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Old 01-26-2006, 11:16 PM   #1
James Smithe
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

I didn't know black people did Aikido. Anyway heres a page with clips.

http://www.shodokanaikido.pwp.blueyo...do/videos.html
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Old 01-27-2006, 09:08 AM   #2
Ron Tisdale
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Oh? I didn't know Jun allowed idiots to post. But there ya go...something new everyday.

Ron

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
I didn't know black people did Aikido. Anyway heres a page with clips.

http://www.shodokanaikido.pwp.blueyo...do/videos.html

Ron Tisdale
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"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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Old 01-27-2006, 11:56 AM   #3
Charlie
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
I didn't know black people did Aikido...
DEEP DEEEP SIGHHHHH....Alas...a chance to practice Aikido principles comes along everyday! If you care to do any research your ignorance shall be relieved - or at least I hope it will.

Charles

Charles Burmeister
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"Calmness is trust in action"
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Old 01-27-2006, 12:49 PM   #4
batemanb
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
Ron Tisdale wrote:
Oh? I didn't know Jun allowed idiots to post. But there ya go...something new everyday.

Ron
Ain't it so my friend

A difficult problem is easily solved by asking yourself the question, "Just how would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
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Old 01-27-2006, 12:55 PM   #5
James Smithe
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

How many black people do you have in your dojos?
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Old 01-27-2006, 01:07 PM   #6
batemanb
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

there's five at my club, why? Just because you might not have seen any in your extremely limited exposure, doesn't mean in the whole of the US, or the whole wide world there aren't any.

A difficult problem is easily solved by asking yourself the question, "Just how would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
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Old 01-27-2006, 01:39 PM   #7
Derek Gaudet
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
I didn't know black people did Aikido. Anyway heres a page with clips.

http://www.shodokanaikido.pwp.blueyo...do/videos.html
Quote:
James Smith wrote:
Technically BJJ came from Kosen Judo. JUDO! Not Jujutsu. That gets me thinking why don't we call Aikido American Jujutsu or Shotokan people call it American Karate. Because you and me didn't invent it Gracies. People don't realize the Gracies are badasses you on the other hand are not.
The above from Aikido does not work...."
I won't even say the first thing that comes to mind, but from what I gather in these post is you think Aikido was created by a White American, which is simply wrong. On a personal level I'm with Ron. And by asking how many people of other races study in ones dojo you are showing separation of people. And just because there is not much cultural diversity in one dojo does not give reason for you to make such uneducated statements.

Sorry bout the rant guys, but this is a no go zone with me, for personal reasons. Trying to get back to the original topic may be a difficult thing to do in this case...

Last edited by Derek Gaudet : 01-27-2006 at 01:41 PM. Reason: fixing the quote display

Kind Regards,
Derek Gaudet
Goshin Aikido
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Old 01-27-2006, 01:50 PM   #8
James Smithe
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

What is wrong with your reading comprehension? I was being sarcastic how the heck can you miss that. When I started to say you and me didn't invent it Gracies means that I was saying that a Japanese guy created it. Everytime I think I'm being sarcastic I'll type the word sarcasm afterwards from now on.
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Old 01-27-2006, 01:59 PM   #9
Edwin Neal
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

delivery is important in all endeavors... practice more james...
as to the Bjj came from judo well judo came from jujutsu... there is really very little to be gained by the "chicken or egg" argument... what dojo do you study at? does it have a web site? where is it located? who is your sensei? just interested as i will be in texas in march...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-27-2006, 02:15 PM   #10
SBK_Doug
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
I didn't know black people did Aikido. Anyway heres a page with clips.

http://www.shodokanaikido.pwp.blueyo...do/videos.html
I'm sorry James. I just don't see any sarcasim in the above listed quote. Perhaps offering straight forward comments and thinking instead of sarcasim would be a better communication style for you.
Meditate on this...You should.
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Old 01-27-2006, 02:36 PM   #11
Michael O'Brien
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
How many black people do you have in your dojos?
At this time I train with 1 in our dojo who is excellent and dedicated to be at our intermediates class at 6:30 AM; Sensei will tell you that if your technique works with Bob (yes that is his real name) then you know you have good technique because he won't just freely give you anything.

