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Old 12-26-2004, 12:30 AM   #1
AikiWeb System
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Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

AikiWeb Poll for the week of December 26, 2004:

Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?
  • I don't do aikido
  • Yes
  • No
Here are the current results.
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Old 12-26-2004, 03:31 PM   #2
DaveO
Dojo: Great Wave Aikido
Location: Alberta, Canada
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 543
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

Good question.
Ours would; I think; though it wouldn't nearly be as fun a place as it is.
We'd be able to muddle through until someone else capable (and of the appropriate rank) came along; though at the moment there's no-one else immediately available (rank wise) to step into the breach.

Answers are only easy when they're incomplete.
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Old 12-27-2004, 12:49 AM   #3
MaryKaye
Dojo: Seattle Ki Society
Location: Seattle
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 522
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

I know we could, because we are....(health issues).

We have a strong "learning to teach" emphasis so there are a lot of people who can teach at various levels--that hasn't been a big problem. Strategic decision-making is a much bigger one. It's tempting to put decisions off but that only works for so long.

I think it helps a lot if responsibility is already shared before the crisis hits; if an organization is run by one person, his/her absence is likely to destroy it. If an organization plans to last a long time it's important to have at least two people (ideally more) who can carry out any given task--do the budget, pay the taxes/bills/rent, plan the schedule, set the syllabus, whatever.

Mary Kaye
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Old 12-27-2004, 12:54 AM   #4
PeterR
 
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Dojo: Shodokan Honbu (Osaka)
Location: Himeji, Japan
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)

For Honbu no problem. A strong core and a coveted position.

For my group - that depends on Honbu.

Don't want either to happen.

Peter Rehse Shodokan Aikido
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Old 12-27-2004, 05:27 PM   #5
Neil Mick
Dojo: Aikido of Santa Cruz
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 225
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

It would be a different place without Sensei; but yes--I believe the dojo would carry on, in her absence.
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Old 12-27-2004, 06:00 PM   #6
seank
Location: Victoria
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 132
Australia
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

I hope so. We are facing losing our chief instructor at present (he has decided to move on to other things (and inter-state)). Our Sempai is working hard to prepare for the inevitable hole this will leave, but it will still be a lot of work for everyone.

I do think that a change like this tests the mettle of the dojo and the quality of the students; it is by everyone accepting responsibility that I believe we have a good chance of continuing and surviving.
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Old 12-27-2004, 07:42 PM   #7
Qatana
 
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Dojo: Aikido of Petaluma, Petaluma,CA
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure that those of us who have chosen our dojo did so because we chose Sensei., not a location or a pedigree- the other sensei in this town has exactly the same lineage.

Q
http://www.aikidopetaluma.com/
www.knot-working.com

"It is not wise to be incautious when confronting a little smiling bald man"'- Rule #1
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Old 12-28-2004, 08:30 AM   #8
SeiserL
 
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Location: Florida Gulf coast
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

Phong Sensei (Tenshinkai Aikido) would be an impossible act to follow. To honor him, many of us would so our best. It would not be the same.

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 12-28-2004, 09:31 AM   #9
Charles Hill
Dojo: Numazu Aikikai/Aikikai Honbu Dojo
Location: Three Lakes WI/ Mishima Japan
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 837
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

I think that this is a difference between most Japanese and American dojo. (I don't know about other countries.) In my experience, every Japanese dojo is strongly centered around a specific individual. We don't study Aikido, we (ideally) study the instructor. In contrast, in the States, I often hear things like, students should learn from a variety of sources, go to other dojo and seminars and come back and share what you learned, you have to discover "your" Aikido, etc. I think that this is a huge difference that doesn't get a lot of attention. In my dojo, the answer is a 100% no.

Charles Hill
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Old 12-28-2004, 11:45 AM   #10
BC
Location: Chicago, IL
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)

Quote:
AikiWeb System wrote:
AikiWeb Poll for the week of December 26, 2004:

Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?
Mine has

Robert Cronin
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Old 12-28-2004, 02:02 PM   #11
Bronson
 
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Dojo: Seiwa Dojo and Southside Dojo
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

If we lost both senior instructors at my sensei's dojo I think it would struggle for a while but eventually fold. One or two of the senior students might start their own clubs/classes but those would be their own entities.

If I was no longer available to teach at the dojo I'm at I have no doubt it would continue in some fashion.

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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Old 12-28-2004, 06:02 PM   #12
MaryKaye
Dojo: Seattle Ki Society
Location: Seattle
Join Date: Dec 2003
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

I come from definitely an "American-style" dojo in that regard. For my first year I wondered if I was anyone's student in particular. Then I visited another school of our style; they looked at me and said "You're Grigsby sensei's student!" and I decided that was probably true.... No idea what they were looking at, though.

Mary Kaye
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Old 12-28-2004, 06:51 PM   #13
Lan Powers
Dojo: Aikido of Midland, Midland TX
Location: Midland Tx
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)?

>If we lost both senior instructors at my sensei's dojo I think it would struggle for a while but eventually fold<
Pretty much the same thoughts here. It would stagger, and eventually stop (in it's current incarnation)
but the "core" folk would still train somewhere .
I would hate to see that.
Lan

Play nice, practice hard, but remember, this is a MARTIAL art!
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Old 12-28-2004, 07:22 PM   #14
PeterR
 
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Re: Poll: Do you think your aikido dojo would survive without its chief instructor(s)

Quote:
Charles Hill wrote:
I think that this is a difference between most Japanese and American dojo. (I don't know about other countries.) In my experience, every Japanese dojo is strongly centered around a specific individual. We don't study Aikido, we (ideally) study the instructor. In contrast, in the States, I often hear things like, students should learn from a variety of sources, go to other dojo and seminars and come back and share what you learned, you have to discover "your" Aikido, etc. I think that this is a huge difference that doesn't get a lot of attention. In my dojo, the answer is a 100% no.
Charles Hill
Hi Charles - very good point about the difference. However, numerous examples of a student or group of students taking the place of a dead sensei in Japan. Often, with advancing old age, there is an effort to designate successor.

Peter Rehse Shodokan Aikido
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