Bugei Celebration !

[Prince Loeffler]

Folks , I noticed that we celebrate the birth of our nation, we celebrate the birth or passing of past presidents, heroes and other historical figures, we celebrate the death anniversary of loved ones, we celebrate our own birthday, heck, we even celebrate holidays on people that does not exist.

I was wondering why we don't celebrate our martial arts heritage like the art's founders as well as the anniversary of the our respective arts birth ?

I don't mean national celebration, I am talking dojo or organizational level celebrations of some sorts. Yes, I know it sounds funny to have cakes, sing alongs and ballons that screams "Happy 90 years B-Day Shorin Ryu" kind of thing.

Just curious that's all.

[Joseph Svinth]

IMO, one of the problems is that we rarely know when the activity began. And, when do we say it became This instead of That? For instance, when did Aikido become Aikido rather than Aiki-budo or even Daito-ryu? What quantifies this change? Or, to take a really obvious example, do we date taekwondo to the 1950s, when the name was created, or to earlier periods, when root arts reportedly developed? And this doesn't get any better when you go back further. For instance, do we date taijiquan to the 14th century, and a perhaps legendary fellow, or to the 17th century, and the better documented Chen family?

The answers are often divisive political issues.

[fifthchamber]

Heh..Some of us do...
Regards.

[mews]

IMO, one of the problems is that we rarely know when the activity began. And, when do we say it became This instead of That? For instance, when did Aikido become Aikido rather than Aiki-budo or even Daito-ryu? What quantifies this change? Or, to take a really obvious example, do we date taekwondo to the 1950s, when the name was created, or to earlier periods, when root arts reportedly developed? And this doesn't get any better when you go back further. For instance, do we date taijiquan to the 14th century, and a perhaps legendary fellow, or to the 17th century, and the better documented Chen family?

The answers are often divisive political issues.

Well, if the exact date isn't known, why not declare a day to be 'it', [eg: June 17th] and let everyone continue to merrily argue over which year.

this way people will get the party AND the argument, and all can be happy!

mew

[Prince Loeffler]

IMO, one of the problems is that we rarely know when the activity began. And, when do we say it became This instead of That? For instance, when did Aikido become Aikido rather than Aiki-budo or even Daito-ryu? What quantifies this change? Or, to take a really obvious example, do we date taekwondo to the 1950s, when the name was created, or to earlier periods, when root arts reportedly developed? And this doesn't get any better when you go back further. For instance, do we date taijiquan to the 14th century, and a perhaps legendary fellow, or to the 17th century, and the better documented Chen family?

The answers are often divisive political issues.

Thanks Mr. Svinth, I did have this thought, However using Aikido as an example, let Ueshiba Sensei, Created Aikido in June 1st 2006 based in Daito Ryu, It would make sense to use 6/1/06 as the DOB ( Date of Birth) of Aikido as opposed to The DOB of Daito Ryu.

Just my thought.

[Prince Loeffler]

Well, if the exact date isn't known, why not declare a day to be 'it', [eg: June 17th] and let everyone continue to merrily argue over which year.

this way people will get the party AND the argument, and all can be happy!

mew

Sure hate to be the Bouncer working on this particular party...

[Joseph Svinth]

Dates of incorporation of a modern corporate entity are comparatively simple to document. Nonetheless, to give a specific example, does the establishment of the Shotokan Dojo fairly represent the birth date of the Funakoshi style of karate? If so, then what was Funakoshi teaching in the Japanese colleges for the decade or so earlier?

To give an even more contentious example, do we date taekwondo to 1971, when it was proclaimed the Korean national sport? To 1955, when the name was coined? To 1945, when some practitioners of tangsudo and kongsudo began to publicly differentiate what they did from what the Japanese and Okinawans did? Or to 2333 BCE, when Tan'gun Wang'gom (the putative progenitor of the Korean people) ascended to heaven (thus, that 5,000 years of tradition story)?

If the idea is to promote community rather than divisiveness, then I recommend the selection of a more neutral date. For this purpose, I nominate the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. With so much Horse energy in the air, this day is among the most Yang days of the year, and so it is a traditional date for major tournaments.

Note: Depending on the year, the fifth day of the fifth month is a date that falls sometime during late May and early June. To give an example, during the Year of the Dog, 4703, the fifth day of the fifth month falls on May 31, 2006 CE.

[Prince Loeffler]

Dates of incorporation of a modern corporate entity are comparatively simple to document. Nonetheless, to give a specific example, does the establishment of the Shotokan Dojo fairly represent the birth date of the Funakoshi style of karate? If so, then what was Funakoshi teaching in the Japanese colleges for the decade or so earlier?

To give an even more contentious example, do we date taekwondo to 1971, when it was proclaimed the Korean national sport? To 1955, when the name was coined? To 1945, when some practitioners of tangsudo and kongsudo began to publicly differentiate what they did from what the Japanese and Okinawans did? Or to 2333 BCE, when Tan'gun Wang'gom (the putative progenitor of the Korean people) ascended to heaven (thus, that 5,000 years of tradition story)?

If the idea is to promote community rather than divisiveness, then I recommend the selection of a more neutral date. For this purpose, I nominate the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. With so much Horse energy in the air, this day is among the most Yang days of the year, and so it is a traditional date for major tournaments.

Note: Depending on the year, the fifth day of the fifth month is a date that falls sometime during late May and early June. To give an example, during the Year of the Dog, 4703, the fifth day of the fifth month falls on May 31, 2006 CE.

Thanks Mr. Svinth, I may need a little time to digress and response to this post.

[kimiwane]

Well, if the exact date isn't known, why not declare a day to be 'it', [eg: June 17th] and let everyone continue to merrily argue over which year.

The Japanese actually do that with "National Foundation Day" (Kenkoku Kinembi) which is "the day" Japan "was established."

I asked about this. "When was Japan founded and who did it?"

"Nobody knows, but we celebrate it on Kenkoku Kinembi."

One of the weirder things I've ever heard of....