Re: To bow or not to bow
I don't get the issue here....if the student is sincere, respectful and committed (which in the OP's case, the student may be too new to tell...) then why not have him show respect via another gesture? That would speak to the spirit of the bow. Maybe a big smile would suffice in the meantime. This fellow may end up getting it and allow the practice of aikido (all of it) to transform him....or, he may not and decide to leave. Either way, as Takahashi sensei says, as dojocho it is worth a bit of patience and tolerance to give a sincere person the chance to adapt in some fashion and be transformed by this art.
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