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Old 02-26-2007, 11:56 PM   #14
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Dojo: Team Combat USA
Location: Olympia, Washington
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,376
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Re: Aikido Transmission and Class Size

My wife is a yoga practicioner. I am amazed at the lengths they go to train instructors. There are two paths it appears. Those that want to do yoga, and those that want to teach.

If you want to teach, and pony up the bucks, after a couple of years of training. You will get very intensive, high quality, individualized instruction desgined to transmit the body of knowledge of yoga.

It is intense and over a year long process for the core instruction to make you a basic instructor.

Furthermore, the army has a decent process of making instructors in much the same vein of intensity of training and transmission.

Bottomline, I have seen this model work well!

In reading George's post about stealing technique got me to thinking about this.

Maybe we are all due for a change in how we approach training and do away witth the old culture and get real about what we are teaching and inefficient, long modes of transmission for ones that are more effective?

I know there is much money involved. Also I think that done properly the whole quality issue is addressed as well. Most would say that it would go down as we teach more, faster.

I don't think so.

What you do have to be concerned with is the maturation process that is commonly associated with budo. There is a certain amount of growth on the path that must come. It is not all about technique!

Anyway, thoughts.

I have found that I would rather pay a couple of 100 bucks to a guy that has something to teach me one on one, with a couple of other guys, than to go to a large venue in which I am just another one of the huddled masses. Seems more expensive...but in the long run it is more economical I think.

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