Giancarlo DiPierro's Ranks/Qualifications?

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[Avery Jenkins]

Unless the person is floating through the air when he lifts you up, you are still grounded. Your connection to the ground is through the other person's body.

G-Man: please publish your sensei, training history and rank. Just because...well, I think you're full of it.

[Avery Jenkins]

Yes. One thing many people don't realize is that even competitive training is actually cooperative, since both parties are cooperating by following the agreed-upon rules of competition. This is why I used the word compliant (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=compliant) (I had the first sense in mind) for the level of training where uke follows nage no what nage does.

One other thing that I thought of as a result of some questions asked recently is that, as I see it, the three levels of resistance training are each appropriate for a certain kind of training. Passive resistance (and semi-compliance, which is essentially a sub-level of passive resistance) is designed for kata or fixed-techniqued training where the uke is modeling the energy of a certain attack to allow the nage to learn how to move in response to that attack. Active resistance is designed for fixed-role freestyle practice, what people in aikido usually call jiyu-waza (or oyo-henka, for some). This is because the uke is trying to break the connection, and thus nage must change his movement and thus the technique as necessary to maintain or reestablish it. The final level of countering obviously applies to non-fixed role freestyle training where there is no distinction between uke and nage.

I'm sorry, G-man, but I must have forgotten: who is your sensei? What is your training history? Rank? Are you still teaching in that :mad: ninja :mad: dojo?

[Marc Abrams]

David Skaggs raised an interesting point as the qualifications of the above-named poster.

Giancarlo DiPierro or anyone else for that matter is respectfully requested to answer the following questions:

1) Who and through what organization awarded you Kyu ranking in Aikido (dates with ranks would be greatly appreciated).

2) Who and through what organization awarded you any dan rankings in Aikido (dates with ranks would be greatly appreciated).

3) Who and through what organization awarded you any rank or qualifications to teach Muso Shinden-Ryu (dates with ranks would be greatly appreciated).

According to one of the poster's, Giancarlo began training in Aikido in 1996. Frankly speaking, a person with so few years in Aikido making the kind of claims he does regarding Aikido and now sword work seems "awkward" at best. He is beginning to sound like the reincarnation of Mark Tennenhouse.

Understanding one's background lends a lot of context towards understanding the person and the person's opinions. I look forward to understanding exactly what kind of background this person actually has in Aikido and in Muso Shinden-Ryu .

Marc Abrams

[Jorge Garcia]

David Skaggs raised an interesting point as the qualifications of the above-named poster.

Giancarlo DiPierro or anyone else for that matter is respectfully requested to answer the following questions:

1) Who and through what organization awarded you Kyu ranking in Aikido (dates with ranks would be greatly appreciated).

2) Who and through what organization awarded you any dan rankings in Aikido (dates with ranks would be greatly appreciated).

3) Who and through what organization awarded you any rank or qualifications to teach Muso Shinden-Ryu (dates with ranks would be greatly appreciated).

According to one of the poster's, Giancarlo began training in Aikido in 1996. Frankly speaking, a person with so few years in Aikido making the kind of claims he does regarding Aikido and now sword work seems "awkward" at best. He is beginning to sound like the reincarnation of Mark Tennenhouse.

Understanding one's background lends a lot of context towards understanding the person and the person's opinions. I look forward to understanding exactly what kind of background this person actually has in Aikido and in Muso Shinden-Ryu .

Marc Abrams

I am the organizer of the Aikido Friendship Seminars in Houston Texas. I just looked through my records and I did find Giancarlo's registration form. On it, under the line of Rank, he listed Chief Instructor. That was in June of 2005.

Jorge Garcia

[mickeygelum]

Gentlemen,

Forgive my intrusion, in which thread did Mr.Skaggs post prompt this thread?

Michael Gelum

[Janet Rosen]

G-Man: please publish your sensei, training history and rank. Just because...well, I think you're full of it.

sigh
do we have to have another thread sidetracked from original posters query into this?????

[Marc Abrams]

Obviously Giancarlo has had time to read this thread and has chosen to not respond. I am sending him a private e-mail asking him to answer the questions. Additionally, I am sending a private e-mail and am asking Jun- the administrator of the Aikiweb to address this issue.

The issue is quite simple. Everybody has a right to their own opinion, regardless of how skewed, uninformed, etc. it might be. The problem arises when somebody engages in fraudulent misrepresentation. Giancarlo has listed himself as a chief instructor in Aikido. He makes assertions and opinions that nobody can vouch for, and can not even seem to vouch for his own training, rank, and qualifications.

