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Old 01-12-2006, 07:33 PM   #1
Edwin Neal
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Ai symbol Standards of testing???

I have brushed this in several threads now so here we go:

1. Should there be documented standardized criterion/requirements for ranks across aikido "associations" ie like everone uses hombu or iwama requirements for example?

2. Do you think your dojo requirements are easy-realistic-bloody hard?

3. Could we put up a blog or db on what requirements are a various dojo/organizations?

4. Does anyone really care that some schools basically give you a belt for tying your belt properly or just showing up to a minimun number of classes?

I guess I have some issues with consistency, because of my exposure to what some people might term aikidance or bullshido ie stuff that gives all those trolls the impression that aikido is not a real MA and stuff like that?

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-12-2006, 08:59 PM   #2
aikidoc
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Re: Standards of testing???

Consistent test requirements is highly unlikely-we wouldn't have a need for all the organizations if theat happened.

The aikikai's requirements are on their website.

Different strokes for different folks. There's one group I'm aware of that the shodans promoted their sensei to 6th dan from what I understand.
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Old 01-12-2006, 09:20 PM   #3
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

yeah but there is only one aikido from osensei the different organizations came as a result of personalities and politics for the most part... Am I the only person that finds it ironic that the art of peace and harmony and unity with all of creation is splintered in to Okami knows how many derivation/bastardizations??? like on that thread about seagal he's good but 7th dan ... nah i think he needs a little more practice to fill that hakama! You get guys who take a seminar or get their black belt in 6 months and then the write a book on thier style of aikido and they are suddenly 10th dan wtf???
need for organizations??? we don't need no stinkin organizations ;-)...
how about just a base line standard for shodan?
say we all use one set of minimum requirements that could be added to but not abridged?

any thoughts??? anybody? anybody at all???

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-12-2006, 11:14 PM   #4
Kevin Temple
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Re: Standards of testing???

I think that people who accept lower standards are only cheating themselves. That said, we have no right to impose on the testing methods and standards of other organizations/styles/dojos. Maybe they are giving some dojos with higher standards a bad name, but we have to remember that everyone interprets aikido in their own ways, and some may value different aspects of it more than others. I don't have respect for dojos that churn out blackbelts or gloss over what i consider to be important to executing techniques, but for all i know they might not respect my dojo for something else. I don't think anyone has the authority to impose on someone teaching a different style of aikido. In the case of members of organizations on the other hand, if a dojo wants to be a part of the organization or style, they should be up to the standards of said organization.
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Old 01-12-2006, 11:53 PM   #5
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

yes yes very politically correct, BUT as we all study AIKIDO, the art of peace and harmony and ultimate unity with all of creation, founded by one man Osensei, how can we reconcile having no unity within our community especially with regard to knowledge of and ability in the same martial art? does this not devalue all aikido and aikidoka... if aikido is anything anybody interprets it be, then how can that be Osensei's Aikido?

"The Art of Peace is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On occasion the Voice of Peace resounds like thunder, jolting people out of their stupor."
-O'Sensei

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 06:30 AM   #6
Nick Simpson
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Re: Standards of testing???

I know what your saying, but I think your fighting a losing battle here. There are different styles and different associations, yes they arose from personalities and politics, but thats life. And it has given us some wondrous diversity and options for studying many different 'ways'. If you dont like the standards where you train, then dont train there, look for a dojo/sensei that matches the criteria that you want in your aikido training. Dont try and impose your ideas of standardization on the rest of us

They're all screaming about the rock n roll, but I would say that it's getting old. - REFUSED.
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Old 01-13-2006, 06:52 AM   #7
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

its not about imposition its about unification baby just blend it all together... i just think its kind of ironic and even hypocritical... the way of harmony... ha... the way of disharmony... i have no problem with my practice or my senseis judgement... I just think there is alot of freaky stuff floating around packaged like aikido, but we (aikido students) just allow "evil to triumph" because of our in activity/apathy... try this: Osensei gave us all a car to share... most of us arent bothering to keep the oil changed and some of us are siphoning out the gas to use in their own cars!!!

