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Old 03-30-2012, 05:12 PM   #109
Henrypsim
Dojo: Aikido Sangenkai
Location: Honolulu Hawaii
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 40
United_States
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Re: The Founder's Teaching Ability

Quote:
Katherine Derbyshire wrote: View Post
This teaching approach also doesn't scale. How on earth is anyone supposed to learn the subtle movements inherent in high level aikido when their hands-on contact with a top level instructor is measured in minutes or even seconds? If Ueshiba Sensei's direct students had trouble reaching his level, and the direct students of the uchi-deshi had trouble figuring out what their teachers were doing, what hope is there for those of us who are three or four steps away from the Founder?

Katherine
There is hope. Please see my Introduction when I just join Aikiweb. O-sensei was not good in transmitting what he knew. Is that consider good or bad teacher is beside the point. His students did not get what he truly trying to teach and that is Aiki as demonstrated in his writings.O-sensei consider technique in itself is secondary, hence he do the same technique differently when he teach. But thru his writings he has said that Aikido without Aiki is not Aikido (something to that effect). He also said something like "when he turn around and thought his students were following him but saw no one there". Evidently, he was disappointed. Even to this day, the main focus of most (notice I said most and NOT all) modern teachers and students are in technique which is Ai-Do and not Aikido and miss the main focus of what O-Sensei was trying to teach.
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