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Old 05-02-2002, 12:20 AM   #12
thomasgroendal
 
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Dojo: Hoshu Portland Dojo
Location: Portland, OR
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 53
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Yet again an abundance of controversy as to whether Steven Seagal sensei is either a choked out, fecal matter disposing charlatan, or whether he is the real dan, kicking butt like all the other "6th dans" should be able to.
What occurs to me here is that how many 6th dans have world champion judoka choke them out. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened quite a bit. Even osensei was HUMAN. He must have accepted some challenges but do we know of any that haven't been inflated into superhuman conflicts of the martial arts gods? I know of almost no top martial artists that go through these kinds of challenges in the first world. For those that do believe Osensei, was taking on all comers once a week, I recommend listening to some of the historical work of Stanley Pranin Sensei…
The point of my comment here is that if Seagal Sensei is a big muscled ego ogre then we are giving him WAY too much air time here. If he is a genuine, if at times humanly limited teacher of the art of peace, and prolific at that, then we are being way too disrespectful. I wouldn't want to be talked about like this by people that don't know me. But then again I don't make movies.
What is interesting to me about this thread is what it might reveal to us about the commentators. Why is he so darn interesting? We all know rumors about him. He undeniably changes (for better or worse) the profile of our art, and is a visible challenge to the place most of us put ourselves.
If you think Seagal Sensei sucks, and have much to say, especially for those without having met the man. What are you trying to say about you? About your vision of Aikido?
For those that come in on the other side, (where there any?) What does the image of Seagal Sensei represent that is so attractive?
I had a pony tail for eight years. I always said it wasn't Seagal, but who can say? I don't like the violence as represented in his movies as an option to solve my problems, but I surely feel the thrill, the verifiication of my art's effectiveness when I watch one of those quick and sharp kotegaeshi. As for the rest? Who knows… What does he say to your ego?

Life is choice.
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