Unless he can justify his credentials, I believe that he should be banned from posting.

Marc Abrams

[akiy]

Hi folks,

Let me just step in here and say that AikiWeb does not require people to publish their aikido "credentials" in order to post on this website. You are, of course, welcome to ask individuals for such information, but AikiWeb allows people to share their thoughts respectfully regardless of their rank or experience in aikido.

Best,

-- Jun

[Marc Abrams]

Giancarlo:

Step up to the plate and answer the questions about your rank and training.

Everybody should be insisting that he answer the questions before responding to anything he writes from this point onward.

Marc Abrams

[Marc Abrams]

Jun:

The operant word is "respectful". Giancarlo's comments and attitudes do not seem to live up to the request that people do so in a respectful manner.

Marc Abrams

[aikidoc]

You don't need rank when you can stop or reverse shihans. :)

[Marc Abrams]

John:

The only think rank about that claim is in regards to the suspicious smell that emanates from the claim!:yuck:

Funny how this guy likes to avoid facts about himself.

Marc Abrams

[aikidoc]

There was a thread or links to his claims- I think Kanai and Tamura were two. Geez. I'd think someone would fess up to awarding him rank. Then again. Anyone?

[Don]

We generally know he trained with Kanai. The last time I saw or trained at a seminar with him (perhaps 2003 or 2004) he appeared to not have rank. Heresay antecdotes from those seminars suggested he was a 1st kyu. In a post to me over on the "resisting Shihan" thread he states he does not currently have a class that he is teaching.

Quote: "I'm not doing a regular aikido class right now, but you would be welcome to come down and train privately for an hour or two.I'm not doing a regular aikido class right now, but you would be welcome to come down and train privately for an hour or two."

So the operative question is did he ever achieve rank in any organization for Aikido and Muso Shidin Ryu between oh the time period of 2003 or 2004 to now.

[dps]

Gentlemen,

Forgive my intrusion, in which thread did Mr.Skaggs post prompt this thread?

Michael Gelum

Resisting Aikido Shihan
Post#230

David

[Marc Abrams]

Don:

His reply to you says a lot! Unlike the fantasy world that some live out on the web, reality tends to work very differently. His not running any classes now speaks volumes!

He still seems to be ducking from owning up to the questions that we have put to him. Maybe he is Mark Tennenbaum's psychic brother? :rolleyes: Strange world we live in!

Marc Abrams

[aikidoc]

His website gave the impression he is teaching-although he has removed all pictures and details that were present some time back. A lot of this stuff is almost verbatim from back in 2003 when he was getting flack. Rogue aikidoka of sorts-lots of claims, not will to put forth any credentials-probably none to put forth.

Here's a thought-if he can't provide credentials at a seminar then don't let him on the mat with anything but a white belt. Simply ask for a yudansha passport or rank verification-and not one computer generated from home, i.e., a legitimate organization or sensei.

[Marc Abrams]

Giancarlo:

You have yet to provide us with any information regarding your rank and organization providing rank. Just because somebody choses to train with you is not a qualification to teach. If somebody bends over and asks you to sniff his/her rear-end, it does not qualify you to say that you are a proctologist! You are ducking the issue again! What a surprise?

You do not have a clue in the world if you think that people at seminars were getting into fights with you. My guess is that you would probably not last more than a couple of seconds in a real fight (if you even know what one is) and would need to change your pants.

Your unwillingness to publish what your rank is in both arts that you allege to teach indicates a high likelihood that you are engaging in fraudulent actions. Maybe you sneak around this by not stating any rank, but the rank smell arising from your avoidance is unmistakable.

Marc Abrams

[akiy]

Hi folks,

Please watch your tone when posting. Thank you.

-- Jun

[aikidoc]

Ah, the website is showing no aikido classes open to the public. That seems to happen when the volume goes up. He pulled his stuff off a while back when pressed. I don't hold out much hope that we'll ever see a straight answer on credentials-no surprise there since the past predicts the future in this case. I'm sure he'll make some claim at some point about it being his skill level-judged by him I'm sure.

[G DiPierro]

Ah, the website is showing no aikido classes open to the public. That seems to happen when the volume goes up. He pulled his stuff off a while back when pressed.Actually, it has nothing to do with the volume, which initially started going up above its normal level back on 10-19. The reason I made the update is because I mentioned it on the other thread. In fact, for most of the past year my website looked more or less the way it does now, with no aikido classes open to the public. A few months ago, one of my former aikido students asked if he could resume training, and since I had access to a nice dojo, I agreed and even started advertising public classes again via the website to see if there was any other interest. However, after about a month he got busy with other things and dropped out again. I just never got around to changing it back.

