Aikido Credentials

David Orange wrote: As I said, Mochizuki Sensei seldom used either "kokyu" or "ki" when he talked about aikido. So any error is mine an mine alone.

Nope.... you've leaned your reputation all over Mochizuki in a number of previous posts, making him the raison d'etre behind a number of your assertions. The question is why you don't understand some basic relationships. Did Mochizuki not show you or did he simply not know? From your heavy-handed insinuations about your expertise (apparently someone is "superior" acting, if they question your own reverence for your own knowledge), Mochizuki's knowledge is validly in question. Particularly when there are comments from Abe Sensei and others about how some people simply weren't shown some things.

My point is that you should have stuck to the issues instead of getting into the name calling because name-calling can go both ways and go ways you don't want it to go. But now you know. Hopefully we can lay it to rest with you.... it's up to you.

David Skaggs has posted his credentials previously. I don't know about Mr. Chalk.

No, I want the name of his teacher. Someone will PM it, no doubt, if he doesn't volunteer it. Chalk, perhaps the same, although to be honest, Chalk is one of those people that leaves me queasy enough that I don't really think we need to go much further with him. He's obvious.

Still, if someone wants to engage in name-calling, maybe we should make it an open topic where people see what happens when it goes back to the source. Maybe that will shut it down a little bit and improve the forum?

Mike Sigman

David Skaggs wrote: David, I never said nor consider what Mike is saying as "malarkey" any more or any less then I consider what you are saying as "malarkey".

Pardon me. Not to put words into your mouth.

David Skaggs wrote: I am not familiar with your style of Aikido or your Senseis. I am familiar with Mike's style (USAF, aikikai) and Yamada Sensei. That is the style I practiced and know what one has to learn and how many hours one has to practice to attain 1st kyu and be close to testing for shodan which is the reason I asked for credentials. Not having studied Tai Chi seriously ( one month 20 years ago) or any of the Chinese Martial Arts, his Aikido credentials gives me a point of reference in trying to understand what he is talking about.

It's not an unreasonable thing on an aikido board to ask people what their background is. I've never seen anyone else evade the question or refuse to answer it after having been asked by a number of people.

David Skaggs wrote: While I don't like his way of dealing with people who disagree with him, I don't like yours either.

Yeah. That's pretty bad, isn't it? But generally, I interact with people about the same way they act toward me and/or others. Have I been nasty toward you? I know I was rough with Ken McGrew and Mike and Rob John, but I can't think of others with whom I have been harsh or disrespectful. But those three just mentioned have all given as much as they've gotten or more. IMO.

However, still, your post shows that you, David Chalk and I are not some kind of cohort assembled to attack Mike Sigman and I don't know what else he thinks we have in common.

best wishes.

David

Mike Sigman wrote: Did Mochizuki not show you or did he simply not know?

The more reasonable conclusion is that I didn't have the ultimate capacity to absorb all that Mochizuki Sensei had to offer. Some can't physically absorb it, some can't mentally absorb it. But some people there definitely had the whole thing. I know my limits. You seem to think you have none.

Mike Sigman wrote: From your heavy-handed insinuations about your expertise (apparently someone is "superior" acting, if they question your own reverence for your own knowledge), Mochizuki's knowledge is validly in question.

Well, he said that we should always question everything. You, however, have less tolerance for being questioned than almost anyone I've encountered. He was around for a long, long time, teaching anyone who came to him, and traveling to many countries to teach the rest. You might have found out for yourself, but it's too late now. You'll never know. Anything else you find fault with can only be a fault with me. Heaven knows there is plenty there, but I doubt anyone would say you are without them either.

Mike Sigman wrote: Particularly when there are comments from Abe Sensei and others about how some people simply weren't shown some things.

Believe what you want. Mochizuki Sensei stands as one of the earliest and deepest students of Morihei Ueshiba and will be remembered and revered long after you and I have even ceased to make our little waves. However, what little I may be remembered for, it is historical fact that I went to the source and drank from the source as deeply as I could. You skimmed the surface for a few years and criticized the greatest based on your experiences with people who never approached Mochizuki Sensei's level of mastery.

Mike Sigman wrote: My point is that you should have stuck to the issues instead of getting into the name calling because name-calling can go both ways and go ways you don't want it to go.

Well, I didn't want it to go that way from the first posts I made on E-Budo in the "ki" thread. You set the tone for our interactions from your earliest communications with me. So point a finger at me and ignore the three you point back at yourself.

Mike Sigman wrote: But now you know. Hopefully we can lay it to rest with you.... it's up to you.

Well, Mike, you begged someone to open this thread so that you could lay out your aikido experience. From all your comments, I thought it would have been a lot longer and that you would have trained with people you at least respected. It could all have been avoided if you had answered the question within the first ten or so times it was asked. Why is it so insulting for you to be asked the same question that anyone on any of these threads would answer without protest?

Mike Sigman wrote: Still, if someone wants to engage in name-calling, maybe we should make it an open topic where people see what happens when it goes back to the source. Maybe that will shut it down a little bit and improve the forum?

Maybe it has more to do with how you address other people than anything else, Mike.

