Poll: How often do you disagree with your aikido instructor's technical aikido explan

AikiWeb Poll for the week of June 15, 2008:

How often do you disagree with your aikido instructor's technical aikido explanations?

• I don't do aikido
• Always
• Often
• Sometimes
• Seldom
• Never
  

Here are the current results.

Cast your vote at the top right of this page.

If you disagree with your instructor's explanations, why is she or he your instructor?

Daniel Pierson wrote: If you disagree with your instructor's explanations, why is she or he your instructor?

Probably because there is no perfect instructor.

In gassho,

Mark

Daniel Pierson wrote: If you disagree with your instructor's explanations, why is she or he your instructor?

thats a bit of a black and white answer.

I was speaking in general- that's why I used that little "s" at the end of the word explanation .

I can only immediately think of one situation. It was kaiten nage and nage's inside leg ended up back, leaving the testes exposed. Looking back, this may have just been a variation of the technique, but when I practiced it I guess I employed some civil disobedience by doing it as I had learned from a different sensei before.

Drew

Never.
I may not understand it, or it may not match the way I think about it, but I never disagree (especially publicly) with it.

Never!

I may not understand their explanation, or it may not match the way I understand it, but I never disagree (especially publicly) with it.

If I have a time of "disagreement" in my mind, I leave it there under the assumption I am not seeing the whole picture and will need some time to soak in the information being presented. At times I have seen the truth of an explanation with which I initially disagreed only after some significant reflection time.

Lynn Seiser wrote: Never. I may not understand it, or it may not match the way I think about it, but I never disagree (especially publicly) with it.

DITTO

Even when teaching I always make sure that what my teacher told me is included in the lesson. I may add my own thoughts but I never say "my teacher was wrong about that, this is the way it is".

If they later disagree with what was passed down from my teacher then that is up to them.

I'd never assume him to be wrong -- there are an almost unlimited number of ways to explain how a technique is done, and IMO what makes it 'right' is when it results in the student executing it properly or achieving a new piece to the puzzle in understanding how and why to do it. Naturally, everyone is different, so I think that all teachers try to come up with several ways to explain aikido, and over time will gravitate towards using the languages that seem to be the most easily understood.

Sometimes the lessons come easiest from training with other beginners -- their latest epiphany can shed a new light of understanding on these things.

Since everyone is being so polite:
Major: Aikido instructors are people.
Minor: People make mistakes.
Conclusion: Sometimes what your aikido instructor says, is just plain wrong.

Addendum: a good instructor is not ashamed to admit it when he/she made a mistake.

My Sensei actually encourages us (the "vetran students") to ask him when we disagree. Often, he may send sucha student to research and learn the reason.

I can currently recall one such case in which. When I asked about the Kata being performed, since it was obviously non-pratical. He showed me and my partner (another Yundasha) of our mistake, by showing the omote form.

I also recall cases where I remembered another variation of a kata which he showed, and he explained the diffrences and when to use which.
In our way of learning, such disagreements are a way of growth.

Amir

I never disagree-especially when I have felt it. I may not understand the way he communicates but it is not my position to question what he says other than to ask him for a clearer explanation or an add on question.