Hypocrisy in Aikido

I've trained with people caught up in a rank hierarchy. Some think they're my sempai in Aikido when really all they are is more advanced in aikiwaza. Even some yudansha don't understand what Aikido is. This disturbs me greatly and has since the day I stepped on the mat. Anyone who claims to be an Aikidoka but doesn't FULLY understand Love (Ai) and Respect (Rei) is POISON hindering the progress of O'Sensei's dream. Those of you who are poison must cure yourselves. This won't be pleasant. It will be painful and terrifying. Step outside your defenses and face your internal conflicts. Challenge yourselves. Quit wasting your time trying to heal the world if you won't even heal yourselves. Be brave. You are important. Aikido needs you to be real. I need you to be real. God created you real. Commit metaphorical seppuku and destroy your disgusting falseness. Even if the pain lasts for the rest of your life, at least you can carry with you the Pride (Hokori) that you are doing your absolute best. If you are too afraid to recognize the evil within you, get the hell out of Aikido so at least you won't be a God Damned hypocrite.

Drew

I think this got mistakenly posted here. Looks like it should be in the 'Humor' section. Good one!

Drew Gardner wrote: I've trained with people caught up in a rank hierarchy. Some think they're my sempai in Aikido when really all they are is more advanced in aikiwaza.

Well if they really are more advanced in aikiwaza then they should be able to kick your a$$ using aiki waza which, since this is a martial art, means that you probably have something to learn from them. When you are able to kick theirs then the tables would have turned and you become their sempai.

The antidote for hypocrisy is to get out there and show what you've got. If you're worth anything it should show up in your Aikido which starts with aiki waza and ends with the whole "world peace" thing. One can't bring about world peace without first having effective means of dealing with the enemies of that peace.


LC

looks like a couple hypocrites are past the point of no return

Drew

Drew Gardner wrote: looks like a couple hypocrites are past the point of no return Drew

Lol. I like it.

How do you define hypocrite?

Drew Gardner wrote: I Commit metaphorical seppuku and destroy your disgusting falseness.

...and I, assisting you, symbolically will cut your head off. What a world today, everything become wirtual, even honorable death. No more real warriors.

s(wondering what will be metaphorical sex.... )

Drew Gardner wrote: I've trained with people caught up in a rank hierarchy. Some think they're my sempai in Aikido when really all they are is more advanced in aikiwaza. Even some yudansha don't understand what Aikido is. This disturbs me greatly and has since the day I stepped on the mat. Anyone who claims to be an Aikidoka but doesn't FULLY understand Love (Ai) and Respect (Rei) is POISON hindering the progress of O'Sensei's dream. Those of you who are poison must cure yourselves. This won't be pleasant. It will be painful and terrifying. Step outside your defenses and face your internal conflicts. Challenge yourselves. Quit wasting your time trying to heal the world if you won't even heal yourselves. Be brave. You are important. Aikido needs you to be real. I need you to be real. God created you real. Commit metaphorical seppuku and destroy your disgusting falseness. Even if the pain lasts for the rest of your life, at least you can carry with you the Pride (Hokori) that you are doing your absolute best. If you are too afraid to recognize the evil within you, get the hell out of Aikido so at least you won't be a God Damned hypocrite. Drew

Drew Garner-san think to much. More sake make you think less, be happy!

Boon.

Drew Gardner wrote: I've trained with people caught up in a rank hierarchy. Some think they're my sempai in Aikido when really all they are is more advanced in aikiwaza.Even some yudansha don't understand what Aikido is. This disturbs me greatly and has since the day I stepped on the mat. Anyone who claims to be an Aikidoka but doesn't FULLY understand Love (Ai) and Respect (Rei) is POISON

I'm still trying to get this - so people who are better than you in aikiwaza or are higher in the rank hierarchy are poison and hypocrites?

Is that right or have my hypocritical tendencies allowed me to completely miss the boat on this one?

LC

Szczepan Janczuk wrote: (wondering what will be metaphorical sex.... )

http://www.vrinnovations.com/

I am confused, wouldn't pointing at others and naming them as poisonous and hypocrites be rather un-aiki-like, thus making the accuser the hypocrit?

