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Old 07-16-2008, 10:06 AM   #280
Fred Little
Dojo: NJIT Budokai
Location: State Line NJ/NY
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 641
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Re: Aikido™ and Aiki…do. Where are we at?

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
Maybe it should be followed by "Here is a way to remain on your feet and neutralize everything I am about to do to you. Now let's try another." And so on and so on…till you made a martial artist that is potent on either side of the food chain.
Dan--

Your quote above is a good thumbnail summary of at least part of the aiki.....do method under discussion in this thread, taken from another currently active thread.

Truth be told, it breaks the unstated norm in virtually every aikido school in the United States.

A relatively senior student can do it in his or her own dojo or as guest instructor in another. (as Rob Liberti has discussed)

With virtually any other hierarchical or organizational dynamic in play, the result is social friction. That's not speculation, that's observation, at the level of individual students. My guess is that Rob will eventually find that the same thing is true at an inter-dojo or intra-organization level.

In the short-term, the normative attempt to marginalize the non-normative. Social norms typically outweigh functional norms in group contexts absent some arguably objective checking mechanism. There is no such mechanism in contemporary aikido practice.

In the long-term, the norm will either change or be revealed as an evolutionary dead-end, both functionally and socially. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on door # 2.

Now I'll just go clear off my desk so I can go on vacation, reboot my brain, and reset my attitude for the next year.

Best,

Fred
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