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I'm probably spending too much time on here, but in a way I'm really enjoying writing and using some English (can be rare to get that opportunity here) ^^.

In public forums everyone can and often does have an opinion. However perhaps we have to be careful not to wander into the area of conjecture...especially when talking about a culture and people that few have any real understanding of now, never mind in the past.

It may appear I'm a great defender of the Japanese but in reality I just have a balanced view. It must be said that if anyone has to go and live, often alone in another culture and start a new life then things aren't always going to be easy...I know I did it here and I've had a very tough time at the hands of some nationalistic types yet many have been really kind to me. It's very easy to get stressed and have all kinds of miscommunication and misunderstandings. If they've done wrong and for sure not every country is happy with how the Japanese have conducted themselves then sure it's understandable people have got upset.....but in aikido you've often got only one guy from a country of millions..so be fair.

If I was Japanese and had to go to America to teach aikido I don't know what I would have done..going from skinny/wiry built people to often big, muscle bound ones..I guess it's easy to have said.."well it's not going to be easy for them to do aikido well"..lol. Japanese have a clear advantage from the start and do better much quicker...with the right instruction/teacher of course. People often just don't get this simple fact at all..

The problems that lie with IP/IS can of course be how it's used...you know a few years back I came across one guy who thought it fantastic to really put people into the mat to show he understood something they didn't etc...quite sickening behaviour to be honest especially as uke were there to basically have a fun, nice time. I thought then yep this could go very wrong and more akin to devilution than evolution....very different to how skilled people here operate.

But over and above that people can become very sick in many ways.....I will reiterate this...don't think you've got a golden pill or ticket to success there because you haven't. It's also easy to think them Asians must be dumb and don't understand anything because they such silly things..but again I can assure you they're not and what is said by them can be very real. Their culture is far older than most...and they've wisely learnt to deal with what they have. I'm going to go do some work...try and teach them English...that's not easy either..lol ^^

All the best
Lee