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Old 01-15-2006, 12:30 AM   #1
AikiWeb System
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Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

AikiWeb Poll for the week of January 15, 2006:

Are you ever bored during aikido class?
  • I don't do aikido
  • Yes
  • No
Here are the current results.
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Old 01-15-2006, 12:50 AM   #2
Edwin Neal
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

no unless we do some yoga, and then only in plank pose...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-15-2006, 02:11 AM   #3
James Smithe
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Yeah I find myself getting bored if we do the same thing for twenty minutes. I keep thinking when are we going to do something else.
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Old 01-15-2006, 04:55 AM   #4
Mark Uttech
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

I am a very firm believer in the fact that "only boring people get bored." so no, I am never bored. There are so many angles to look at, that the first thing one runs out of is time.
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Old 01-15-2006, 06:53 AM   #5
aikigirl10
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Sometimes working on one thing for an entire class can be a little bit tedious, but i wouldnt really say boring.
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Old 01-15-2006, 07:24 AM   #6
Chuck Clark
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

If we get bored, then we're not paying attention to what's going on...

Chuck Clark
Jiyushinkai Aikibudo
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Old 01-15-2006, 08:13 AM   #7
SeiserL
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Nope.

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 01-15-2006, 09:14 AM   #8
Pauliina Lievonen
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

I have gotten bored during more exiting things that aikido class... sometimes I don't pay attention to what's going on, that's true. And then I get bored. And then I start to pay attention again, because not to do it is so boring. So in my book, it's a healthy reaction, and just needs to be dealt with in a useful way.

kvaak
Pauliina
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Old 01-15-2006, 09:56 AM   #9
Qatana
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

I'd say that sometimes I get restless but not exactly bored. Considering that sometimes we do nothing but shomenuchi ikkyo for a whole week, if I was bored I'd have found another dojo by now.

Q
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Old 01-15-2006, 10:05 AM   #10
Don_Modesto
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Quote:
Mark Uttech wrote:
"only boring people get bored."
I suspect this, too. It was with some unease, then that I opted for "Yes, I get bored." Caveats follow.

Quote:
Paige Frazier wrote:
Sometimes working on one thing for an entire class can be a little bit tedious, but i wouldnt really say boring.
Depends on the thing.

What's "one thing"? A technique? A principle?

Quote:
Chuck Clark wrote:
If we get bored, then we're not paying attention to what's going on...
...mmm. Hate to disagree with any post bearing that name, but this sounds too pat to me.

It's for a good teacher to focus students on "what's going on." Students can lose this. More advanced students will have the perspective to keep things interesting but this can be spoiled by an anal teacher, too, as in, "That's not what I taught. You're not doing what I demonstrated."

Maybe, maybe not.

I'm never bored in classes with Saotome or Shibata, for example. But they go after principles. Test: if people are looking around at each other wondering what the teacher wants because he did several techniques in order to get at his "one thing," the teacher is probably addressing principles rather than just where you put your foot at the beginning of 4HO NAGE.

Don J. Modesto
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Old 01-15-2006, 11:58 AM   #11
Matt Molloy
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Definitely not.

Maybe it's just me but in between concentrating on ukemi, concentrating on the technique/principle that we're working on, concentrating on what the Sensei is trying to show you, flying across the mat at a fair old rate, sending someone else flying at a decent rate, getting the hell out of the way so that you don't get clobbered by an incoming strike, getting the hell out of the way when you inadvertantly step into the path of someone who's flying your way, etc. etc.

Where is the time to get bored?

Let's face it. Aikido is non-stop fun.

Cheers,

Matt.
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Old 01-15-2006, 01:08 PM   #12
Alec Corper
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Are these questions computer generated?
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Old 01-15-2006, 01:41 PM   #13
ESimmons
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Sometimes I am bored before class, but once class begins, there is no time when I am not either practicing technique or being instructed.

So, no.
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Old 01-15-2006, 05:11 PM   #14
Chuck Clark
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Quote:
Don J. Modesto wrote:
...mmm. Hate to disagree with any post bearing that name, but this sounds too pat to me.

It's for a good teacher to focus students on "what's going on." Students can lose this. More advanced students will have the perspective to keep things interesting but this can be spoiled by an anal teacher, too, as in, "That's not what I taught. You're not doing what I demonstrated."
Greetings, Don. Notice that I didn't say that there aren't understandable "reasons" why someone becomes bored. I still think that it really boils down to this... if we're bored, we're not paying attention to what's available. It isn't guaranteed to be interesting, fun, or even understandable at the moment.

For myself, I can't honestly say I can remember ever being bored in my almost sixty years in this lifetime. There's just too much going on that is interesting to me. If there's a boring instructor doing their thing and I choose to be there, I'm going to pay close attention trying to understand how and why they're boring.

Best regards,

Chuck Clark
Jiyushinkai Aikibudo
www.jiyushinkai.org
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Old 01-16-2006, 04:29 AM   #15
Mark Freeman
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

In answer to the thread question, No, I've never been bored.