David

Mike Sigman wrote: If there's name-calling

Unless I am mistaken the worst I have said about you is,

"Re: Bush is ...
It is an ongoing problem with Mike.

No matter what thread Mike posts in, the conversation ends up about Mike's self proclaimed specialty. It is not just on this forum but on any forum or website that Mike appears on, all his conversation end up talking about Mike's self proclaimed specialty. Initially he confined himself to informing Tai Chi practitioners that they and their teachers and their teacher's teachers, etc are wrong and he has the answer. But Mike, being the ambitious lad that he is, spread his wings and took to informing other martial artists in Judo and Aikido that they too are not doing it right and that he has the answer to correct the problem that he sees.

There is no problem with Mike being a specialist in internal strength, a practitioner of Tai Chi, or expressing his opinion in the political field. If he is going to claim to have trained in Aikido, have knowledge about Aikido and advice based on his training and experience in Aikido, then he should have no problem telling us who do have training and knowledge about Aikido how long he has trained, what rank he has attained, and who was his Sensei(s).

Is there anyone else who claims to have trained in Aikido on this forum that refuses to show their credentials regarding Aikido?"


And you did.
Am I wrong Mike? If so quote me.

David Orange wrote: It's not an unreasonable thing on an aikido board to ask people what their background is. I've never seen anyone else evade the question or refuse to answer it after having been asked by a number of people.

I don't evade, David. Show me the point why something is being asked and, if it's germane, I will respond. Out of the blue questions of "what are your credentials" are simply rude and beg to be asked back. Now I want Skaggs' teacher's name. Skaggs has been rude enough and unknowledgeable enough that I have a personal suspicion that his teacher is a fraud.... so let's get to the bottom of it, if you think asking is an OK thing to do and isn't rude.

If you'll notice, I personally try to stick to issues and don't ask about someone's "credentials" (in Skaggs' case, yours, and Chalks, I'm making a special exception, which I warned about ahead of time) because they shouldn't be needed. None of the discussions to date have necessitate knowing someone's antecedents... only their knowledge. In your case, you don't know much about a particularly focused subject, yet you have repeatedly used Mochizuki's name as proof that you are "credentialed". Now your own personal lack of knowledge, coupled with your numerous saddling of your expertise onto Mochizuki has demonstrated *exactly* why this call for "credentials" is something you enter at your own peril.

Same with the name calling. Mochizuki is such a jerk that he produced a self-aborbed know-nothing like you???? See, what I mean? It is better to argue the issue. Not really surprisingly, a lot of the "peace and love" crowd are, as I noted before, really just disguised role-players who stand revealed at the first sign their egos aren't taken seriously.

Skaggs? Chalk?

Mike Sigman

David Skaggs wrote: Unless I am mistaken the worst I have said about you is

You went personal, Skaggs, and compounded it to relating it to "credentials". Your teacher's name? It looks like the things I said bothered you and weren't what your teacher taught you, so I'd be willing to assert that your teacher doesn't know much. What is his name, as long as we're getting personal?

Mike Sigman

Mike Sigman wrote: I don't evade, David. Show me the point why something is being asked and, if it's germane, I will respond.

Is providing the title of a book you claim exists that says qi is best translated as ground strength, germane?

You claimed masters were not allowed to challenge Zheng Manqing. Where's your evidence for that?

And many, many more claims.

Out of the blue questions of "what are your credentials" are simply rude and beg to be asked back.

Walter, you were the one who requested to start a thread about you on credentials. Remember?

...I'm waiting for this separate thread on "Aikido Credentials" with bated breath. Should be easy to clear up my credentials...

Moving on.

Skaggs has been rude enough and unknowledgeable enough that I have a personal suspicion that his teacher is a fraud....

Your reasons don't make sense. Someone is rude, therefore you think their teacher is a fraud. LOL.

But a non-teacher, saying a teacher is a fraud..Kinda like when you talk about Judo with someone like Ben Holmes, who is actually referenced in judo book, practices for over 30 years, and still teaches. Your comments are hardly logical their either.


Justin

Actually, what happened is that someone asked about Mike's aikido credentials in a non-aikido thread...THEN Mike said if you want to know about that, open a new thread and he would answer.

You have mis-characterized what occurred. And since the conversations are archived, I can only assume that you did so intentionally.

Best,
Ron

Ron Tisdale wrote: Actually, what happened is that someone asked about Mike's aikido credentials in a non-aikido thread...THEN Mike said if you want to know about that, open a new thread and he would answer. You have mis-characterized what occurred. And since the conversations are archived, I can only assume that you did so intentionally.

I dunno. This guy "Justin" is a complete whack job or a put-up job (don't forget that Stephen J. Goodson is a computer guy and their bizarre personalities are quite similar. They both are in the D.C. area, etc.).

Someone who deeply researches everything I've said and instead of asking perinent questions only asks for "proof" and "source".... this is pretty certifiable behavior.

OTOH, I have to admit that seeing someone openly displaying exactly the kind of personality trait that many of us privately consider pure "Cheng Man Ching'er" is sort of nice. It's like someone volunteering to do a dirty job.