At this point I suspect that this aikido dojo will be permanently closed within the next six months to year, and that I will no longer be in Lancaster. I never expected to be here this long but when I was asked to teach a class here back in 2003, I thought there was enough interest to try to build a dojo, and I wanted to give that a fair chance to succeed. Overall, I think it was a productive enough experience, both for myself and for my students, although I am a bit disappointed that there will probably be no aikido dojo here after I leave. Sometimes some things just aren't meant to be, though.

[Michael Hackett]

Moved off line nicely! The attack sailed past!

[Avery Jenkins]

Sometimes some things just aren't meant to be, though.

Like a straight answer from you, perhaps?

[aikidoc]

You noticed! How about some irimi-come forth on the credential question.

[Marc Abrams]

"My qualification to teach is my skill level. I have students who are yudansha and instructors in other forms of Japanese budo. They have been to Japan and/or trained directly with Japanese master-level instructors. They have other teachers who teach and train JSA. They choose to study Iaido with me because they like it and feel that they are learning something worthwhile. Among serious martial artists, this is really the only qualification that counts. Ranks and belts and what-not are just marketing tools to draw in the masses and keep people in line."

All comments to him about his teaching qualifications are more than welcomed on this thread. I will add mine later, but the "rank" aroma is a little too much at this moment!

Marc Abrams

PS. We all need to continue to ask him to provide us with REAL credentials. That means Rank, Teacher, Organization, Dates, ......

[kironin]

(from e-budo.com 07-26-2007), There are a few existing options for iaido in Columbus that you would be competing with, however the ZNKR kendo dojo in Columbus is not one of them. Their kendo is very good but they don't do any iaido. Kotaka's classical kendo group does do iaido, although I don't know anything about it or if they allow people to practice that without the kendo. There is also a Suio-ryu practice group in the area, which I think is primarily iai, as well as some Korean haedong kumdo. You might want to check out one or more of these first, but if you are looking to have someone teach iaido in your space I might be interested. I'm teaching Muso Shinden-ryu in Lancaster on a very limited basis right now, but I'm in Columbus quite often and am considering moving there soon. If you want to get together sometime and discuss it send me a PM.

Regards,
Giancarlo DiPierro


I don't have any wish to get in middle of anything here. Just curious about your background in Muso Shinden-ryu. Not that many teachers around in the middle of the country or anywhere for that matter, so it's always interesting to hear about someone.

There is mention you trained aikido with Kanai Sensei. Of course Kanai Sensei also taught Muso Shinden-ryu iaido for many years. One of my iai teachers started Iaido with Kanai Sensei back around 1979-1980. I started Muso Shinden-ryu myself back in Spring, 1994.

best regards,
Craig Hocker
Houston San Shin Kai

[Steven]

"

PS. We all need to continue to ask him to provide us with REAL credentials. That means Rank, Teacher, Organization, Dates, ......

Why? It doesn't affect me and I can care less. Seems to only be your personal vendetta and quest.

[eyrie]

I agree with Steven... that's like asking Ueshiba to provide credentials or rank in AIKIDO. There are many arts where rank, teachers and organizations are non-existent. What counts is whether one is any good at what they do, whether they have anything worthwhile to teach, and whether you can learn anything from that person.

As my jujitsu sensei once said... "you can always learn something from somebody".

[G DiPierro]

There is mention you trained aikido with Kanai Sensei. Of course Kanai Sensei also taught Muso Shinden-ryu iaido for many years. One of my iai teachers started Iaido with Kanai Sensei back around 1979-1980. I started Muso Shinden-ryu myself back in Spring, 1994.I started iaido with Kanai-sensei in 1998, although I never learned MSR directly from him because of his knee problems. I trained with him off and on until just before he passed away, studying two standing sets as well as the ZNIR toho on one occasion.

MSR I initially learned from one of his students and then also from some high-ranking ZNKR people at a seminar. I've since gone a bit in my own direction with that, adapting some of the details of execution in ways that are different from what other groups do but which I think make better sense from a martial perspective. Unlike aikido, though, I haven't found any way to improve on the kata themselves other than these subtle details that very well could have been in the original and just been lost. They are so rich and contain so much information and possibilities that I don't feel I'm even close to exhausting them.