Quote:
More advanced students will have the perspective to keep things interesting but this can be spoiled by an anal teacher,
My mind was boggled by this clipette, by wondering what an 'anal teacher' does, how does he/she get their point across? do they teach anuses? or do they teach the art of anality?.............Just my warped mind keeping away the boredom...
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Old 01-16-2006, 04:42 AM   #16
Bridge
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Dazed, confused or generally bewildered? Yes.

Bored? Never!

Then again, I'm easily amused.
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Old 01-16-2006, 05:53 AM   #17
happysod
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

yep, ki tests have bored the absolute bits off me at times (no, not the rowing exercise again...). Is it the aikido's fault, probably not, is it my fault, definitely yes -so I've not yet become an aikido saint...

I'm sorry but I have to question the "never bored" answers, either
a) you're a master at redirecting your focus and attention (and have always been able to, even since you were a baby gi in the dojo)
b) you've forgotton
c) we have different definitions of boredom

While I agree being bored is the student's problem (although I'd hope a decent instructor aims to minimise the potential for boredom), have you really never felt even a smidgin ? Honestly impressed if this is so.
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Old 01-16-2006, 08:20 AM   #18
billybob
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

I answered bored, boring, booooooring. Sometimes - mostly it seems when the instructor is being so abstract that I can perceive no connection to reality. Doing drills to learn bizarro skills seems a waste of time. Sometimes I like old fashioned ju jitsu for its simplicity and directness.

I think Modesto San is talking about the frustrating habit of some Senseis (I'm kyu rank, don't hurt me please) of insisting technique be done precisely how they are instructing. At times like that I want to say "uke requested a variation", but I usually bite it down and try not to show my teeth.

I find weapons training boring, but I think this is a defense against my fear of being clobbered (more).

FWIW.

Dave
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Old 01-16-2006, 10:32 AM   #19
MaryKaye
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

I don't think I've been bored *doing* aikido, but sometimes sitting and listening, yes.

A friend told me many years ago, "When you are bored it doesn't mean you have nothing to do, it means you aren't doing what you want to be doing." When the instructor wants to talk about philosophy and I want to take ukemi, yes, I'm bored.

Also, there really are a few drills where I exhaust my ability to improve after a while, and it's just a trudge. In any given setting, if I don't have "unbendable arm" after twenty tries, I'm not going to have it that day and would like to do something else instead.

Mary Kaye
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Old 01-16-2006, 12:58 PM   #20
Don_Modesto
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Quote:
Chuck Clark wrote:
...it really boils down to this... if we're bored, we're not paying attention to what's available.
Yes. I agree, as a student.

Quote:
It isn't guaranteed to be interesting, fun, or even understandable at the moment.
...but I'm wary as a teacher. I strive to keep my classes engaging and relevant. I see other teachers using such reasoning to blame students for poor lessons.

Quote:
For myself, I can't honestly say I can remember ever being bored in my almost sixty years in this lifetime.
Congratulations. No irony intended. I'm jealous.

Thanks for the response.

Don J. Modesto
St. Petersburg, Florida
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Old 01-16-2006, 01:03 PM   #21
Don_Modesto
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Quote:
Mark Freeman wrote:
My mind was boggled by this clipette, by wondering what an 'anal teacher' does, how does he/she get their point across? do they teach anuses? or do they teach the art of anality?
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/anal

b : of, relating to, characterized by, or being personality traits (as parsimony, meticulousness, and ill humor) considered typical of fixation at the anal stage of development <anal disposition> <anal neatness>

Don J. Modesto
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Old 01-16-2006, 01:41 PM   #22
Chuck Clark
 
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Don,

I understand your points from the teacher's viewpoint. I have been a teacher, in many ways, for a long time and I always strive to keep students' attention and engage in a connection that is alive, vital, and tinted with humor as much as possible. I think teachers can get bored as well. Boredom just isn't acceptable to me on either side of the student/teacher relationship. Hell, boredom at any time, to me, is a terrible waste of breaths that we'll never get back. Boredom is what comes after we lose interest in one thing and then can't or refuse to focus our attention on something at hand that isn't boring. I think it is a choice that often becomes habit. Lots of understandable reasons and or things to blame it on, but the responsibility is ours. Every breath we take is one less... I just don't want to waste any if I can help it.

Best regards,

Chuck Clark
Jiyushinkai Aikibudo
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Old 01-16-2006, 02:05 PM   #23
neaikikai
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Never. If one is getting bored maybe the intensity of the Aikido practised isn't high enough, or Aikido is not the style for you.
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Old 01-16-2006, 04:12 PM   #24
Mark Freeman
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

Quote:
Don J. Modesto wrote:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/anal

b : of, relating to, characterized by, or being personality traits (as parsimony, meticulousness, and ill humor) considered typical of fixation at the anal stage of development <anal disposition> <anal neatness>
I did know this Don, and had understood your original post, I blatantly took the quote out of context for the sake of a little warped humour, ( typical Brit: adept at toilet humour, we learn it by osmosis growing up in such a small place )
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Old 01-17-2006, 05:11 AM   #25
ruthmc
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Re: Poll: Are you ever bored during aikido class?

I only ever get bored during demonstrations when the instructor stops teaching and starts showing off.

Fortunately this doesn't happen too often

Ruth
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