View Single Post
Old 11-08-2013, 03:10 PM   #5
Gerardo Torres
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 197
United_States
Offline
Re: I Don't Care That Much

I actually identify and agree with all the comments so far to one degree or another.

The OP brings an interesting point that I think is one of the by-products of the over-reach of aikido as a budo practice, where everything and anything nowadays can be called aikido, and which will invariable attract a huge variety of expectations and opinions, ranging from the extremely dedicated to the casual hobbyist. I am currently not nearly as dedicated to aikido training as others so I definitely identify with the OP. I hope to reverse this situation in the future, but for now I do not expect anybody, especially the teacher, to adjust to my own personal goals. I'm conscious of not getting in the way of anybody's progress, especially those in line for leadership roles.

This is an important point from Nagababa:

Quote:
If you don't care about aikido, why instructor has to care about your goals?
When somebody wants to join our koryu group, we tell them straight: we don't care about your goals or expectations, we only care about what you can bring to the ryu-ha. It may sound snobbish but that sets the record straight. If somebody doesn't want to train regularly, he gets ignored or let go. The training goals are clearly defined, so we expect that people either love doing it or not -- otherwise everybody's time is being wasted. I think this would be nearly impossible to do in aikido given the popular appeal set forth by organizational leaders. The best an aikido dojo could manage is have the usual bell curve distribution of students vs. dedication, if the student is out of place in the dojo, it's best to find a more suitable training environment.
  Reply With Quote