I like someone else's suggestion that you have more sake -Kim

Ignatius,

Not sure what's more disturbing. The items for sale on that site or the fact you even knew the URL to that site. :-)

Paraphrasing C. S. Lewis, "Knowing what men ought to do and doing it are two different things." Hypocrisy is a human condition just like pride. Just remember Socrates slogan, no not "question everything", but "an unexamined life is not worth living." Remember while others may say "you are not doing aikido" and you might not be, that we all express aikido differently. Observation of techniques depends on the observer and can be subjective depending on attention to detail, experience, prior teachers, and preconceptions about aikido.

As far as love, you might try to determine it from words and actions but you still have to know the intent of the doer. If you fully understand love then you truly know how to respond to every situation and no longer need aikido since you would be perfect. But since we are not perfect, then we cannot fully express love. No matter how we try, we bring our faults with us on the mat.

Steven Miranda wrote: Not sure what's more disturbing. The items for sale on that site or the fact you even knew the URL to that site. :-)

LOL @ Steven. True, I'm a seriously disturbed individual... that's why my Google-fu is STRONG!...

I meant to put a NC-17 or MA18 warning on my previous post...

I think it would be a good idea for all participants in this thread to review the (recent AikiWeb) topic of Bipolar Disorder before getting too worked up about anything. It's always a good idea to avoid getting worked up if possible, and the aforementioned topic is a complex one. Other than those platitudes, I have nothing special to add; and I hope no one minds the insertion of a few well-meaning, if misguided, remarks. Even though the internet is not really a good medium for such things, I think some measure of empathy may go further than what might otherwise be appropriate response. Everyone could apply this innocuous suggestion without any great harm coming to the world.

Have a nice day.

Chhi'mèd

Drew Gardner wrote: . . . Anyone who claims to be an Aikidoka but doesn't FULLY understand Love (Ai) and Respect (Rei) is POISON hindering the progress of O'Sensei's dream. Those of you who are poison must cure yourselves. . . . Drew

The problem with this sort of attitude is that it hinges on who gets to define the terms, and how those agreed upon terms are to be interpreted in specific circumstances. Until we 1) agree upon definitions and 2) agree on how to interpret them, then we cant even really discuss your issue.
Second, give us a break man. Everybody does whatever it is that they do (aikido, taekwon do, dance, art, music, small engine repair, play AD&D [2nd ed.], etc.) for their own reasons. I do aikido for lots of different reasons, but none of them include 'philosophy' or any sort of attempt to understand normative ethics. Telling people that they are doing something that they get off on for the "wrong" reasons is offensive and immature. If you start sweating people about their motivations, probably they will start sweating you for yours.
later
bettis

Chhi'mèd Künzang wrote: I think it would be a good idea for all participants in this thread to review the (recent AikiWeb) topic of Bipolar Disorder before getting too worked up about anything. It's always a good idea to avoid getting worked up if possible, and the aforementioned topic is a complex one. Other than those platitudes, I have nothing special to add; and I hope no one minds the insertion of a few well-meaning, if misguided, remarks. Even though the internet is not really a good medium for such things, I think some measure of empathy may go further than what might otherwise be appropriate response. Everyone could apply this innocuous suggestion without any great harm coming to the world. Have a nice day. Chhi'mèd

I've encountered this before on message boards. Someone claiming to be manic-depressive bursts on attacking everyone in sight with vitriolic rants so ridiculous they seem like a joke. It gets into a really tricky area in terms of the defintion of an illness vs. the concept of free will.

To what extent do we excuse someone from acting like a raging a-hole because their brain chemistry "made them do it"? Couldn't the same logic be applied to anyone who does anything? Oh, that Hitler guy was just acting out his insecurity issues, he really couldn't help it... Oh, that pedophile rapist just had a psychological complex dervied from his abusive upbringing with the blah, blah, blah... we should have sympathy for him...