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 07:10 AM   #8
Nick Simpson
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Re: Standards of testing???

Let other people do their thing. I do mine. Thats it as far as Im concerned. What can you do? tell people you dont like what their doing or that they are wrong? See how far that gets you...

They're all screaming about the rock n roll, but I would say that it's getting old. - REFUSED.
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Old 01-13-2006, 07:16 AM   #9
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

I would never tell any one they were wrong especially if the happen to be an 11th dan superKi aikido ninja I'd stand around with a bunch of real aikidoka til they learned it for themselves...
I'm not saying anybodies wrong but a little unification and coordinartion and HARMONY would go a little way...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 07:23 AM   #10
Nick Simpson
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Re: Standards of testing???

Of course it would, but thats not the real world is it?

They're all screaming about the rock n roll, but I would say that it's getting old. - REFUSED.
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Old 01-13-2006, 07:36 AM   #11
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

We Aikidoka dont live in the real world we run around in pajamas and skirts hollering and swinging wooden swords ... they should probably put us in a padded room... hey thats not a bad idea is it?

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 07:52 AM   #12
Steve Morabito
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Re: Standards of testing???

Great topic, very interesting. We don't test or have ranks at my dojo. There are several reasons why I believe testing doesn't fit in with the philosophies of Aikido at the current time. Most (if not all) current testing in aikido is about measuring performance by using non-standardized methodologies. I would argue that Aikido is not about performance. American culture is very performance and goal-oriented, and this doesn't help much in changing attitudes about this subject. People have tried to take a system of grading/ranking and testing from other martial arts and fit that into Aikido. It's like trying to put a square block into a round hole. Aikido is a "true budo", a budo of love. It is about neither performance nor competition. This sets it apart from all other martial arts as unique. So I would argue that there are few (if any) methods of testing out there currently in aikido that are in accord with the philosophy of true budo. An individual who wears a hakama in our dojo is regarded as a "pillar of the dojo." He or she has shown their devotion to aikido, to the dojo, and to their personal growth. They have undergone a process of self evaluation and exploration, and have incorporated feedback from others into their practice. It is a very long process for some, as there are no grades, tests or kyu/dan ranks. Nonetheless I feel that this is closer to the way things should be with regard to advancement in aikido. I would hope that all hakama wearers across the world would be considered a "pillar of THEIR dojo", but this is almost certainly not true. I'm not saying our dojo's way is the best way, just a better way... a way that is more in accordance with the philosophies of aikido, in my opinion. I think the aikido community should develop a reasonable system of grading that is in accordance with the philosophies of aikido itself, and then standardize that system across organizations as much as possible.
Thanks for listening.
Steve
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Old 01-13-2006, 08:01 AM   #13
Mike James
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Re: Standards of testing???

Aikido is about improving and polishing YOURSELF. We don't buy into other people's "stuff". We keep in our center and BLEND with them. This is true whether you are being robbed/attacked on the street, dealing with bosses /co-workers, or with all the trivial matters that seemingly divide all the organizations. O Sensei old us to watch him, but make Aikido our own. All the different ways/styles in how technique is/can be done makes it more interesting and gives me a sense of constant newness and helps me keep my shoshin (beginner's mind). Instead of bickering and touting Organizational party lines, we should seek out and embrace as much diversity as we can, keep what we like and works for us, and move past the rest.

masakatsu agatsu
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Old 01-13-2006, 08:05 AM   #14
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

good post ... some people want to rant... i appreciate your thoughts...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 08:08 AM   #15
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

BUT as we all study AIKIDO, the art of peace and harmony and ultimate unity with all of creation, founded by one man Osensei, how can we reconcile having no unity within our community especially with regard to knowledge of and ability in the same martial art? does this not devalue all aikido and aikidoka... if aikido is anything anybody interprets it be, then how can that be Osensei's Aikido?

"The Art of Peace is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On occasion the Voice of Peace resounds like thunder, jolting people out of their stupor."
-O'Sensei

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Edwin Neal

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Old 01-13-2006, 08:18 AM   #16
Steve Morabito
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Re: Standards of testing???