Mike
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Old 01-27-2006, 03:12 PM   #12
James Smithe
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Doug that question is serious. I noticed alot of people look at this page and don't say anything. Proabably because they have zero black people and somehow feel embarrased.
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Old 01-27-2006, 05:50 PM   #13
Derek Gaudet
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
Doug that question is serious. I noticed alot of people look at this page and don't say anything. Proabably because they have zero black people and somehow feel embarrased.
Quit before you say anything worse.

Kind Regards,
Derek Gaudet
Goshin Aikido
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Old 01-27-2006, 09:54 PM   #14
ElizabethCastor
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
Doug that question is serious. I noticed alot of people look at this page and don't say anything. Proabably because they have zero black people and somehow feel embarrased.

Dude...
You are right, I didn't post anything because I was embarassed

for you.

BTW: I DO train with a black woman with an incredible center and a strong understanding of the movements, I consider myself lucky. But then again, I consider myself lucky no matter who I train with experienced black-belts, brand-newbies, tall, short, strong, soft, willowy/bendy, sturdy/inflexible, green, blue, or polka-dotted people. It doesn't matter one bit! I'm lucky that I get to learn from anyone and everyone who steps onto the mat.

Elizabeth
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Old 01-28-2006, 09:48 AM   #15
Edwin Neal
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Hey James how about my questions??? i indeed have studied with many aikidoka of many ethnicities it really depends on where you live as to what type of people you see in the dojo...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-28-2006, 10:21 AM   #16
Don_Modesto
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
Doug that question is serious. I noticed alot of people look at this page and don't say anything. Proabably because they have zero black people and somehow feel embarrased.
Hey, Ron,

Didn't you start a thread on African-Americans in aikido once?

And to all--

Truth be told, while Mr. Smith's hamfisted comment about not knowing blacks did aikido was certainly ill-advised, haven't many of us discussed the same issue, if somewhat more delicately? I think if we dun him, it ought to be for language, not racism. We haven't looked into his heart yet and what he's said is kind of neutral, if insensitive...in a sensitive area.

Don J. Modesto
St. Petersburg, Florida
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Old 01-28-2006, 12:08 PM   #17
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
I didn't know black people did Aikido. Anyway heres a page with clips.

http://www.shodokanaikido.pwp.blueyo...do/videos.html
You would think that, in this day and age, people would know better... Oh well.

Perhaps Mr Smith is trying to comment, from a position of total ignorance, on the fact that African Americans do not seem to be proportionally represented in the ranks of Aikido students. This I believe is the case and I would not be sure why that was true. I would hazard a guess that it might be the lack of focus on functional self defense in the art and that it takes so long before one can be very functional from a practical standpoint. In my youth, when Aikido was starting to take off, African Americans formed the vast majority of the students, at least in urban areas, in Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu. I think that they felt themselves to be more likely to encounter some self defense situation than the middle class white folks who flocked to Aikido.

Anyway, in the DC dojo where I trained, there is now a quite substantial African American student base, although given the fact that DC is by far a majoty African American as a population, it is still an under-represented group at the dojo. Perhaps where Mr Smith has trained this is even more the case...

So, rather than castigate Mr Smith for his ignorance, perhaps an attempt should be made to at least partially educate him...

Yes, Mr Smith, there are African Americans in Aikido.

First of all, if you consider the family of closely related aiki arts to be forms of Aikido, or Aikido as a form of one of them, then we have to start with Moses Powell Sensei. He calls his style Sanuces Ryu but there isn't anything in the style which an Aikido person with a bit of background in karate wouldn't recognize. This man is a living legend and ran a school in New York City for many years back in the seventies. His style did not suffer from any "lack of practicality" so to speak. Most of his students were African American so I think he is very significant in that he trained more African Americans in aiki than any other teacher has. Many run schools around the country today.

In Aikido proper, it is an important fact to know that THE senior American in Aikido, on the mainland, ( by rank anyway) is Amos Parker Sensei at 8th Dan in the Yoshinkan System, an African American. It is perhaps telling that 90% of Aikido students if polled wouldn't know that. Steve Miranda, who regularly posts on the forums is a student of Parker Sensei.

