2024, Volume 20
BUDO & INNOAGON – historical complexity but similar missions
Roman Maciej Kalina1
1Editor-in-Chief Archives of Budo: Journal of Innovative Agonology, Piwniczna-Zdrój, Poland
Author for correspondence: Roman Maciej Kalina; Editor-in-Chief Archives of Budo: Journal of Innovative Agonology, Piwniczna-Zdrój, Poland; email: kom.kalina@op.pl
Abstract
Budo is a key social phenomenon in Japanese culture, whereas INNOAGON is an acronym for a new applied science – innovative agonology. Both names are components of the title of the journal Archives of Budo: Journal of Innovative Agonology, which will begin publication in 2024. The purpose of this article is to argue the relationship between the two phenomena – BUDO and INNOAGON – in fulfilling the social mission of science in circumstances where overcoming difficult situations justifies the use of the word ‘struggle’ or its synonyms.
The best interpretations of the BUDO phenomenon can be found in the publications of Japanese experts representing various scientific disciplines. INNOAGON is an applied science dedicated to promotion, prevention, and therapy related to all dimensions of health and the optimization of activities that increase the ability to survive (from micro to macro scales). The etymology of the second part of the name of this new science dates back to 1938 and is deeply rooted in Polish history and philosophy of science, although the term ‘agon’ is borrowed from Greek culture. In 1938, Tadeusz Kotarbiński used the name ‘agonology’ (from the Greek term ‘agon’, which means, among other things, ‘struggle’) as a synonym for his general theory of struggle.
At the initiative of Polish scientists, the first volume of Archives of Budo was published in 2005 without a subtitle, although at that time, the agonology initiated by Kotarbiński had expanded to include four detailed theories, published exclusively in Polish. Agonology is still considered an esoteric science about struggle (assuming that such status is justified by the number and diversity of these theories). It was not until four years later that the first edition of Budō: The Martial Ways of Japan was published by Nippon Budokan Foundation. In the ‘Glossary of budo terms’ by Professor Nakamura Tamio, we read: ‘Budō (…) Originally a term denoting the «Way of the warrior», it is now used as a collective appellation for modern martial arts such as kendō, jūdō, kyūdo, and so on. The primary objective of these «martial ways» is self-perfection (ningen-kesei).’
The knowledge and long-term practice of three (out of four) founders of Archives of Budo were related to judo. Knowing Tadeusz Kotarbiński's praxeology and only partial scientific achievements of Jigoro Kano (it's still a lot behind the Iron Curtain), we still regarded the creator of judo as a precursor of praxeology, who offered an applied science at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries with unique cognitive and behavioral qualities. The association of praxeology (considered an appropriate methodology) with unique applied sciences – judo and agonology – shows the groundbreaking effect of the dialogue between two geographically distant cultures. It is, in a sense, a timeless and transcultural synergy of missions fitting into the hypothesis of the supreme criteria of the value of global civilization: the survival of humans and nature in a non-degenerate form and responsibility for future generations.
Key words: Iron Curtain, Jigoro Kano, praxeology, self-defence art, struggle, Tadeusz Kotarbiński