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Old 03-20-2010, 02:47 PM   #26
SeiserL
 
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Location: Florida Gulf coast
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Re: Being your own teacher

Quote:
Francis Takahashi wrote: View Post
Counsel gently, listen compassionately, and encourage courageously, but refrain from usurping the person's right to choose.
Osu Sensei,
Spot on and beautifully said.
Rei, Domo.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 03-20-2010, 09:48 PM   #27
David Yap
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 561
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Re: Being your own teacher

Quote:
Francis Takahashi wrote: View Post
Free advice may not be worth the price to both give and receive it. You get what you pay for, no more, no less.

I have been told that advice must be given in a miserly fashion, only when it is specifically requested, or if an emergency exists.

Wizard's Second Rule may apply. "The greatest Harm may come from the desire to do the greatest Good."

Counsel gently, listen compassionately, and encourage courageously, but refrain from usurping the person's right to choose.

Any decision made privately, may be changed without fan fare. A decision made publicly, may well invite the unwitting bondage of wounded pride, false ego and the fear of embarrassment. Being a friend, means allowing each other to be human, and to learn from acting as one. Acting in Aiki, may well form the basis for the best support possible.

In this way, we will truly become our own teacher
Thank you very much for your kind wisdom, sensei.

I wish you have had come on board the forum much earlier, cause it would have saved me from enduring so much grief.

Warm regards

David Y
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Old 03-21-2010, 10:19 AM   #28
Marc Abrams
Dojo: Aikido Arts of Shin Budo Kai/ Bedford Hills, New York
Location: New York
Join Date: May 2006
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Re: Being your own teacher

Quote:
Francis Takahashi wrote: View Post
Free advice may not be worth the price to both give and receive it. You get what you pay for, no more, no less.

I have been told that advice must be given in a miserly fashion, only when it is specifically requested, or if an emergency exists.

Wizard's Second Rule may apply. "The greatest Harm may come from the desire to do the greatest Good."

Counsel gently, listen compassionately, and encourage courageously, but refrain from usurping the person's right to choose.

Any decision made privately, may be changed without fan fare. A decision made publicly, may well invite the unwitting bondage of wounded pride, false ego and the fear of embarrassment. Being a friend, means allowing each other to be human, and to learn from acting as one. Acting in Aiki, may well form the basis for the best support possible.

In this way, we will truly become our own teacher
Francis:

Beautifully spoken words of wisdom! One of my mentors in my graduate psychology training simplified things by explaining things in terms of the law of supply and demand with therapeutic interpretations. He said that the supply of valid interpretations far exceeded it's legitimate demand.

If a person is not ready to receive the information, they they simply will not. I think that the importance of a teacher is to be a guide so that a student will know how to explore what they need to learn.

Marc Abrams
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Old 03-21-2010, 03:26 PM   #29
gregstec
Dojo: Aiki Kurabu
Location: Elizabethtown, PA
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Re: Being your own teacher

Quote:
Budd Yuhasz wrote: View Post
Well, I'm at the kind of place where I almost "have to" be my own teacher for a bit . . recently moved to a new environment . . have a young child and another on the way . . not looking to do someone else's version of aikido - pretty set in continuing to work within the aikido shape as Ellis Amdur developed at the Itten Dojo - while also pursuing my obsession with internal strength training - while also occasionally getting around to "scrap" *cough* I mean train with other folks (really, I smile and am friendly) . .

But given that life is going to keep me from regular formal classes for a while . . and that I am not looking to change what I'm working on (especially given the progress I feel like is being made) . . I'll probably end up seeing if anyone else wants to do what I do at some point and if a small study group forms, cool, but not worrying about it too much at this point. I'm pretty selfish in chasing what I want to work on.
Hi Budd,

Sorry to hear you left the area - what you intend to do is what we do here at E-town Aiki-Kurabu. We all have a focus on Aiki and essentially teach each other during our study group sessions. However, due to our associations with Howard Popkin and Dan Harden, we have two excellent sources of knowledge that leads our training and helps us grow.

Good Luck in your new location.

Greg

(ps: say hello to your wife for me - it was always fun training with her when I stopped in at Itten)
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Old 03-22-2010, 01:15 AM   #30
aikishihan
Dojo: aikido academy/alhambra,california
Location: Los Angeles, California
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Re: Being your own teacher

Hello Marc,

Interesting analogy to a basic scientific principle, valid for economics, psychology and whatever else.

