Edwin Neal

Elizabeth thank you for your thoughts... let me begin by saying that the reason that i started this thread was to see how people would understand and more importantly Misunderstand what I was suggesting, so that i could refine it and make it as clear and straight forward as possible... unfortunately many posters seem to get many of the same misconceptions that you are expressing... so before i reply to the main points of your post, i want to say that you have a nice way of exspressing yourself, and i look forward to your continued (hopefully) postings...

i think alot of people are confusing waza, technique, principles etc... i think there is a bit of semantics (dancing around the same point...very aiki!) going on... my point here is TAKEMUSU AIKI... there is infinite creativity and variety in aikido by Osensei's design... in a certain sense you can never do the "same" ikkyo twice, each is different, but they are all valid ikkyo... I am not advocating static, unchanging, uniform aikido curriculum/testing from school to school or aikidoka to aikidoka... nor am i advocating pruning the "aiki-tree"... again this falls under takemusu aiki... in aikido there is room for (indeed isn't it Required?) everyone's voice and contribution etc... the reason I continue to talk about the idea of a "shodan standard" is my response to the following: ( i think this is an issue ALL aikidoka Must address)

"I have noticed recently there seems to be a quite a few aikido frauds cropping up in various places and some are being exposed by various forums. This seems to be increasing. By frauds, I categorize them "aikido frauds" based on the following criteria:

1. Lofty ranks awarded by organizations that cannot be identified or located. Lots of 6th to 10th dans (usually the person is in their 40s).
2. Start their own "style" of aikido with weak credentials to do so. Usually no traceable lineage. Many have never held higher than 3rd dan in a legitimate organization.
3. Organization sites which have dubious, non-verifiable rank histories or questionable promotions.
4. Promotions and styles are often sanctioned by dubious Soke Organizations which frequently sell their ranks. They say they don't award ranks just document earned ranks.
5. Websites frequently have dubious claims about their skills or they have studied under masters that no one has heard of or can verify.
6. Aikido ranks being awarded by non-aikido organizations: karate for example.

How do we stop this from happening? I don't have answers and don't know if we really can. My concern is we are going to end up with a public being duped and legitimate aikido ranks will be watered down. Many times the new student public does not have the experience or knowledge to see through the bovine feces. They see the 10th dan or 5th to 6th dan and don't have the knowledge to realize they are bogus degrees. "

I am quoting that from another person's posting because, like your postings, I feel he expressed the point very well. I have been to one of these places... and the "waza" shown were only superficially anything like aikido... the guy did not even KNOW or use what I consider "baseline, standard" terms like ikkyo, nikkyo... etc. something all organizations already agree on in a certain "fuzzy" core of terms and ideals. You go to different dojos and yet you still see ikkyo, you say ikkyo and an aikidoka who speaks a different language for example understands ikkyo... I am suggesting a baseline(not a ridgid rules for advancement!) that if you are a sensei (shodan) that you have a certain grasp of "Aikido culture"... this culture or core is Already shared by all aikidoka... but frauds are really what I am trying to get at so perhaps posting this under testing may be causing this misunderstanding. I, like you, accept and love the infinite, and subtle variety (takemusu aiki) of aikido... shouldn't we protect this from scam artists, and for all future aikidoka?
I look forward to your response...