Greeting from Indonesia...

[Adhiprana P.]

Hi all kenshi!!!:wave:
Let me introduce my self to all my brothers and sisters all over the world. I started join Shorinji Kempo at 1987 and I got my 1st Dan at 1997 (such a long time to reach the rank!). I knew this forum from www.shorinji-kempo.org (what a complete site!) I'd like to get connected with all kenshi from all over the world...
Gassho!

[Steve Williams]

Greetings Adhiprana, and welcome to e-budo.


You will find quite a few Shorinji kenshi from throughout the world "drop in" here from time to time.......

[hwijaya]

Hi Adhiprana:

Welcome to e-budo! I learned Shorinji Kempo in Jakarta, Indonesia too.

Regards,
Johannes H. Wijaya

[giacomo]

HI,
you are welcome!!!!!!!

[Anders Pettersson]

Originally posted by Adhiprana P.
I knew this forum from www.shorinji-kempo.org (what a complete site!)

Hi Adhiprana and welcome. :wave:

Thanks for the comments on the web site I am running. :smilejapa

There is more things coming to our site so check it out regularly.

/Anders

[Adhiprana P.]

Thanks for all the replies :smilejapa It's good to know that we all can share informations in this forum. Hope the number of members will increase... and sorry for my bad english :)
Gassho

[shugyosha]

hi:wave:

how is shorinji in indonesia?

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by shugyosha

how is shorinji in indonesia?
Same as everywhere else, Jimi: Brilliant and great fun. :laugh:

[luar]

Actually a long time ago, I remember there was a discussion here the conflict some kenshi have with their own personal religious belief and the esoteric principles of Shorinji Kempo.

So the question I would like to ask Adhipran is how is this resolved in Indonesia, one of the largest Muslim nations in the world. I am very familiar with Islam to know that it is actually more tolerant than Christianity or Judaism but unfortunately this is not true with today's Islamic fundamentalist. Certianly the iconic images of the manji and kaiso must present a problem?

Thanks for educating us and welcome to the foray - :D

[Adhiprana P.]

Gassho,
In Indonesia, SK is very popular. SK is well-knowned as a martial art that offers not only ways to fight and protect, but a also a warm brotherhood and discipline. This "brotherhood", especially, makes SK expand all over Indonesia. There is no conflict with Islam or other religious, because SK doesn't push us to become a Buddhist monk. The principles of SK show us that to create peace is much much better than to create war, and I guess every religious agree with this.
We consider "Manji" as a symbol of martial art, not as a symbol of certain religious. This also goes to the image of "Kaisho", the founder of SK. About the Islamic fundamentalist, I think it is just a difference in the way of thinking.
I hope this can be a brief explaining about the existing of SK in Indonesia.
How about SK in USA or UK? I have a friend who studied in UK and he didn't wear "Manji" on his gi. Is it forbidden to use "manji" in UK?
Thank you for the information :smilejapa
Kesshu,

[John McCollum]

Hello Adhiprana :wave:

I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is forbidden to wear the Manji in the west, but we don't use it as members of the public might associate the symbol with the swastika used by the Nazi party during the second world war. I don't particularly wish to re-ignite the debate on whether or not we should wear the manji; it has been well-covered in the past! At the moment we wear a badge bearing the "ken" kanji within a lotus flower. Something like Kimpatsu's avatar....

Speaking of the which, does anybody know what's happening about the introduction of a new badge? It seems like an eternity since this issue arose....