Perhaps being an effective teacher is kind of like being a river, bringing life preserving sustenance, not to individuals, but rather to an area of need, and not being concerned as to which parched plants and animals get their share.

I have found it beyond my ability to predict which students would or could benefit from training or instruction, being content to see which ones actually do over a period of time. My function is to keep "putting it out there" and accept whatever happens.

It is especially gratifying to observe the few that do get it, as they evolve into being self reliant and inner motivated teachers in their own right.

Thank you for your kind thoughts and your experiences. I really enjoy your perspective on things. Please keep the faith!

francis

Last edited by aikishihan : 03-22-2010 at 01:20 AM.
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Old 03-22-2010, 10:16 AM   #31
Budd
 
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Dojo: Taikyoku Budo & Kiko - NY, PA, MD
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Re: Being your own teacher

Hi Greg:

No idea what I'm going to end up doing at this point. There's enough trappings in various "budo" models that I want to avoid to get to the "cut-through-the-shit-and-train" stuffs . . but given what I hope to continue working on - not sure how much to hold onto versus eliminate, so some questions to ask myself and others as I go along. I'll probably go play with the aikido, bjj, judo and mma folks up in this area to start with after the next kid is born, just to see what they're up to.

Dan is fun to train with and I hope to see him again at some point. Howard I have enjoyed chatting with offline and will hopefully meet up with him at some point in the near future. At this point, I am pretty happy working on what I've got to work on, rather than collecting much more "new stuff". Love the efficient model of Ellis's riff on aikido. Love working on internal strength training. Love meeting up and banging with people that have a good attitude. Just trying to keep it simple.

Students, belts, organizations, clubs, belonging to a tribe somewhere beyond just training . . meh . . . not so much.

I'll tell K you said hello - she had fun making you go "splat".
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Old 03-22-2010, 07:54 PM   #32
gdandscompserv
 
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Re: Being your own teacher

Quote:
David Yap wrote: View Post
Thank you very much for your kind wisdom, sensei.

I wish you have had come on board the forum much earlier, cause it would have saved me from enduring so much grief.

Warm regards

David Y
Takahashi Sensei also exemplifies this same spirit in person. Truly one of the giants of our aikido world.
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Old 03-23-2010, 07:44 AM   #33
gregstec
Dojo: Aiki Kurabu
Location: Elizabethtown, PA
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,110
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Re: Being your own teacher

Quote:
Budd Yuhasz wrote: View Post
Hi Greg:

No idea what I'm going to end up doing at this point. There's enough trappings in various "budo" models that I want to avoid to get to the "cut-through-the-shit-and-train" stuffs . . but given what I hope to continue working on - not sure how much to hold onto versus eliminate, so some questions to ask myself and others as I go along. I'll probably go play with the aikido, bjj, judo and mma folks up in this area to start with after the next kid is born, just to see what they're up to.

Dan is fun to train with and I hope to see him again at some point. Howard I have enjoyed chatting with offline and will hopefully meet up with him at some point in the near future. At this point, I am pretty happy working on what I've got to work on, rather than collecting much more "new stuff". Love the efficient model of Ellis's riff on aikido. Love working on internal strength training. Love meeting up and banging with people that have a good attitude. Just trying to keep it simple.

Students, belts, organizations, clubs, belonging to a tribe somewhere beyond just training . . meh . . . not so much.

I'll tell K you said hello - she had fun making you go "splat".
Not sure how far Rochester is from you, but there is an Aikido group there that also trains with Howard - a great group of people to train with.

Going 'splat' was fun - she was good at it, as well as some other folks

Good luck
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Old 03-25-2010, 02:52 AM   #34
edshockley
Dojo: Aiklikai of Philadelphia
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 92
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Re: Being your own teacher

In Swahili there is no word of "learn." "Funza" means "to teach." Placing "ji" in front of a word makes it reflexive so the "jifunza" means "to teach oneself." This altered cultural perspective requests a different attitude from the pupil. No matter who is leading the class, the teacher is always the student who must actively pursue awareness. I find that the longer I train the more carefully I must search to find the lesson in the technique or sword cut that I have performed thousands of times. That willingness to search combined with the faith that there is something to be found and the gift of a talented guide (sensei/uke/video/seminar) is for me the meditation of aikido.
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