View Single Post
Old 10-09-2002, 09:06 PM   #14
L. Camejo
 
L. Camejo's Avatar
Dojo: Ontario Martial Arts
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,423
Canada
Offline
Exclamation Facts, figures etc.

Hi all,

Thanks for your great replies. You have shed a lot of light on this subject.

As far as checking of credentials go, this was a very interesting endeavour. My first attempt was to call and find out. I was met with this reply from the person on the other end of the phone: "Master ..... is a master of jujitsu and has been teaching it for over 40 years. Aikido came from jujitsu and so he is qualified to teach Aikido, as he is a jujitsu master. If you question the master's abilities, you should call back and arrange to speak to him yourself...." (Remember, this guy is pretty much a celebrity in this country)

So, I took their advice. Since these classes were conveniently being held at the same days and times as our training times, I took a day when we had no class for some reason and went to see for myself. The "master" saw me sitting in the crowd and interestingly, he asked me to step into his office to talk (something he does not usually do with people who come to watch). In speaking with him, I let him know that I studied some Aikido previously, and that my instructor has left the country indefinitely (did not give all details about currently operating a class, since I had reason to believe he already knew this). He went on to show me a black and white "certificate" on his wall with the face of O-Sensei printed on it. At that point I wondered if any Aikido association gave certificates with the face of O-sensei printed on it.

Nevertheless, we spoke a bit about Aikido, where he told me that the founder of Aikido was a jujitsu guy called Moroto Ueshiba. He went on to give this misinformation to his students later in the class. For some reason he did not demonstrate any techniques that night, but the black belts in the class went through a series of techniques that looked like a bad Steven Seagal movie. The word clothesline was even used in reference with the correct application of irimi nage.

Having seen this and other things, I reckoned that even IF (and that is a BIG if) this guy was legit, the techniques and essence to the training was unlike any Aikido I've seen between my country and the USA, where I've also trained. Having done a bit of jujitsu myself, the applications had a closer resemblance to that MA than Aikido.

Having said all that, I welcome your advice and input. I am now unofficially banned from returning to that dojo, their reason being that I may copy what they are teaching and open a dojo of my own.

I hope they aren't too surprised when they see us doing our demos later this month. Anyway...

Domo Arigato Gozaimashita.

L.C.

--Mushin Mugamae - No Mind No Posture. He who is possessed by nothing possesses everything.--
http://www.tntaikido.org
http://www.mushinkan.ca
  Reply With Quote