Back when I was learning to ride horses, it seemed that the prevailing teaching philosophy was "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger." As a result, I jumped alot of fences that I wasn't ready for, and my body learned to react in fear. (I knew people who resorted to abusing substances to deal with the fear, especially during competitions.)It's taken me years to start getting that out of me, in every new activity I do, including Aikido.
Its a shame, there are much better ways to learn.
Jeanne