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Old 11-09-2013, 01:37 PM   #21
sakumeikan
Dojo: Sakumeikan N.E. Aikkai .Newcastle upon Tyne.
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,266
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Re: I Don't Care That Much

Quote:
Matthew Story wrote: View Post
I am a little surprised; I think this is a mindset that is pretty rare in activities other than the martial arts. I don't think Kobe Bryant disparages the guys who play basketball a couple times a week at the YMCA. I don't think Eric Clapton gets angry at the guys who strum chords around the campfire. I don't think Bob Woodward has a problem with the average blogger.

In the martial arts, though, I think there are a lot of people who, perhaps because of the pseudoreligious way some martial arts are taught, come to imagine that their activity is objectively, universally important rather than just important to them. And once that illusion has a hold of you, it starts to seem reasonable to insist that everyone value your particular activity exactly the same way you do.

I like aikido. It's fun, it's interesting, it's challenging, it's a good workout, and it has taught me a lot, including things that apply to life outside the dojo. I acknowledge that it requires time and effort. A select few take aikido further than that, and that's cool. I just take issue with the ones who think I need to be exactly like them.
Dear Matthew,
Do I get the feeling you are a bit sensitive and a tad tetchy?You just take issue??with people who thinks you should be like them??Why the last statement?Cannot say I have noticed anybody saying your wrong or whatever in your choice to be a student who has other priorities in life apart from aikido. Psuedoreligion, illusion, universally important, these phrases alone make me wonder
where you train.I can tell you that in my own experiences most of my aikido has been hard work physically .If I had wanted a religious flavour I would have went to a monastery or whatever.Like I said earlier why not just get on with your life as you see fit?Is someone trying to pressgang you into a dojo???Go when you feel like training in aikido, do something else if you are so inclined.Cheers, Joe.
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