Quote:
Edwin Neal wrote:
good post ... some people want to rant... i appreciate your thoughts...
Regrets if you thought I was ranting. I hope I have contributed something meaningful... that was the intention.
Steve
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Old 01-13-2006, 08:24 AM   #17
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

no steve i liked your posting please tell us more if you like...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 08:35 AM   #18
Mike James
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Re: Standards of testing???

Quote:
"The Art of Peace is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On occasion the Voice of Peace resounds like thunder, jolting people out of their stupor."
-O'Sensei
This quote refers to each of us individually. The word "within" means within OURSELVES. The only reason there are divisions in anything is because different people are competing and want to be "right". Since there is no competition in Aikido, the divisions we experience just show that everyone still has work to do in polishing themselves and "slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within". IMHO.

masakatsu agatsu
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Old 01-13-2006, 05:06 PM   #19
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

True mike, but aikido is Both an individual and a community activity... as you need at a minimum nage and uke...what I am getting at is as the community or Family of aikido should we not have some internal consistency and a certain amount of community awareness... It also seems that if just anyone can call "whatever" they are doing aikido, then isn't the aikido of Osensei gone or tarnished or devalued somehow... again I want to state that I am not ATTACKING anyone... I just think this is a topic that we should discuss without rancor... if everyone understood Osensei's teaching in their own way that implies that some are closer to its truth and some farther from it... i don't BLAME or Demonize anyone for this... but shouldn't we work together to help all of us more clearly refine and understand the teaching... OR should we allow this ART that we all love devolve into something like: AIKIDO IS________ fill in the blank with ANYTHING no matter how absurd or far from the truth of true aikido?
again i am interested in a lively, respectful discussion of this topic...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 06:05 PM   #20
ElizabethCastor
 
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Re: Standards of testing???

Edwin,
You've posed an interesting topic and I like the encouragement to probe and hold discussion for discussions sake. Thanks!

Quote:
Edwin Neal wrote:
what I am getting at is as the community or Family of aikido should we not have some internal consistency and a certain amount of community awareness...
But we DO delvelop consistancies and awareness from within as a community... we have websites like this one and others for discussing aikido, and developing what "aiki" means and how pracitces could be, and maybe should be. People who are dedicated to the art eventually find these resources and thier journey and growth in Aikido flow.

As for my response to the standardization of ranks... . I say respectfully: "No... we don't need to make them all the same." As said in posts above, there would cease to be all the different organizations and variety if we do that. Does that variety create some inconsistancies? Yes! Do some of those "inconsistancies" result in the Waffle-Dojos famous for their not-so-aikido? Unfotunately, yes. However, such variety sometimes gives us a chance to polish and really focus on areas like ki, movement, balance, timing, power, footwork, dynamics, philosophy and on and on and on.... (for me its all that variety and DEPTH that hooked me and hasn't let me go!)
Quote:
its about unification, baby, just blend it all together... i just think its kind of ironic and even hypocritical... the way of harmony... ha... the way of disharmony... i have no problem with my practice or my senseis judgement... I just think there is alot of freaky stuff floating around packaged like aikido, but we (aikido students) just allow "evil to triumph" because of our in activity/apathy
Its the old soup versus salad analogy. You speak of a melting pot of blended information. But inevitably the soup cooks together and all the stuff tastes the same. I prefer the salad approach myself, all the different things get tossed in the same "bowl." Sometimes I get a gross "mushroom", or "anchovy" or even a rotten bit of veggie , but I can identify the things I find yucky and push them aside. I throw away the rotten stuff, as anyone would. But you know, there are some folks who love the "mushrooms" that I so quickly discard. And you know what? They dislike and discard other things . So who am I to judge? (I hope that made sense.)

And finally, there you make a few mentions along the lines of:
Quote:
Edwin Neal wrote:
then isn't the aikido of Osensei gone or tarnished or devalued somehow...
I don't think so, really. You have a choice here (as on the mat) of being devalued. If you choose to accept this label you wind up battling every "questionable" dojo, meeting it in a judgemental way that can quickly become an engaged fight. Why not F-L-O-W and BLEND with these dojos? Share the experience and strengths of your practice and take in the "strengths and experiences" of that other place. Take what you want, leave the rest and be okay with it.