I think, overall, that people just don't think like this, and trying to force some sort of radical PC vision of human culpability on them wherein they put up with any sort of unreasonable abuse won't work. Bipolar is still getting a pass, I suspect, because these people alternate between a more recognizable "normal" state, and a sociopathic state that no one has any patience or sympathy for.

I really don't see any way to accomodate or tolerate a bipolar person's episodes any more than I would someone else who has no official excuse and is just a jerk. Their hidden brain chemistry and motivational schemes are not my problem. You are what you are. I'm depressive and I don't go around using it as an excuse to be let off the hook for how I behave. I accept myself and the consequences. If you want to make an extra effort to understand me and my motivations, that's great, but I don't expect any special treatment. I don't think manic-depressives throwing down gauntlets and spewing insults should be any different. It is their responsibility to get some kind of grip on their behavior schemes and avoid acting out in public, and if they don't, they should expect to get what they ask for.

Larry Camejo wrote: ......When you are able to kick theirs then the tables would have turned and you become their sempai........

Not true I'm afraid. the sempai kohai relationship has nowt to do with ability or grade.

Basically, "Bob" joins the club before me or starts Aikido before me, he will always be my sempai, regardless of what grades or abilities we both achieve. There are old threads on here explaining the sempai - kohai relationship, I'm pretty sure Peter Goldsbury has explained it in detail a time or two.

Kevin Wilbanks wrote: Oh, that Hitler guy was just acting out his insecurity issues...a sociopathic state that no one has any patience or sympathy for...I really don't see any way to accomodate or tolerate a bipolar person's episodes any more than I would someone else who has no official excuse and is just a jerk. Their hidden brain chemistry and motivational schemes are not my problem.

HItler was prejudiced against and murdered people with mental disorders. No matter what mood I've been in, I've never been a sociopath (a person with no conscience). I haven't been manic or depressed in seven years. I know it's an easy mental shortcut to group bipolars, instead of realizing they're individuals, but you're showing your ignorance and lack of insight. I urge anyone in the world who has a legitimate reason to dislike me to call me out on this message board. I expect more wussy beating around the bush or silence.

Drew

I think that as long as you feel that your instructor is following the path that you believe to be true to Aikido, that's all that should matter to you.

Drew Gardner wrote: Anyone who claims to be an Aikidoka but doesn't FULLY understand Love (Ai) and Respect (Rei) is POISON hindering the progress of O'Sensei's dream.

http://www.80srockstars.net/poison/poison028.JPG

There is no hope.

Roy Klein wrote: I think that as long as you feel that your instructor is following the path that you believe to be true to Aikido, that's all that should matter to you.

Thinking you have one instructor is a delusional and dangerous thought.

Drew

Justin Smith wrote: http://www.80srockstars.net/poison/poison028.JPG There is no hope.

Ha! I had the same loose association when I wrote "POISON:"

"...rollin' the dice of her life..."

"...win big...lose big"

"...I won't forget you baby..."

"...DJ says love's a game of easy come and easy go..."

Drew

Bryan Bateman wrote: Not true I'm afraid. the sempai kohai relationship has nowt to do with ability or grade.

True. Hence the smiley at the end of the post.

However the lack of actual technical ability (usually a base level equalizer in many other MA) on the part of one's seniors can be a window through which feelings of "hypocrisy" on their part may enter. The kohai/sempai relationship is directly linked to a certain degree of respect between the people involved but this respect is often enforced by some other motivation within the dojo culture. There are many stories of friction between kohai and sempai when the former bypasses the latter in rank or technical skill. This friction can be resolved in a number of ways based on the persons involved.

Though the initial post was pretty much a rant, what I did get from it was some disgruntled feelings towards sempai either in the area of aikiwaza skill or their understanding/application of Ai and Rei. I'm guessing his feelings may be linked to disappointment in what he is experiencing from his sempai in these areas. Clarification will be required I guess.

LC

I don't think anyone fully understands anything.

Lyle Bogin wrote: I don't think anyone fully understands anything.

Fully understand relative to God? No. Fully understand to the extent of our human capabilities? Yes. Please expand on this...in and of itself it sounds like a cop out.

Drew