A Study on the Nature of the Phases of Physical Education in Geido

Abstract

Hitherto, Kumiko Ikuta has been doing a lot of research on the training process in Geido in Japan. Ikuta argues that the characteristic feature of the training process in Geido is “non-phase”. Referring to Zeami's theory concerning practice in Geido, Ikuta suggests that there are various phases of the training process of physical education in Geido. Ikuta's explanation of the meaning of physical education in Geido also includes the various stages involved.
The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate the contradictions in Ikuta's arguments on the nature of the various phases of physical education in Geido, using the documents that Zeami, Herrigel, and Saigo have produced and clarifying their descriptions of the peculiar phases in physical education in Geido. In addition to this, this thesis also intends to point out the significance of the various phases of physical education which Ikuta has apparently failed to explain.
When phases are created in Geido, it is done through “phased guidance” whereby the leader ascertains the generation process of the phase of the learner, and mediates to the next phase. It seems that the “phase” that Ikuta has assumed is a fixed one seen symbolically in contemporary school education. However, the “phase” in physical education in Geido is one that flows dynamically. What all this probably means is that the phases of physical education in Geido have been created and developed through a complex generation process between the leaders and learners.