Again, thanks for the open dialogue and the continued encouragement to share without criticism... it will be interesting to hear other voices too!

Elizabeth
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Old 01-13-2006, 06:15 PM   #21
Aristeia
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Re: Standards of testing???

I don't want to be doing O'sensei's Aikido and neither should anyone else. I want to do mine. There were splinters both before and after Ueshiba's death and that's as it should be. Why would we all want to be doing the same thing? Find the school and teacher and training method that suits you and away you go.

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"
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Old 01-13-2006, 06:37 PM   #22
MaryKaye
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Re: Standards of testing???

I think it is a mistake to identify "unity" with "everyone has to be the same."

I train regularly at one dojo and semi-regularly at another. There is a very important aikido unity here--both dojo recognize me as a student of aikido and do not hassle me over the cross-training or waste their energy in "who is better?" struggles. But there is no unity of testing requirements, nor could there be as one dojo bans techniques which the other considers integral to their style. The ukemi are also startlingly different.

If they were somehow forced to teach the same style, what good would it do me to have two of them? I love this situation precisely because it is so full of differences and surprises, so my mind is kept agile (and frequently boggled). Also, I strongly believe that for each dojo, there are advances in the art which they would be more likely to find than the other, because of their different style and philosophy. Force them together and you would tend to end up with fewer innovations.

I think that something forced to be homogeneous is probably also going to be forced to be static, unchanging. It's really hard to make changes if they have to be accepted by every aikido school in the world, all at once. It's much easier if some schools can experiment with new material, see how it works, and then convince (or not) other schools--the way it seems to be happening with different styles of ukemi within Aikikai in the United States right now. If uniformity were enforced, either no one could use the new-style ukemi, or everyone would have to; in either case we would have a lot less chance to judge whether they are helpful, much less to decide that they help some people and not others.

And if aikido cannot change or grow, I think it will die off. Why participate in an art where you can only copy what someone else has already done, and never find anything new?

If you really, really need to know if your aikido is more valid than someone else's, you can fight with them. It's not very aiki but sometimes it's the most satisfactory answer to this question. Trying to get a rank-granting organization to settle the fight for you is just going to be an exercise in frustration, and doesn't really do anything to change the basic motivation--it's still "I want to prove mine is better than theirs." It doesn't become any more aiki by being done by a ranking association rather than you personally.

(I have a streak of this in my temperment. So far my experience is that no matter where I visit, if someone is ranked much above me he or she can wipe the mat with me. Occasionally I can excel at specific tricky things which my home dojo emphasizes, but I have never hassled a senior student without being quickly shown that they are, indeed, senior.)

Mary Kaye
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Old 01-13-2006, 07:12 PM   #23
Edwin Neal
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Re: Standards of testing???

Elizabeth thank you... very good post...

I may have been a little less than clear... I believe that we as a community Do have a responsibility to actively ensure that Mc dojo's don't show up... i too love the variety but we can keep that without allowing those kind of inconsistencies...

