Re: Teacher OKs "Avoid[ing] touching females on religious grounds"
If this man's religion doesn't allow him to be in physical contact with women, then *why* train in a touchy-feely martial art like Aikido? I faced a similar situation at my dojo several years ago. A Muslim male trained at the dojo, but did not train with the women. He didn't make eye contact with us either. I didn't know what was going on, until the situation was explained to me. But unlike this other Aikido sensei in the article, my sensei did *not* segregate the class for the benefit of this one man.
I understand that martial art schools have a responsibility to *not* discriminate against potential students because of religion. However, I have a big problem when the entire structure of the school is changed to accommodate *one* person's beliefs. What about the rest of the students? Should their rights to train with *anyone* they choose be violated to accommodate one person?
I would also draw the line at passing around religious literature at a MARTIAL ART SCHOOL. The sensei in the article should *not* have condoned the man proselytizing his current students. That would have been the perfect reason to show him the door.
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