Of course, we should mention that one of the senior teachers of Aikido in the states is an African American female, Lorraine DiAnne Sensei. She is a senior student of Chiba Sensei and trained in Japan for a number of years. In fact there is a notice popping up on the homepage of Aikweb advertising one of her seminars...

If one buys Aikido videos it is impossible not to have encounetered Donovan Waite Sensei's video on Ukemi. He is one of Yamada Sensei's senior students.

I have a friend, Teddy Wilson Sensei, whom I met at the first Aiki Expo... he is an African American Sensei who teaches the Japanese martial art of Aikido in Istanbul, Turkey... true globalization at work...

Anf of course, even if you have never heard of any of these prominent African American Aikido pioneers, any Aikido student worth his salt knows of Ron Tisdale... I mean, where have you been? Ron is internationally known through his cogent posts on all Aikido related forums and has, as you may have noted, already contributed one here.

Anyway, no one be offended if I left someone important off the list here (which I am sure I did) I wrote it totally off the top of my head and didn't even look in the Aiki Encyclopedia to refresh my memory...

Last edited by George S. Ledyard : 01-28-2006 at 12:14 PM.

George S. Ledyard
Aikido Eastside
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Old 01-28-2006, 12:17 PM   #18
Edwin Neal
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Parker shihan is an excellent example as he mostly lives the aikido life... i was fortunate that he was my first sensei... let's have some pity on poor james he is just a little inexperienced and doesn't really have a strong connection between his mouth and his brain yet... or maybe its too strong... anyway... i pity the fool... ya bad Mr. T impression...

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-28-2006, 12:21 PM   #19
Charlie
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
How many black people do you have in your dojos?
Let me guess...I bet you don't have any Asians in your dojo as well...I wonder how many of them practice Aikido.

Absolutely absurd.

Amos Parker Shihan is located in Houston, Texas. Since you are in Texas as well, give him a call. He is a wonderful teacher that that lived and practiced Yoshinkan Aikido in Japan for some 35 years. He is a retired Navy Chief that started both his careers in the mid 1960's (Navy and Aikidoka) well before the majority outside of Japan even knew what what Aikido was. He is the senior ranked foreigner in the world (Yoshinkan) as well as the senior most in the United States (Yoshinkan). He was presented with the title of Shihan by Kiyoyuki Terada sensei and is the only on outside of Yoshinkan Honbu dojo to hold such title.

Terada sensei currently is the senior practioner in the world (Yoshinkan) and is the only other Yoshinkan instructor other than Shioda sensei to have studied with Osensei.

For more info: http://www.seikeikan.com/ayy/index.html

Anyway...since this has gotten way off topic - here are some more videos

http://www.myaa.info/TrainingVideos.html

Last edited by Charlie : 01-28-2006 at 12:31 PM.

Charles Burmeister
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Old 01-28-2006, 02:16 PM   #20
Steven
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
James Smith wrote:
I didn't know black people did Aikido. Anyway heres a page with clips.
I didn't know that ignorant and racist people do Aikido. Can't help but wonder if you also where a white hood over your head.
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Old 01-28-2006, 02:57 PM   #21
Michael Varin
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

James Smith said, "I didn't know black people did Aikido. Anyway heres a page with clips."

I don't know James Smith, but I think this was an attempt at humor. That was my interpretation.

If I were to get offended by things people say, I would be much more offended by George Ledyard's statement:

"I would hazard a guess that it might be the lack of focus on functional self defense in the art and that it takes so long before one can be very functional from a practical standpoint. In my youth, when Aikido was starting to take off, African Americans formed the vast majority of the students, at least in urban areas, in Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu. I think that they felt themselves to be more likely to encounter some self defense situation than the middle class white folks who flocked to Aikido."

What are you saying George? All black people live in poor, violent neighborhoods? Is that what would require them to use the "practical" art of kung fu?

Maybe a lot of people in those days, black and white, liked Bruce Lee and were attracted to his art. Why can't people do the things that they like doing without their behavior being over-analyzed?

