Thread: Seminars
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Old 04-24-2007, 02:33 PM   #13
aikidoc
Dojo: Aikido of Midland
Location: Midland Texas
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,652
United_States
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Re: Seminars

We do something different. We host Kato Sensei without charging seminar fees. We raise the money for his honorarium and entertainment/lodging through donations. So far this has worked well. Those who can give more, those who can't still can train.

I do agree that there seems to be a tendency to teach the seminars sometimes to the lower level of skill and not the highest level. As such, it can be difficult to get a feel for what you could learn with a different focus.

I went to one seminar where the shihan was more interested in having a smoke break about every hour for 20 minutes. It was like he couldn't wait to get off the mat for a cigarette. He also provided very little feedback to the participants. This is one thing I like about Kato sensei. He goes around and has everyone even the little kids feel what he is doing. He even took ukemi for one of my 11 year olds doing shihonage -he commented that he (meaning the student) was ok to learn aikido. He even made a point to get his picture taken with him at the end of the seminar.

Last edited by aikidoc : 04-24-2007 at 02:38 PM.
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