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Old 06-07-2010, 01:15 PM   #13
NagaBaba
 
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Re: Ki Aikido - quote from Gleason Sensei

The globalization of aikido ( by K.Ueshiba. K.Tohei and others) and development of structured teaching to teach the millions of students resulted in producing and reproducing more and more empty forms without any regards to the content of the forms. Those forms were developed not only for entry level teaching, but, (what is the key for understanding of present situation) also for higher ranking students (3 dan and more).

Huge popularity of aikido has resulted in developing of the 'factories" where students are produced like a cars. Introduction the standards by the federations, has resulted in uniformity of behaviors and reactions high ranking students, and every deviation from such behavior is rejected. High ranking students very often are not able to handle in positive way those deviations in reaction, nobody taught them what to do in such situation. Because they are helpless, they reject it.

It happened despite of very clear message of the Founder, that highest level of aikido has no form, that the techniques are only the tools, not a goal in itself.

So if we want to visualize something very concrete, everybody started to produce empty wooden boxes, the only variation was a size. Today we call them different styles of aikido. Naturally Founder supposed that every instructor, like him, will fill up this box with his own development, but today such development is impossible, because of the uniformity of the behavior.

Other key element - teacher - student transmission became impossible thanks to increasing membership of the dojo. In fact, already with 30 - 50 students such transmission is highly improbable. And there are the dojos with much higher number of students!

Also, almost all aikido instructors today have daily jobs outside of aikido. If you add to that a teaching in the dojo, family, they have absolutely no time for their own development. So they are becoming the empty boxes, hardly preserving a form of techniques.

There is not much hope in this situation.

Nagababa

ask for divine protection Ame no Murakumo Kuki Samuhara no Ryuo
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