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learning curve
My teacher taught me by not teaching me!
One day I told him that I was afraid that I would stop progressing when I returned to America, and that if he ever came to visit me, he would become angry at me because my aikido had become worse. So he stopped coming to practice.
I didn't see him for a month. He taught one class and I didn't see him for another month.
Because I was his uke during public demonstrations, I knew that sooner or later there would be hell to pay if I backslid. So I decided to practice with my partners with the same amount of attention to detail as I did with my teacher. Since I was his uke, I continuously worked on perfecting my attacks and ukemi.
After three months, my teacher returned. He commented to another teacher that he was surprised at how much I had improved. The other teacher just looked at me and smiled and said, "Yes, he has."
They had trained me by not teaching me. Now I know how to train myself, and I'm always improving my skill because I don't depend on my teacher, but he's always in my heart.
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