I'm surprised that Jun has let him get by this long, though. Stan would have bounced him from AJ almost immediately, I think. Particularly with this stalking thing. Does anyone here seriously think that "Justin Smith" is on AikiWeb for anything other than to follow me around from thread to thread trying to express some sort of fixation?

Any computer guys want to track him down?

FWIW

Mike

Mike, dps has his dojo and teacher in his profile. Has since you asked for them. I don't see why he would repost them.


Mark

Mike Sigman wrote: Now your own personal lack of knowledge, coupled with your numerous saddling of your expertise onto Mochizuki has demonstrated *exactly* why this call for "credentials" is something you enter at your own peril.

Life is peril, Mike. I'm used to it. But the particular tone of this repeated phrase sounds as if you've been getting some PMs from some of the same people who fed Ken McGrew the baloney that he had to end up eating. If I'm wrong, excuse me. If not, don't take the bait and let them use you as another patsy for things they won't say, themselves, on a public forum.

Mike Sigman wrote: Mochizuki is such a jerk that he produced a self-aborbed know-nothing like you????

It's true I was not worthy of the gifts he gave, but few people are.

Mike Sigman wrote: Not really surprisingly, a lot of the "peace and love" crowd are, as I noted before, really just disguised role-players who stand revealed at the first sign their egos aren't taken seriously.

Surely you aren't lumping me into the "peace and love" crowd? I would like to promote peace and love but, as you can see, I'm not too good at it. In fact, I've taken more dirty shots in training from the fluffy bunny types than I have from hard workers. On the other hand, I didn't retaliate, so maybe I am a peace and love type. What are you? Turmoil and hatred?

Best to you.

David

Mark Gibbons wrote: Mike, dps has his dojo and teacher in his profile. Has since you asked for them. I don't see why he would repost them. Mark

Also, I don't recall if he named his teacher, but he did post an outline of his training history. On this same thread, I think.

David

Ron Tisdale wrote: Actually, what happened is that someone asked about Mike's aikido credentials in a non-aikido thread...THEN Mike said if you want to know about that, open a new thread and he would answer.

Ron, as I recall, Justin made some comments about tai chi on the pushhands thread and Mike demanded his credentials. And Justin asked what Mike's aikido credentials were, seeing that that had come up on other threads. Correct me if I'm wrong.

And since I had asked Mike about his aikido background (not "credentials", BTW--just where, how long and with whom) I decided to open this thread when Mike basically demanded it.

All I ever wanted to know was "where, how long and with whom".

Good night.

David

Mike Sigman wrote: I dunno. This guy "Justin" is a complete whack job or a put-up job (don't forget that Stephen J. Goodson is a computer guy and their bizarre personalities are quite similar. They both are in the D.C. area, etc.).

Face it, some people disagree with your non-majority points and have no problems telling you and others about it, and telling you again and again when you bring up your non-majority points as if they are fact.

But maybe me, Goodson, Holmes, Orange, and everyone else who disagrees with you are the same person. (cue scary music)

Someone who deeply researches everything I've said ...

Translation: did a 2 min Google, follows links others have provided, reads threads on aikiweb, is familiar from reading other boards with Sigman's behavior.

Does anyone here seriously think that "Justin Smith" is on AikiWeb for anything other than to follow me around ..

I try to point out bias, disagreements, sources, and ask questions wherever I go. If those happen to be your threads, that is not my issue. Also, if you directly ask me questions or talk about me, please don't play dumb and accuse me of stalking after I respond to you.


Justin

Back on topic...

One of the more special documents I am in possession of.

Honorary member of the, wait, ... it's not the usual reading ... Super Wakamono Massage Kurabu, with extra credits ???? I can see why it's "special" for you, mate

That aside, congrats on your grade!

It's not the grade silly. Nor is it the document itself.
It's what the document helps me to remember. I earned the rank under the tutelage of Yamaguchi Sensei, a truly wonderful man with exquisite aikido. The memories are worth more than any document.
Still, it is one of the coolest documents I own.

Well, I hope you have your Aikido passport -- that would have Yamaguchi shihan's signature in it. The certificate is given out by the Aikikai, and therefore signed by Kisshomaru Ueshiba in your case. I agree, the memories make it. I'm sure I still have my certificates somewhere, but I can't seem to remember where...

Gernot Hassenpflug wrote: Well, I hope you have your Aikido passport -- that would have Yamaguchi shihan's signature in it

Of course I do.

Having aikido experience isn't a requirement to post on here I'm guessing but in all fairness if someone (in general) is going to talk ABOUT aikido and make references etc.. then they should, when asked, provide credentials or experience. It's only fair and probably goes a long way towards sorting out solid advice from experience and people using second and third hand information.

Am I the only weirdo who has scanned his/her rank certificate?

Nope. But I don't post mine...

Best,
Ron (not that there's anything wrong with that...)

Ron Tisdale wrote: Nope. But I don't post mine... Best, Ron (not that there's anything wrong with that...)

Which begs my next questions...
Am I the only weirdo to have posted one?
And is it considered "bad form" to do so?

I'm such a thread killer.

At the very least you could have Photoshopped (or GIMPed) it to elevate yourself
to the rank of jodan :-)