If you want to discuss this further, feel free to contact me privately since it is an off-topic discussion on an aikido forum.

[Aiki Teacher]

I agree with Steven... that's like asking Ueshiba to provide credentials or rank in AIKIDO. There are many arts where rank, teachers and organizations are non-existent. What counts is whether one is any good at what they do, whether they have anything worthwhile to teach, and whether you can learn anything from that person.

As my jujitsu sensei once said... "you can always learn something from somebody".

But Unlike Giancarlo's boast,
O'Sensei, had a valid certificate in aiki-jutsu from Takeda Sokaku. Aikido, the Harmony of Nature.Stevens, John.

So your argument doesn't work! O'Sensei was ligit. Giancarlo has not presented proof!

[Keith R Lee]

But Unlike Giancarlo's boast,
O'Sensei, had a valid certificate in aiki-jutsu from Takeda Sokaku. Aikido, the Harmony of Nature.Stevens, John.

So your argument doesn't work! O'Sensei was ligit. Giancarlo has not presented proof!

This is such a crap argument and it comes up all the time in TMAs which are generally concerned with rank, lineage, etc. I'm not defending Giancarlo at all and don't really care where this whole thing is going, but who cares?

Does someone have something worthwhile to say? Are their points valid? Then they're worth listening to in my mind. Sure, someone with a strong background might be able to give more credence to their argument, but that doesn't discount someone's arguments or comments just because they didn't spend a year kissing butt in Japan or something (Not saying in specific to this whole thing with Giancarlo, I've barely been keeping track honestly. This is more of a general comment).

It's one of the major problems I have with Aikido personally. Lineage seems to be more important than performance.

[Aristeia]

that's because judging performance in Aikido can be a tricky proposition imo.

[eyrie]

But Unlike Giancarlo's boast,
O'Sensei, had a valid certificate in aiki-jutsu from Takeda Sokaku. Ueshiba *may* have had some sort of certification from Takeda.... BUT he certainly didn't have any rank or qualifications in AIKIDO. I'll address the proof issue below:

judging performance in Aikido can be a tricky proposition imo. Why? How much martial training a person has done can be instantly gleaned from the way they hold themselves and the way they move. And if in doubt, a simple "touch hands" would be sufficient to determine one's level of martial ability.

Obviously, if you can't determine that by looking at the person or feeling them, then there's always the weaker fall back position of rank, teacher and affiliation.

[Aiki Teacher]

This is such a crap argument and it comes up all the time in TMAs which are generally concerned with rank, lineage, etc. I'm not defending Giancarlo at all and don't really care where this whole thing is going, but who cares?

Does someone have something worthwhile to say? Are their points valid? Then they're worth listening to in my mind. Sure, someone with a strong background might be able to give more credence to their argument, but that doesn't discount someone's arguments or comments just because they didn't spend a year kissing butt in Japan or something (Not saying in specific to this whole thing with Giancarlo, I've barely been keeping track honestly. This is more of a general comment).

It's one of the major problems I have with Aikido personally. Lineage seems to be more important than performance.

I met Giancarlo in Houston . Threw him even though he resisted, and I am quite abit smaller than he. HIs boast are what are causing people to question his rank.

I realize rank may not be an issue with you. That's fine. But for some in Aikido, lineage is important.

He has made some grandiose claims that he has not been able to substantiate, short of himself. You need to read some of the other threads on resisting shihans. Then you will understand where this is comming from.

I have studied with a so called master before. He could not back up his claims with rank verification either.

This idea about lineage had a whole thread devoted to it about two years ago.

[Aiki Teacher]

Ueshiba *may* have had some sort of certification from Takeda.... BUT he certainly didn't have any rank or qualifications in AIKIDO. I'll address the proof issue below:

Why? How much martial training a person has done can be instantly gleaned from the way they hold themselves and the way they move. And if in doubt, a simple "touch hands" would be sufficient to determine one's level of martial ability.

Obviously, if you can't determine that by looking at the person or feeling them, then there's always the weaker fall back position of rank, teacher and affiliation.

Read the literature.
Your right about the Aikido. He was the founder! It was his Idea to change from Aikijuijittsu to Aikido.

"Touched Hands with Giancarlo, not impressed!"

[akiy]

I think we've had enough discussion on this topic. Rather than discussing matters of personal importance, please direct your attention and energy towards the subjects being discussed. If people wish to pursue your interests towards personal matters, please do so through private communications.

Thread closed.

-- Jun