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Old 02-26-2014, 07:57 PM   #2
Millsy
Dojo: Aiki-Centre
Location: Melbourne
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 95
Australia
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Re: Selfish people in the dojo

Sorry to hear that things are frustrating. I know when I train I like to train with everybody in the dojo that I can, and if I teach I encourage mixing the pairing and will change a pair depending on the circumstances. At the dojo I started aikido we used to often line up in rank order and the higher grades were told to stay seated while the lower ranked half chose a partner. I think its a culture thing in some dojos I've seen where pairings can be very clicky, but the dojos I've been a member of have always been about helping everybody not yourself.

I attended a seminar with Eddy Hagihara Shihan a little while ago and he put things in perspective. wish I could remember his words, they were better than mine, but the gist was:
Aikido is not a competitive art we are not here to beat our partners or win, our job is to help our partners to be better at aikido than we are.

If your sensei wont help, I'm not sure where change will come from, maybe those of you frustrated coming up through the ranks? But know this isn't how it is at every dojo, and before you leave aikido maybe you could try another dojo.
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