View Single Post
Old 12-06-2002, 03:40 PM   #26
Bruce Baker
Dojo: LBI Aikikai/LBI ,NJ
Location: Barnegaat, NJ
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 893
Offline
Stop joking

Stop kidding around.

Every new practitioner in most martial arts may not admit he / she isn't in it for the rank, but then the whining starts when someone is promoted over him / her? So, if they really are displaying their true selves in this belly acheing, stop kidding ... it is a normal part of the early years of practice before searching about in tutorial studies.

If you can show me one dojo where students are not anxious to show their proficientcy by belt color, hakama wearing, or being acquainted as a senior student of the dojo, I would be very amazed.

I am sorry to hear about your situation Edward Karaa, but there is a reason for every bad deed that is rewarded, and a silent thank you for every good deed that is not rewarded with bad fortune or ill luck.

I could be wrong, but it should make you a better person by realizing failure, contrived or not. It almost sounds like the failure was a lesson to see if you could adapt, change, and learn from it? If you did, then I would say that you will be held in high esteem, but if you do not, it will continue to be a bumpy ride.

I guess the bulk of lessons learned along the road don't sink in until you have had time to think about what has happened in relation to past events? Like wanting to test for rank, and being told you are not ready, this is the overanxiousness of youth, and the shortsightedness of wanting recognition.

I have seen some awefully poor practitioners make great progress, but it took one to two years, and it wasn't always reinforced with the broader knowledge of how it could work or come from other places besides Aikido, which left them with the lacking skills of real usage verses practice.

I think that half of those that attain the coveted black belt are not in martial arts for the long haul of having it be a lifetime practice, at least that is my experience living in the east coast of the USA. Just in my past experience of Karate I can name a dozen people who gave up all martial arts once they hit 40-45 years old. And it wasn't always injurys or money that ended their practice.

No. Sorry.

Experience teaches me that maybe one person in a hundred of starting practitioners will practice their whole life because they love what they do.

Most people are in it for the recognition and bragging rights.

I don't intend to fight the flaw of humanity that would have it this way, that is what makes us human.

Realize there is not always a definitive answer, just those of us who learn from problems, do the best we can, then move on.

Although it is nice to have some practice before getting into trouble without a net?
  Reply With Quote