Aikido and Samurai: a few questions

Hey, Aikido is a true ideal!

Charles Hill wrote: Whoops. You`re right. However, Mr. Hooker seems to have taken the idea of "true" to mean that M. Ueshiba meant the idea to be a comparision between Aikido and other forms of budo. Other posts have used the word "ideal" and have also indicated the idea that Mr. Hooker expressed. I wanted to ask about that. Charles Hill

Ah, OK - most of the times when Ueshiba uses that kind of phrasing he seems to be referring to "true budo" as a kind of platonic ideal that Aikido adheres to - he says nothing that I can recall as to whether or not other martial arts do or do not adhere to that ideal (he did, however, say that Sokaku Takeda was the person who "opened his eyes" to "true budo"). After all, if you say that someone is a "true friend" does that statement imply that other people are not "true friends"?

I do believe that he thought that his method of Aikido as misogi through budo was something new and different, but that is not necessarily relevent to the concept of "true budo".

Best,

Chris

From the reading I have done Aikido and Samurai are directly related. I can't remember the title of the book but any biography of Ueshiba, Morihei should cover the following material.

When he was young, Morihei's father would tell him stories about his grandfather a prominant Samurai.

I realize the samurai class was abolished during the Meji restoration but that does not change one's linage. If his grandfather was then his father was and he and his children would be as well.

Lyle Laizure wrote: I realize the samurai class was abolished during the Meji restoration but that does not change one's linage. If his grandfather was then his father was and he and his children would be as well.

Well, no, it may mean that his grandfather was a samurai, but by the time he came around there was no such thing anymore. If my grandfather was a slave does that mean that I am too?

In any case, having samurai somewhere in your ancestry is nothing special in Japan, as you may suspect, a great many Japanese have samurai somewhere in their direct ancestry. The most recent head of the Tokugawa family is just another businessman these days.

Best,

Chris

Samurai, I feel, can be a few things. Not only could Samurai be a warrior class that followed the way of Bushido, but it could also be a state of mind and being.
There where indeed Samurai whi did abuse their power, but their where also Samurai who did the right thing. Protected the weak, helped out where they could, and I'm sure their where Samurai who hated killing, and only killed their enimies if their was no other alternitive.
In Aikido, we follow the ideals of peace and harmony among our fellow humans. Indeed, this does, in some ways, sound like the direct opposate of the Samurai, but they do have something in common: Protect others while protecting yourself.
The Samurai trained not only in the sword, but also the spear, staff, bow and arrow, tanto, hand to hand/pins/holds/throws, much the same way as the Aikidoka.
The teachings of Bushido, also tell you to be of a calm mind, body and spirit, much as Aikido does.
But, one major difference between Aikidoka and Samurai, is that, Aikidoka do not carry around the Disho (two swords, Katana (Di) and Wakazashi (Sho)) and the Samurai did.
Long argument short, it is all a matter of your mind set. When I am in the Dojo, and we do Bokken work, I feel as though I am following the footsteps of O-Sensei and the Yugau Shinkage Ryu master who taught him. It depends on how you feel, i guess.

I feel that I am not a Samurai, but I feel that i have the spirit of one.