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Old 09-09-2011, 08:50 AM   #114
Peter Goldsbury
 
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Dojo: Hiroshima Kokusai Dojo
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
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Re: Why so many Haters of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido?

Quote:
Lorel Latorilla wrote: View Post
I seriously dont get this line of thinking. If someone criticizes someone on video, that person automically has the burden to post a video of his own? Huh?
Hello Lorel,

Why is this automatic?

I remember having severe arguments with my very first aikido teacher, who was a Japanese ultranationalist and believed in a very conservative way of teaching. He argued that you were not able to criticize your teacher unless you were able to improve on what he was teaching. This argument (wrongly) assumes that knowing something and teaching it are identical. Of, course it might well be that teaching is a good method of gaining knowledge, but the two are not the same. I think in most universities students are called upon to evaluate their teachers, but this in no way implies that they themselves can do better.

Now transfer the argument to writing books or articles, or posting videos. If these are published, they are in the public domain and thereby subject to the opinions of those who happen to read or see them. However, the next step, that those who criticize have some kind of obligation to support their criticism with the same kind of offering, be it a book, article, or video, is not at all automatic. You might think they should do this, but there is no automatic obligation here.

The reverse of this, that unless you are prepared to put up your own video, or publish a book or article, you have no right to criticize an existing one, is clearly invalid. If it were a valid argument, it would inhibit a vast amount of valuable research.

I think part of the problem here is the nature of the medium itself. Videos of aikido show only so much and there is a vast argument about what they actually show. As a medium, books and articles are less likely to deceive. But even here, there were comments about Budo Renshuu, when it appeared in 1933. It made sense only if you could do the waza already.

This being said, I am very glad that Akuzawa Sensei made videos of his exercises. They form the basis of my own private training. However, since I live so far from Tokyo, I cannot check whether my own understanding of what he teaches in the videos is correct.

Best wishes,

P Goldsbury

P A Goldsbury
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