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Mary Kuhner wrote:
It would be, practically speaking, a major issue in my dojo. There are frequently only 2-4 students at a given class. A class with one male and one female student who cannot work together is going to be frustrating. The instructor will have to split his time between them. (And a hypothetical class with a man who won't touch women and a woman who won't touch men can't be taught at all, unless you can bring in a second instructor.)
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In a class with three people somebody's going to be resting part of the time anyway, so it's not really a problem, it just takes a little more thinking. If there are three people and two of them are women then they can train together and he can practice ukemi, weapons, or other solitary practice - that's the way it goes, no major problem.
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Mary Kuhner wrote:
Additionally, some of our instructors, including our head instructor, are female. Because we are a Ki Society dojo, physical contact (in ki tests) between instructor and students is continual and centrally important. There is not always a senior male student present who could substitute in giving ki tests, and omitting the ki tests would, in our style, be a major detriment to the student's training. Not being able to take ukemi from the head instructor would also interfere with our aikido test protocol.
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It's entirely possible to teach someone without touching them, or without even getting on the mat - Morihei Ueshiba did it all the time. If that's not the usual way that you do things it may take a little thought, that's all.
Two of the morning classes that I do have regular participants in their 80's. Naturally, they can't train in quite the same ways that other people do, and a number of accommodations have to be made. Years ago I taught someone who was paralyzed from the waist down, and more than a few adjustments had to be made. Anyway, in everything and anything that you do that involves other people accommodations and adjustments have to be made - that's life. In the end, I get more than I give.
An instructor that won't put some effort into trying to instruct a student with special circumstances is not, IMO, much of an instructor.
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Mary Kuhner wrote:
Finally, during the larger classes it is impossible to completely prevent physical contact between non-partners. The dojo is small and collisions just happen. There is no way to have a "males only" section of the small, square mat we use. Even trying to enforce this would likely leave the women on the mat feeling cramped and intimidated.
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As someone else mentioned, it's unlikely that this kind of accidental contact would be an issue.
Best,
Chris