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Old 06-30-2014, 02:37 PM   #90
jonreading
 
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Dojo: Aikido South
Location: Johnson City, TN
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,209
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Re: Introduction + The missing Atemi

I have now written and deleted 3 responses...

I can remember the time when "commitment" was the term used to describe the ridiculous nature in which uke "attacked." It probably more accurately reflected the form of hospitalization for that person than anything to do with me. The term was and is poorly conveyed in most dojos and probably no two posts here would strike the same chord, either. Throw that on the pyre with relax and resist...

Generally, I believe yudansha have an obligation to direct mudansha in the minor issues of training, sometimes that is the [subtle] demonstration that what the mudansha is doing is not conducive to the desired result. I would argue two points to this responsibility:
1. There exists in greater number occasions when yudansha do not know what they are doing and their direction is in-congruent to the instruction.
2. There exists in greater number occasions when mudansha have a technical knowledge that exceeds the yudansha with whom they are training.

Sometimes, the proper response is to drop your partner on her butt, then explain that while her obstinate attitude is not a problem in application, it is making the current exercise more difficult. I can empathize with the OP because I think he is hoping/expecting seniors to have this ability. Is it an ego thing? Maybe. But, don't we constantly spout on about "feeling the attack" and "going with the flow?" Baseball games are won with pitching, but guess what makes the highlight reels? Home runs. I am not sure we aren't conflating two issues here, the first being a general frustration that aikido is not withstanding the scrutiny of OP (under his terms), the second being whether the OP can find alternative instruction that draws aikido back into line with his expectations of performance while correcting some of his mis-expectations.

I can appreciate a simple suspicion based on the absence of proof. We've had that conversation before - stealing the ethos established by O Sensei does not a shihan make.

If I had a nickel for every time someone came into the dojo and her expectation of what is aikido aligned with what is our expectation of aikido... I might have a nickel.

Jon Reading
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