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Old 07-22-2002, 09:29 PM   #8
Bronson
 
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Dojo: Seiwa Dojo and Southside Dojo
Location: Battle Creek & Kalamazoo, MI
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,677
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Quote:
I am interested in the idea of the dojo without the Beginner's Class.
That's what we've got. No beginners class, no advanced class, no black-belt class, just regular old class. Everyone is taught the same thing at the same time. More advanced students are expected to do it better and also to help out the new students. During our stretches and warm up exercises sensei usually pairs one of the senior students with a new person to help guide them through what we're doing. I can't think of a single person in our dojo who thinks that working with new people somehow takes away from our experince. It is part of the experience.
Quote:
Ideally, is it more appropriate to partner with a fellow beginner at a Basics Class or should we ask the Sempei for training?
IMO, a new person should work almost exclusively with experienced students. They are there to help guide them and to teach them the particulars of the dojo being trained in. Not to mention the two most dangerous people on the mat are two newbies working together (followed closely by two nikyu )

Bronson

"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence. A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy he chooses non-violence."
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