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Thread: Zen Bow Zen Arrow - The life of Master Awa Kenzo

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Earl Hartman View Post
    .... and shows that Christianity is, essentially, a type of Greco-Roman mystery religion.
    I always thought of the relationship as a cargo cult, ie Christianity is a cargo cult of Judaism.

    Once again, interesting what you've pointed out here, this blood thing. Yep.
    Richard Katz
    richard808 Attt geemail daht calm

  2. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by richard808 View Post
    A good Jewish boy said that? I guess so.
    Not.

    A.

    Chance.

    Alternatively, if he did say that, and he actually thought he was the literal Son of G-d and that partaking of his flesh and blood would save people from sin, he was a blasphemer.

    Certainly not a "good Jewish boy".

    Anyway, this has nothing to do with Awa or kyudo. I think we should stop.
    Earl Hartman

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    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by Earl Hartman View Post
    Certainly not a "good Jewish boy".

    Anyway, this has nothing to do with Awa or kyudo. I think we should stop.
    Agreed.

    Back to the topic, meditation/martial arts:

    Someday somebody around here is going to offer to teach a very short but wide-ranging course (three or four sessions) on the Teachings of Awa Kenzo.

    I'd be first in line to sign up, if:
    1. it were prerequisite that the enrollees be limited to kyudo practitioners, students on up; with Western archers accepted with Instructor's permission, and if they agree not to say anything;
    2. it was in English, mostly (lest we end up like Eugen Herrigel)
    Richard Katz
    richard808 Attt geemail daht calm

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    Dunno if it's been mentioned already (my guess is not) but you might try an essay called Twentieth Century Budo and Mystic Experience by Suzuki Sadami of the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies. You'll have to buy a book though (how old skool is that?), Budo Perspectives, vol 1, edited by Alex Bennett (ISBN 4990169433) (C) 2005 Kendo World Publications, Auckland.

    It has more info on Awa sensei's early life and thought than any other book or essay I have read (i.e. Herrigel, Yamada and Stephens) and a decent-sized bibiliography (all Japanese language texts of course). Less tendentious to boot.

    You can buy it here. Well worth the $25.00.

    b

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    Default International Research Centre for Japanese Studies

    When you say the "International Research Centre for Japanese Studies" do you mean the "国際日本文化研究センター"? If so, that's where Prof. Yamada works.

    Do you know when was this essay was originally published? If both Prof. Yamada and Suzuki work at the same place, it seems odd that Prof. Yamada would not cite Suzuki's work. Perhaps it was published recently?

    Would it be possible to get a copy of the section(s) discussing Awa? I have a copy of Sakurai's book on Awa that Yamada cites, but it is, essentially, a hagiography and pretty thick going in many places.

    Prof. Yamada has published a follow-up work to his original essay entitled "禅と言う名の日本丸" (The Japanese Cargo Ship Called 'Zen') which I have translated. It should be out in English some time in 2009. It is a discussion of how aspects of Japanese culture which previously had little or no connection to Zen, such as kyujutsu, became "Zennified" in the popular imagination. It is quite interesting and contains a wealth of previously unknown information about Herrigel that Prof. Yamada uncovered on research trips to Germany. Not a lot more information about Awa, though, since Prof. Yamada was debunking Herrigel, not Awa.

    As far as tendentiousness is concerned, it is true that Yamada has an agenda, which is to rescue kyudo from Herrigel, but as I mentioned previously, I don't think that this must necessarily be read as a criticism of Awa. Awa may have been a character but that is neither here nor there. A lot of budo people are.
    Earl Hartman

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    I think it may be the same, it is known as the "Nichibunken" for short. The paper was written for an international symposium in 2003, The Direction of Japanese Budo in the 21st Century: Past, Present and Future.

    Yamada is not referenced in the bibliography, which as you say is perhaps a bit strange. Sakurai is mentioned several times and interpretations of Sakurai's as to the meaning of some of Awa's aphorisms are examined closely by Suzuki.

    I'm not sure but I think the paper would have been presented in Japanese and then translated for the aforementioned "Budo Perspectives". If you contact Alex Bennett through www.kendo-world.com, you might be able to find out more about the essay's background.

    I can't provide you with any decent-sized excerpts without the time-consuming labour of copying it out by hand, which would not only be verging on infringement, but also short-changing Mr Bennett, whose labour in the area of bringing academic-level essays on budo to the English-speaking world equals even the Skoss'. But really, for $25.00, you get an awful lot of interesting stuff. Granted not all about kyudo, but all good stuff nonetheless (e.g. Anton Geesink setting himself the fascinating subject "Judo as Olympic sport or tradition" and then just spruiking his own training method: "Judo as Olympic Sport" = 1 paragraph, "Judo as tradition" = 1 paragraph, "The Anton Geesink Basic Teaching Method" = 18.5 pages!).

    b

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    Yes, it's the same organization. I will contact Prof. Yamada and ask about it. Perhaps I can get the original Japanese of Suzuki's essay.