Self-righteousness and politically correct stances only hinder the ability to see the truth.

Two of my closest friends, who happen to be two of the most talented aikidoka I know, are black. So yes, black people do aikido. Where I'm from, they also swim, go to college, are police officers, get PhDs, and own big houses.

Michael
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Old 01-29-2006, 02:40 PM   #22
Edwin Neal
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

I didn't say it, but you did Michael... what are you like telepathically spying on me? if so then teach me your technique!!!

Edwin Neal


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Old 01-29-2006, 07:52 PM   #23
Michael Varin
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

It's a highly advanced technique, Edwin. That's all I can say about it here, but when you understand it, all the secrets of aiki will be revealed.
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Old 01-29-2006, 08:15 PM   #24
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

Quote:
Michael Varin wrote:
What are you saying George? All black people live in poor, violent neighborhoods? Is that what would require them to use the "practical" art of kung fu?

Maybe a lot of people in those days, black and white, liked Bruce Lee and were attracted to his art. Why can't people do the things that they like doing without their behavior being over-analyzed?

Self-righteousness and politically correct stances only hinder the ability to see the truth.

Two of my closest friends, who happen to be two of the most talented aikidoka I know, are black. So yes, black people do aikido. Where I'm from, they also swim, go to college, are police officers, get PhDs, and own big houses.

Michael
Time for decaf, Michael... If you want to contradict my observation that African Americans are not proportionally represented in the ranks of the Aikido population, go ahead. I've been at Summer Camps with 250 people and there were a half dozen African Americans attending. I started my Aikido career training with Saotome Sensei in the Washington DC dojo. DC has an overwhelmingly majority African American population. The dojo is overwhlemingly not African American. It's mostly white with a number of other minorities and a healthy African American presence but nowhere near what the demographics of DC would lead one to expect. As I pointed out, if one goes into the average Tae Kwan Do, Karate, or mixed martial arts school in DC the demographics would more closely match that of the city's population. I can't imagine why you would find such a statement controversial, it's just an observation. I know this to be true because I participated in discussions with some of the seniors at the dojo who, noting this situation, were concerned that they not be doing something which made minority students, and African American students in particular, feel less welcome... But I teach Aikido all over the US and I have seen nothing that would cause me to believe that this is an atypical situation.

Conjecture as to why any student enrolls, stays or leaves is part of running dojos. When you don't have women in the dojo, it should cause you to wonder... If your dojo is completely lacking in diversity when the surrounding community is very diverse, it would normally engender some questions.Thinking about these issues isn't political correctness, it's common sense. (unless you don't give a damn about getting new students... and i don't know of many dojos like that).

I fail to see any value laden assumptions in my conjecture that the fact that Aikido, being extremely complex with a long learning curve, would appeal less to any student whose interest in martial arts was primarily for self defense. People who are concerned for their safety on a daily basis, which is a fact of life in any poor area in the world, generally opt for training in something that seems to more directly address these concerns... This only makes sense. I certainly wouldn't have looked to Aikido as my first choice if I felt I had needed to be able to acquire a reliable self defense capability in as short a time as possible. There are plenty of shorter roads to protecting oneself than Aikido...

Anyway, I could be wrong... it's not like I did some scientific study using statistical analysis... I just made a conjecture...

George S. Ledyard
Aikido Eastside
Bellevue, WA
Aikido Eastside
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Old 01-29-2006, 09:07 PM   #25
Edwin Neal
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Re: Aikido Video Clips...Please Post

thank you michael, maybe one day i will be worthy...

i take issue with the issue that many seem to tacitly support that aikido is "complex" and takes a long time to be used effectively... i don't find this to be true unless one is indoctrinated to believe it is true... is it more complex than say karate? a little in that kicking and punching are intuitive and even kids can do it with no training, while grappling/wrestling is a little less intuitive... so while i am willing to grant some additional time... from my experience with a qualified instructor and with functionality as a primary goal a sincere student can achieve this in a few months to a year depending upon the ability of the student... why does everyone think/believe that functionality only comes after years and years of practice, if ever?

Edwin Neal


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