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Craig Hocker wrote:
I am just skeptical of the perceived need to go cross-train in Daito Ryu. It just appears like looking for greener pastures rather plowing your own field with fertilizer. I respect those who have chosen Daito Ryu. Just having trained with Kondo Sensei at the Aiki Expo, I wonder why some want to straddle the fence and try to study both.
Of course, I will freely admit to spending a great deal of time training in Iaido/Iai-jutsu, so I am not really one to talk.  |
I think that the key words are "perceived need". Many people who cross train do so for some kind of "perceived need". Especially aikido people who feel a lack in the martial aspect of their training. Others are martial arts aficionados and others may have their own reasons. In the Aikikai, the number of people who have cross trained go from Nishio sensei to Bruce Bookman so there's no shortage of legitimate examples of loyal Aikidoists who have done so.
Some people do so just because of opportunity to learn new things and to get new perspectives. What I don't have respect for are those who either linger in self doubt or who are chasing the "holy grail". What bothers me the most are those who are trying to gain personal invincibility of some kind .
I've spent ten years doing aikido and I plan to do it for the rest of my life but I think that if you meet a great martial artist and you have an opportunity to learn something different that could add to your overall knowledge, that may be legitimate. We asked our shihan, Kato sensei if it was wrong to cross train and he said that whatever we did with our own time was our business. I took that to mean it was alright.
By the way, with that example that you gave, why did you cross train with Kondo sensei? There were a lot of Aikidoists you could have been with at the Expo. If you don't mind sharing that with us, you might give me another legitimate reason to cross train in Daito-ryu that I didn't think of!
Best,