私の意志を尊重して
There are follow-me vehicles at airports that guide arriving planes to the gate or departing planes to the runway.
To "follow" you need a "leader". In history, these were usually military leaders or religious leaders who the masses wanted or had to follow. In the Third Reich, there was the slogan: "Leader, we follow you."
If someone says "follow me", you should definitely be cautious.
After the death of Yoshigasaki Sensei, a beautiful memorial card was published, which in one aspect touches on the issue of following:
"Through my fifty years of teaching Aikido, I found the most important thing is love and respect.In 2022, his sister Michiko published a booklet on the relief efforts for the victims of the Fukushima disaster, for which European aikidoka had also donated. In this booklet, she paid tribute to her late younger brother Yoshigasaki Doshu. His statement on love and respect is reproduced there in Japanese. If you look at the text more closely, you will notice that the expression is different.
If you follow me, you follow the way of love and respect."
私は五十年に及ぶ合気道の指導を通して、最も大切なことは「愛と敬意」であると気がつきました。もしあなたが私の意志を尊重して追いてきてくれるなら、それは「愛と敬意」をたどる道です。
Watashi wa go jū-nen ni oyobu aikidō no shidō o tōshite, mottomo taisetsuna koto wa "ai to keii" dearu to ki ga tsukimashita. Moshi anata ga watashi no ishi o sonchō shite oite kite kurerunara, sore wa "ai to keii" o tadoru michi desu.
During the fifty years that I have been teaching Aikido, I have come to realize that "love and respect" are the most important things.
If you respect and follow my intentions, this is following the path of "love and respect".
The aspects of love and respect are easy to understand (to interpret).
Love obviously refers to the all-encompassing love that people experience, for example, during enlightenment, out-of-body experiences or near-death experiences. It can be talked about, but only through personal experience can it be understood.
Respect is a word that can easily be misleading. In the past, it was often used to mean respect and obedience to authority. It would be better to use the words "esteem", i.e. at least to accept others as they are.
While the English text speaks of "following me", the Japanese version speaks of following the intentions (意志). The English text may be an abbreviated version of the intended meaning. But Yoshigasaki Sensei already explicitly commented on the aspect of following a deceased person in his essay "The Meaning of the Word Sensei" in 2004.
"Aikido is a way (DO, 道) and the way should be maintained in aikido practice. The person who keeps the way is called Doshu. There are two different meanings of doshu in Japanese. The first (written 道主) means 'master of the way' and the second (道守) means 'keeper of the way'. The difference is that there can be only one master (主) of the way but many keepers (守) of the way. The top teacher of any aikido organization should be called doshu - keeper of the way - but actually many aikido organizations do not have doshu. This is because most Japanese teachers actually follow the teachings of somebody else, especially Morihei Ueshiba, even though he is dead. There are also teachers who do not follow a particular teacher but instead follow some established philosophy. They too are not keepers of the way. ... "
" ... Therefore ... this difference between copying and creating is quite subtle. For 30 years I have been saying that you should not copy the master, you should not copy me! ... Copying me is like making sound recordings. But you should copy the techniques. You should not copy me. Because to copy techniques you have to create them in your own head. Techniques are like the music in your head. And this music in your head creates the sound. And the technique in your head creates your movement, your technique. So when you copy techniques, you are creative. On the other hand, when you copy me, you have not created anything. That is the difference. You must not copy me, but the techniques."
"My job is to teach techniques. But what happened in the history of Aikido? Ueshiba first copied the techniques of his master Takeda Sokaku. Then he started to develop his own techniques. The problem was to teach them. His students did not understand his techniques. They did not create them in their heads. They saw them, but did not recreate them for themselves. It is necessary to copy the techniques, but not me! That is the difference.
That is why in my next book (Aikido in Real Life) I am no longer using photos, but drawings. Because I noticed in the previous book (All of Aikido) that people look at the persons but do not see the technique. You have to see the technique, not the person. With the drawings, people see the techniques. So you have to copy the technique, not me.
But there was the problem that Ueshiba showed his technique, but almost no one understood it. Master Tohei understood a little, but he had a theory of Shin Shin Toitsu Do, Yoga or Zen, etc. So he understood a little and developed his own technique. Then he taught his technique and to make it understandable he taught this Ki, the union of mind and body. But I saw that the majority of his students still didn't understand anything.
The problem is that the students of a high-level master naturally do not understand him. This is inevitable. When Master Ueshiba noticed this, he became mystical/religious. And when Master Tohei wanted to make it understandable, he became too theoretical/philosophical. So what can you do?
20 years ago, after intensive training, I had already reached a good technical level. But after that, I did not find a way to develop further.
If I develop my technique and someone else develops his/her own technique, how can my technique and the other person's technique be judged? With a competition, perhaps. But if I have to do that, then it is no longer Aikido. It is like saying: which technique is better? Ueshiba's or Tohei's? Ueshiba's students then ask: Takeda Sokaku's techniques or Ueshiba's? So here we already have a competition.
How do you find a solution to this? I have come to the conclusion that it is pointless to improve my own technique. Because if someone else develops their technique, we have to hold a competition. Otherwise you don't know who is better. It is better if I do not my own techniques, but those of the other person. Because if I do someone else's technique better than them, I always win. If everyone does their own techniques, you don't know who will win. But if I do someone else's technique better, I always win.
In this sense, I am not teaching my techniques, but your techniques. But I do your techniques better than you. And if I manage to do your techniques better than you, I always win. And so there is no need to hold competitions.
I have been doing this for 20 years. So if you think they are Master Yoshigasaki's techniques, that is not true. They are your techniques. I have tried to develop your techniques, for you. This is my concept of teaching and this is the difference with respect to Master Ueshiba and Master Tohei. They did Takeda's technique or their own technique, while I do your technique. That is, I do the techniques of "humanity". There are many of you, not just one person, and you represent humanity. So I do the techniques of humanity.
Every time I teach I change something. Today I develop his technique - points to a student. I try to make his technique better than him so that he can develop. Next time I do someone else's technique. Obviously, one's technique is different from another's. It's not me who has changed, I've always done your techniques. I've done this not only for you, but also for myself. Because if I only do my technique, it becomes selfish. And selfishness in life becomes tiring after a certain time.
When you're young, it's fine to do your own techniques. But when you get older, why me? What's the point? Instead, it's better to help others. That's always a good thing."
As can be seen from these explanations, the phrase "... if you follow me" most probably does not come from Yoshigasaki Sensei. He did not want to spread his techniques, but to help his students develop better techniques. In his understanding, a Doshu is not a leader to be followed, but someone who prepares the way. Those who want to follow the path would do so on their own free decision and responsibility, without blindly copying the teacher.
An example
From "The Life of Brian" by Monthy Python, 1979.