I found this whilst trawling the net..... ============================ The following is by Toshishiro Obata, an "uchi-deshi" of Gozo Shioda" "As said at the beginning of this book, we must study the old to understand the new, and this is especially true of aikido. We must study the methods of Sokaku Takeda, why and how they were changed by his students especially Morihei Ueshiba, and what effect the changes had. If we do not do this, if we blindly follow where others lead without research, we will never know if what we practice is effective or not. Aikido has changed greatly in the past eighty years, we must take care that we do not allow it to change too much so that it becomes simply a shadow of its former self. He goes on to say: "I sometimes visit aikido demonstrations as a spectator and I am ashamed at the antics of some instructors. Do they really expect people to believe that three able bodied swordsman can be rooted to the spot by the power of ‘ki’, or that an opponent can be thrown twenty feet across the floor by a poorly executed technique? Do they believe it themselves? This profanity angers me greatly and is an insult to the memory of Sokaku Takeda and Morihei Ueshiba. Of course ‘ki’ is important, but so is timing, skill and strength. There are many factors in the aikido equation and ‘ki’ is not the most important one. We must go back to the time just before the last war when both Sokaku Takeda and Morihei Ueshiba were active, and study the techniques that they were both teaching. Before he grew old, Ueshiba was known as an extremely vigorous teacher, and serious injuries at the ‘jigoku’ dojo were quite common. We should resist with all our energy, the understandable desire to copy the techniques of a teacher in his advanced years who had lost his vigour, no matter how well loved and respected he may be. To slavishly copy the technique of one’s aged teacher is not to show him respect, but to mock him. Research rather the techniques of his golden years if you wish to build a living monument to him." "When I was living in Tokyo I prevented the murder of a neighbour who was being strangled by an intruder, and as a result received a commendation from the Chief of the Metropolitan Police. More recently I was attacked in Central Los Angeles close to the civic centre, by a knife wielding assailant, and disarmed him and held him for one hour until the police arrived. This is the sort of aikido I would like to see practiced, not the type whose effectiveness can justifiably be questioned even by members of the public, with little or no knowledge of the martial arts." ==============================
hey!!!!...isn't that the bloke that grunts in all the movies he's in...such as Black Rain, Rage & Honor, Rising Sun, Demolition Man, The Shadow, Showdown in Little Tokyo and The Hunted....not to mention Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles......oh wait perhaps i shouldn't have mentioned it.!!!! still...a man worthy of respect with his own views on his style. plus...he looks dead 'ard!!!!!
yes raybri san, i see, its all so clear now......:Alien: type in one of the many worldwide accepted languages.
