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Old 04-01-2012, 05:11 AM   #117
Tom Verhoeven
Dojo: Aikido Auvergne Kumano dojo
Location: Auvergne
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 295
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Re: The Founder's Teaching Ability

Quote:
Christopher Li wrote: View Post
Why bring it up, then, if you're not interested in discussing it?

Mozart was a special case, as are most prodigies - though I imagine that certain kinds of parents do have something to do with it.

Rational or non-rational, Japanese or Western, training is meant to achieve a certain transmission of abilities. If those abilities don't get passed along (and IMO, they haven't) then whatever method was used...it just didn't work. Talking about inspiration won't eliminate that problem.

For my money, the "hinting" method has been way over-romanticized, and just doesn't work very well in most cases. If it did, then you'd see multiple cases of people replicating Ueshiba's skills, and their students doing the same thing. The fact that you don't shows that the transmission broke down somewhere along the line.

Best,

Chris
Context. I brought it up to show how a story develops into a different story.

Now you want a different discussion. And I already explained my position. Read the Kojiki and compare it with the classic Yin - Yang image. Make up your own mind if there is a difference or not.

The "hinting" method if you want to call it that way is still a commonly used method. And it works just fine in many of the arts that I mentioned. It is is a creative method that asks a fair amount of input from the student. As it is in use at this very moment and very succesful, I do not see why it should be considered over-romanticized.

IMHO O Sensei was not just teaching techniques or skills. He was teaching something else as well. A teaching that has a lot in common with Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto. The essence of that did not always come across with all of his own students (but there are those who got it!). And the following generation seems to have even more problems with it. But is that the result of a failing teaching method?
Buddhism is struggling with the same problem, beekeeping is a problem in the USA. Is that the result of a failing teaching method? Or is it more a clash of cultures?

And no, the transmission of Aikido did not break down somewhere down the line. It is a matter of finding the right teacher.
Best,
Tom
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