    It is really quite odd that the authors wouldn't cite each other, since Prof. Yamada's original essay came out in 2001 and his book in 2005. Curious. Perhaps Suzuki dealt with things that Yamada wasn't discussing and vice-versa. As I said, Yamada's main subject was Herrigel. He didn't spend any time analyzing Awa's philosophy.
    Earl Hartman

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    Earl --

    The book also contains an essay by Prof. Bodiford called "Zen and Japanese Swordsmanship Reconsidered."

    You can order the book direct from Kendo World. Cost is US $25, but unless you pay more, they ship surface, so it takes a few months. http://www.kendo-world.com/products.php?s%5Bcat%5D=4

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    I think this might be an extract of the original article:

    http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/%7Esadami/...budo/budo2.htm


    Regards

    Li Bao

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    Earl --

    The main sources cited are by Sakurai Yaunosuke. Oinaru sha no michi no oshie provides 18 of 47 notes and Shasei Awa Kenzo: Tenchi daishizen no diagensha provides 4 of 47 notes.

    The only other obviously kyudo-related cites are Shibata Jisaburo, Nihon no kyujutsu, 1941.

    The version of Herrigel cited is the Japanese version rather than the English translation (or the German original). Nitobe is also cited from the Japanese rather than the English version.

    Musashi is cited from Yoshikawa Eiji. Thus, in this book, one would probably do better referring to Uozumi Takashi's "Research of Miyomoto Musashi's Gorin no sho -- From the Perspective of Japanese Intellectual History." BTW, Uozomi states straight off (footnote 1) that Musashi's reputation since the 18th century owes a lot to posthumous theatricals (bunraku and kabuki) and popular novels.

  11. #56
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    Joe:

    I've got both of Sakurai's books; if anything, "Shasei" is more of a hagiography that "Oi Naru Sha no Michi no Oshie" is, if such a thing is possible.

    I've been reading "Oi Naru" trying to get a better idea of Awa's philosophy; one thing I found was that he conceived of kyudo as having 10 progressively higher levels.

    Guess what the very first level is? I'll buy you a beer if you can guess (and if we ever actually meet face to face). It's ridiculously simple. And blindingly obvious, if you put Herrigel's nonsense out of your mind and just think about it for a moment.

    Also, in "Shasei", Sakurai refers to China as "Shina", writing it in katakana, IIRC. AFAIK, this is common among unreconstructed right-wing "Tenno Heika Banzai" militarists, no?
    Earl Hartman

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    Quote Originally Posted by Earl Hartman View Post
    I've been reading "Oi Naru" trying to get a better idea of Awa's philosophy; one thing I found was that he conceived of kyudo as having 10 progressively higher levels.

    Guess what the very first level is? I'll buy you a beer if you can guess (and if we ever actually meet face to face). It's ridiculously simple. And blindingly obvious, if you put Herrigel's nonsense out of your mind and just think about it for a moment.
    Hit the target?
    Josh Reyer

    Swa sceal man don, žonne he ęt guše gengan ženceš longsumne lof, na ymb his lif cearaš. - The Beowulf Poet

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    Close, but no cigar. But you're on the right track. What do you need to hit the target?
    Earl Hartman

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    Quote Originally Posted by Earl Hartman View Post
    Close, but no cigar. But you're on the right track. What do you need to hit the target?
    Proper form?
    Josh Reyer

    Swa sceal man don, žonne he ęt guše gengan ženceš longsumne lof, na ymb his lif cearaš. - The Beowulf Poet

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    OK, I'll give it to you.

    The very first level, the basis, is technical training, what Awa called 整形技習, or "setting form in order and training in technique". In his philosophy, the "opening of energy" (開気) doesn't even come until Level 7. Up until then, it's just various levels of physical training.

    It is true that Awa did not believe that technique was the be-all and end-all of kyudo. However, by making technical training the foundation of his entire philosophy, it is clear that he viewed it as the bedrock upon which everything was built, the essential thing without which nothing is possible. That is, without physical archery, spiritual archery is impossible to attain. Awa saw his archery as an integrated practice, where one naturally progresses from a physical understanding to a spiritual one. Again, this seems completely normal to me. My teachers all told me the exact same thing. I can't see what the fuss was all about.

    For Awa, the shot was everything. No technique, not shot. No shot, no way to get to the upper spiritual levels. By passing over the need for perfecting form and technique as the prerequisite for proceeding to the next levels, Herrigel gives the entirely mistaken impression that Awa cared nothing for technique and didn't even teach it. By doing this, he gives his readers the idea that one can hit one's own arrow in the dark just by becoming "enlightened". This rhetorical sleight-of-hand, where Herrigel creates an entirely false picture of kyudo by cherry-picking his experience in order to create a certain "mystical" impression, has done incalculable damage and is one of the fundamental causes of the misunderstanding of Japan and its arts in the West.
    Earl Hartman

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