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Old 06-29-2010, 09:51 PM   #27
Carl Thompson
 
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Location: Kasama
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 507
Japan
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Re: Minimum Testing Requirements/Guidelines

Why do folk reckon their own dojo or sometimes even their own nation has the highest standards in an art where there are so many different lineages and views on what is considered "good". Why not some third-world country where people's lives depend on the art for survival? As for training a bit longer than average before testing, it seems like a good idea to get in a bit more practice time but there is also a danger of simply ingraining bad technique over many years. When I once told a teacher I'd been training almost eight years and still hadn't got shodan he was shocked and stated bluntly "Either you are very unskilful or your teacher wasn't very good". I had my excuses but I got the point when I got my arse handed to me by people who'd trained for half that time. The hombu is a meeting point for various standards and interpretations of aikido. For starters, you could meet me there and regardless of your opinion of the quality of my aikido, my background is nothing like the hombu-stereotype certain people are so fond of bandying around for their own edification.
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