Quote:
Chris Parkerson wrote:
Hi Mark,
Truth told, I am not sure just how kind Dan's offer is.......
Secondly, your statement is surely true about Budo being what you can do without excuses.
I challenge everyone of us to take a step back and take a break from matching martial pedigrees and training methods and take a look at what we have accomplished with it. There is a lion within each one of us and it is itching to do something truly meaningful and creative.
I challenge you to find your greatest heartbreak and put your passion, your budo and your time into being the change you want to see in this world. And let those who do not try to be that lion, go sit in the nosebleed seats.
Be well,
Chris
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Chris:
I hope that if you are ever in the metropolitan NYC area, that you can stop by my school. I would genuinely like to meet you.
As to meetings, Dan's offer is really sincere and KIND. There is Dan's on-line persona and then there is Dan in Person. Dan has a remarkable degree of humility, honesty and kindness that allow people to be able to recognize how little we really do know and how much there is to learn. He is overwhelming in his generosity to share what he had discovered and is discovering.
We are not here trying to match pedigrees (or at least not me, Dan, or the host of other wonderful people I have met at his seminars). We are so dedicated to the pursuit of discovering the depths of true budo as a vehicle for making this planet better, that we leave our egos aside and actively search for what we are missing. We spend countless hours seeking a higher truth that is manifest in what we do every day. We do not shirk away from exploring what we know and what we do not know, nor do we assume some holier-than-thou attitude about some greater understanding of things.
In my opinion: The Golden Equilibrium is a sad state of affairs. This person spent too few years training with somebody who himself, did not have any substantial, direct links to the founder of our art or any of his direct students. This person's videos are sad sights. This person's pontifications are well-intended, yet idiosyncratic in ridiculous ways. His constant need to have his words focused on is matched by the lack of integrity of stepping up to any legitimate question and challenge in word or act. His passion is undeniable and his potential is obvious. He simply remains his own worst enemy. His words should not go unchallenged. We are working hard enough as it is to raise the overall level of discourse and instruction in Aikido, to let this stuff float out there so that novices could potentially get seriously misdirected by trying to follow this obvious nonsense.
Regards,
Marc Abrams