Dojo clique

Did you have a situation in which a group of people in the dojo trained in another martial art (Tae Kwon Do), parallel to training in aikido, and formed a sort of "clique" that made things a little "inconvenient" for others in the dojo that were training only in Aikido?

How did it go from there? Any thoughts?

Ummmmm...no

I dont like the idea of a clique and strongly disocourage anything like that developing whenever I train whether it be teaching or training. Everyone should be there to train with everybody else and everyone doing Aikido together. Although I do appreciate how this can happen and sympathise if its happening to you....have a quiet word with your instructor, they'll be more than willing to help im sure, a lot can be done by some simple class management.

Hope this helps? Its just my thoughts on the matter

Best regards

Chris

My answer: never happened to me, my teacher offers too much.

Ask yourself if they're taking aikido to expand horizons (ask your gut, not the part of you that likes the word <<clique>>).

Yes[they're earnest]: question what you believe to be true.

No[they're narrow mind and threatening]: is this the pain of your ego withering away? Or, do you think aikido can't handle it?

Aikido encompasses all martial arts, and brings to focus weakness in concept, weakness in execution and weakness in one's choice in dojo(ang).

Move on, literally or figuratively.

I've seen cliques set up in dojos between different group(expereince, another martial art, work together). I've never found it too much of a problem if your main goal is to learn aikido. However socially, the instructor has some responsbility to encourage integration and inclusion.

Ian

yeah...we have certain mats where only the "cool" people can roll. ;-)

Paul Mihalik (Largo) wrote: yeah...we have certain mats where only the "cool" people can roll. ;-)

ice mats ?

Cliques are inherent in groups, and groups are inherent, period. People want to cling together; this force is at work when you create a family, or for that matter, train with people at a dojo.

It is true that this bonding force is most often a function of fear and insecurity, and that sometimes a strong odor of fear and insecurity can make a particular group offensive. But why not have a heart and let it go? They're not doing anything you can't understand and haven't done yourself.

This may sound similar to previous posts . . .

People tend to flock together in groups, it's just human nature. Perception can sometimes be a the real problem.

When I was a kid, some people thought I was "stuck-up," but the truth of the matter is that I was kind of shy and only comfortable with my circle of friends.