Hi Eugene.
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Eugene Leslie wrote:
Without books and reading (and the internet now) how would one know of Japan let alone martial arts and Aikido?
Here's a book.... Farenheit 451.
As far as the written word goes, as a student of history I learned long ago that one should read many sources and then decide for oneself.
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I think you have a point, but I hope you understand the limitations and implicit trap in relying on book learn'n for this endeavor.
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Should I defend the fact that I am a beginner when I ask questions?
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No.
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I'm trusting in faith of the experienced to guide me in my new endeavor.
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Caveat Emptor -- use that life experience of yours.
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From what I understand (from reading those books), the experienced Aikidoka should be exhibiting patience and understanding towards beginners, no?
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That's a nice ideal, but "should" plus a buck-fifty buys a cup of coffee....
More importantly, while it may seem so to you, I don't think you were treated with impatience or a lack of understanding. Szczepan not only seemed just to be giving you his honest understanding, he also represents a view about your questions that is held to some extent by many people.
There's a difference between being a student "of Aikido" and being an Aikido student. One thing I've seen with a number of folks over the years who rely on "understanding" Aikido is the difficulty in letting go of their concepts on the mat, which interfers significantly with really learning through practice. I still am working on this part of my "multiplication tables."
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If one trains/studies any craft for many years, and a comment or question of a neophyte raises their heart-rate and causes contempt and resentment....then are they really a mentor or someone that can be trusted to teach or explain?
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Again, I perceived the interaction differently. However, you should be aware that people have a number of reasons for responding to posts aside from some self-concept that they are playing a "mentor."
One also could make the argument that, particularly with a person who wants to do alot of reading and thinking about aikido, and also wants to learn Aikido, the best single peice of advice a "mentor" could give would be to forget your concepts and practice.
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I want to beleive so I will have continued faith in people and just clam up.
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I appreciate your sincerity, but, with equal sincerity, I wonder why you feel a need for folks you are interacting with on the internet to act in a certain way in order for you to have faith. I think it's enough to practice and develop faith in yourself, whatever path you choose.
Sincerely,
cdh