a quick anecdote: I moved back to my home town and as a result have been in a break in my formal training. I practice the things I have learned and took the opportunity to meet some of the other MA's in my hometown. I met some great people, a great Kung Fu teacher, Arnis instructors, BJJ and even one ronin aikidoka that became my training partner, but I meet one guy who had a dojo where he advertised TKD, Karate, and then later in smaller letters cardio karate, aikido and jujutsu... I visited this place before the later additions... My first visit was what I expected TKD. Kicks and some such was the curriculum. He was cordial and i polite, i enjoyed my workout, i followed and did the kicks and punch drills, had some small talk after class, and that was it. Some time later after the addition I went back with my friend the aikidoka(kyu rank). As before the class before was working kicking and punching techniques, but when we came in the sensei announced that he would show some aikido-like techniques. He proceeds to get an uke and demonstrate tapping on hands and bending (slightly) wrist, and even pointing at uke, and the uke's being "thrown" here and yonder or pinned. I said nothing but we joined the class. We did the "waza" as demonstrated and as we practiced it my partner and I added our aiki to it ie if he did something like kotegaeshi we slowly did a kote gaeshi. the sensei upon seeing this announced to the class that we were "doing advanced versions of the techniques. Okay I have no problem with that, but as we are going along he begins to say things like "you dont have to do that" and "you use chi instead of physical force (yes "chi"), and as Im showing one of the white belts the grip for kote gaeshi (which we had practiced as a warmup exercise ie kotegaeshi undo) he raises his voice and asks "why do you have to do it that way?" I reply the proper grip gives you control seigyo of your attacker. He goes off with "I had complete control... are you saying I didn't have control... and that "this is my dojo!" Well I didn't argue I just said yes sensei and my friend and I started to leave (it was time to go anyway). I discussed it with my freind and he feels like I do that for this guy who had no training in aikido (yes i am sure), yet was claiming to teach aikido to be able to just set up shop and peddle crap to unsuspecting students was irresponsible, as he made claims of effectiveness and self-defense and such.
shouldn't we have some kind of authority as Aikidoka to make sure if you say you teach aikido that you do? That people who, say, have a shodan and thus a certain level of training, have a certain minimum standard. I'm not saying make every school or organization test the same... But could we just use a base line standard for shodan? say we all use one set of minimum requirements that could be added to but not abridged? or should we have some umbrella authority that recognized "authorized" instructors?

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-13-2006, 07:16 PM   #24
RebeccaM
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Re: Standards of testing???

I need to get to an expo some day just to see what's going on with all the branches of the family. However, my overall impression is that, in the end, it's all more or less the same. We're just taking different paths.

The trouble with setting a single standard is I don't think that there's any sort of canon in aikido. As far as I can tell, most of the different styles arose from the students who studied with Ueshiba at different points in his life. So who's right? The guy who got the training when Osensei was a young man or the guy who got it when he was an old man? And who decides?

Further, as far as so many branches are concerned, other arts are the same. How many flavors of karate are there? I used to study Shotokan. I'd do fine in any other Shotokan club because the JKA has got things standardized to a freakish degree. However, I wouldn't even know the name of the first kata at an Enshin or Wado-ryu school. Yet it's still karate.

This is probably worth a thread in and of itself, but Mary, I'm curious. What is this style of ukemi that you speak of? I ask simply because I've always seen ukemi as something rather personal. Sure, you learn to roll and take high falls but at a certain point your ukemi becomes your ukemi. It's not what your Sensei taught you to do anymore, it's what your body is capable of, what you're willing to do, and, most importantly, what you have to do to keep nage from breaking you. As long as uke is maintaining a good and honest connection and no one's getting hurt, what difference do the details make?
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Old 01-13-2006, 07:36 PM   #25
Faith Hansen
 
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Re: Standards of testing???

[
Quote:
1. Should there be documented standardized criterion/requirements for ranks across aikido "associations" ie like everone uses hombu or iwama requirements for example?
Nah, some of the styles are too different. And a change that big is not going to happen. Even if it was a good idea (not necessarily) it is unrealistic to think that it could happen.

Quote:
2. Do you think your dojo requirements are easy-realistic-bloody hard?
Realistic, at times bloody hard.

Quote:
3. Could we put up a blog or db on what requirements are a various dojo/organizations?
I've seen a few threads that asked this same thing. Not a great deal fo dojos answered. What are YOUR dojo requirements?

Quote:
4. Does anyone really care that some schools basically give you a belt for tying your belt properly or just showing up to a minimun number of classes?
Wow, which dojos are those? The belt tying rank is a little far-fetched there sir. And why do you care so much about rank in other dojos? How does it affect YOUR aikido? Maybe you should take some of your ranting energy and apply it to your own training instead of worrying about how everyone else is faring. Aikido is about self growth. And yeah, there are McDojos out there, but what are ya gonna do? It doesn't matter what the trolls think. Do you think O'Sensei would have cared? I think he would have shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and kept training.

-Fae
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