aikido originated and the language of the art's terminology. I don't think it's essential to learn Japanese to learn aikido, but anything which reduces barriers between you and the thing you're trying to learn is going to help right?

By the way: we've just entered into the application period for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I doubt I'll have time for study though…

Last edited by Carl Thompson : 07-09-2007 at 11:28 PM. Reason: typo
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2007, 02:43 AM   #31
Nikopol
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 96
Offline
Re: Aikidoka learning Japanese

As a linguist fluent in Korean and Japanese, I give this advice:

It is not necessary to know Japanese.
Just know where your center is.

If you do understand Japanese you will be able to hear many ideas directly from excellent sources. Will that help you? Thats up to how creatively you process the information.

Do learn the names of the techniques in Japanese and what they mean. Make this technical vocabulary your entry point, rather than trying to gobble up the entire language.

If you do decide to study Japanese, remember that one would not expect to learn to swim in a bathtub. Short of coming to Japan, your best bet would be a University course.

As for the building block analogy - it applies to both Japanese and English. In anything you learn a piece and another piece, and then start to fill in the gaps. Kind of like a bittorrent download. But this probably applies to Japanese more than English because English is full of nonstandard pronunciations and conjugations. So think of English as a building block language where you need to apply a lot of sandpaper. Trust that in Japanese it all just fits.

But to repeat, I don't think Japanese is as important in practicing Aikido as is proper breathing, centering and lots of practice with a bokken.
  Reply With Quote

Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Kinesthetic Learning akiy General 20 10-20-2005 10:26 AM
Injury as a Learning Tool DaveO Humor 6 04-24-2003 07:21 AM
The word "Aikidoka", does it annoy you? virginia_kyu General 43 06-07-2002 04:35 AM
The use of Japanese in the dojo ronin_10562 General 80 10-30-2001 05:07 PM
Training and learning Japanese in Japan Mabuse General 3 02-06-2001 09:56 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:59 AM.



vBulletin Copyright © 2000-2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Limited
----------
Copyright 1997-2024 AikiWeb and its Authors, All Rights Reserved.
----------
For questions and comments about this website:
Send E-mail
plainlaid-picaresque outchasing-protistan explicantia-altarage seaford-stellionate