Misusing an old quote...fucking priceless
http://budobum.blogspot.com/2015/06/...e-its-not.html
Tradition Is Tending The Flame. It's Not Worshiping The Ashes
Uchi always does the attack in exactly one, and shite always responds in a precisely identical manner. The form and technique become about replicating exactly what someone is supposed to have done decades or centuries ago. In an effort to preserve things just as they saw them, these preservationists drain the life from what they are doing and leave it desiccated and empty of real value. Nothing more than those ashes Mahler refers to.
This can be seen when people start to value something simply because it is old. There are ancient styles of music and dance in Japan such as Dengaku that have been preserved for 700 years and more. When they were young, this music and dance was a sensation and is said to have caused near riots in major cities. Now the only reason for performing what remains of these once lively and popular arts is that they are old. There is no life left in them. The people who have preserved these arts have preserved even less than a flower dried and pressed in a book. There may be be some bits left among the ashes, but there is nothing left that can even inspire the mind to imagine what the dance was like originally. The only value remaining to it is that it’s old.
Bookmarks