AikiWeb Aikido Forums - View Single Post - Judgment; are we as aikidoka too judgmental?

rachmass · 03-28-2004, 10:24 AM

Hi folks,

My husband has raised the concern with me, that we as aikidoka have a tendency to be very judgmental, and I am wondering if this is really so, or if it is maybe something that I am, and that we as a collective group are not.
To clarify; if someone watches my students and makes a comment to me that they need to work on such and such a thing, I take it not as a criticism, but as a constructive aid and a guide for what we need to concentrate on. My husband takes it as a criticism of my students. Another example: I make the comment that I really enjoy training with such and such a person because they are very flexible and connected in both ukemi as well as waza, but my husband states that I am passing judgment on them (positive, but judgment nevertheless). He states that he hears so much judgment floating about in conversations, such as so and so has really nice ukemi, or so and so is really stiff, or so and so moves funny. Do you all see this? Do you participate? Do other martial artists talk about other practitioners in such ways? Are we judgmental as a group? Do we have a tendency to compare ourselves with others more than other MA's?
Just curious what all your take on this is....

03-28-2004, 10:24 AM	#1
rachmass Dojo: Aikido of Cincinnati/Huron Valley Aikikai Location: Somerset Michigan Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 794 Offline	Judgment; are we as aikidoka too judgmental? Hi folks, My husband has raised the concern with me, that we as aikidoka have a tendency to be very judgmental, and I am wondering if this is really so, or if it is maybe something that I am, and that we as a collective group are not. To clarify; if someone watches my students and makes a comment to me that they need to work on such and such a thing, I take it not as a criticism, but as a constructive aid and a guide for what we need to concentrate on. My husband takes it as a criticism of my students. Another example: I make the comment that I really enjoy training with such and such a person because they are very flexible and connected in both ukemi as well as waza, but my husband states that I am passing judgment on them (positive, but judgment nevertheless). He states that he hears so much judgment floating about in conversations, such as so and so has really nice ukemi, or so and so is really stiff, or so and so moves funny. Do you all see this? Do you participate? Do other martial artists talk about other practitioners in such ways? Are we judgmental as a group? Do we have a tendency to compare ourselves with others more than other MA's? Just curious what all your take on this is....