View Single Post
Old 08-27-2013, 08:11 PM   #126
RonRagusa
Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 824
United_States
Offline
Re: Is is it still Aikido if you take away the Japanese clothes, etiquette and other things?

Quote:
Cliff Judge wrote: View Post
Well if you went and changed things drastically from the way you were taught, there is a good chance you'd fail to transmit a lot of stuff you learned.
The most important thing Maruyama sensei taught me was to not try to be a cookie-cutter version of him. He showed me that Aikido is an emergent phenomenon and that in order for me to continue growing I had to make it mine and let it take me where it would. Beyond transmitting the basics of technique/Ki development and my own ongoing story, I generally leave students to their own devices in order that they may find Aikido for themselves.

And I haven't changed (as in on purpose) much at all. Whatever changes have crept into my teaching have done so as a result of my continued growth and the evolution of my Aikido.

Ron

  Reply With Quote