Regarding James Smith

Edwin Neal wrote: some people obviously take themselves far too seriously... humility is a virtue... pride is a sin... aikido is for all people, not for those we deem morally superior or privileged...

You're so pious! Good sermon. Keep preaching.

Best wishes,

i am no better than anyone else... i make mistakes and have my baggage and issues, but i realize this and try to be compassionate to others...

By the way, where is the Ronin dojo?

by 'ronin' i mean that i am currently not affiliated with any dojo... i moved back to my hometown in rural NC and have taken the opportunity to visit, and study at other dojo's and styles of martial arts as my work has permited... i will be in San Antonio in late March and would appreciate any info on training opportunities in that area... thanks for any help...

The best place there is Aikido of San Antonio on Bandera. Kevin Templer is a 4th dan and has been there for many years. You can get his address here on Aikiweb dojo finder. I have been there many times. I took my 5th kyu test there in 1995.

Craig Slack at Alamo City Aikido has a good reputation also but I have never been there. There is a Nishio style dojo there as well but I have never been there either so I can't speak for it. All these are Aikikai. I don't know what style you are used to but these are the ones I know about.

Best wishes,

i have done several different styles and i am happy to 'follow suit' at any dojo i visit... i have visited ASA's website and was considering it, i appreciate your recommending it... thanks for your help Jorge...

Ron Tisdale wrote: No, my statement is not hypocritical. I said that we can't pass judgement on the dojo, because they are a unit separate from this community. My judgement is for your behavior here. Your comments since coming back are indicative to me (at least) that the dojo made the correct decision. If you came back and said "that dojo and I disagree, and now I will train elsewhere", I couldn't really fault you. No one place is for every one. But you came back and continued to justify your bad behavior, and (relative to that dojo) to continue the bad behavior. I myself have left dojo in the past. But no where online will you find me bad mouthing them. Or in person either. Best, Ron

They are a unit separate from Aikiweb. The problem is that they don't think so. They think that everyone who logs on here is thinking about their image. More precisely their web image. It doesn't sound like they think it's separate.

The dojo made the right decision. I already said what people should do who completely agree with them. Bad behavior? This is not an online dojo and it's not right to think so. It's just a web forum.

Did I not say that I'm glad I left and I'm better somewhere else. And people like this need to be talked about.

I'm curious about these dojo you left. Can it compare to this?

oh just let it go james... there is nothing really to gain by continuing to beat this dead horse... it only further DIVIDES... aikido is about UNIFYING... we should all see ourselves as one family, and not perpetuate such feuds... you could have probably learned alot from them, and they could have probably learned alot from you... drop this stone and find someplace to train...

Jorge Garcia wrote: They obviously didn't agree with you. For whatever reasons they didn't like James' posts, it may have just been that when he showed who he really was here, they realized he wasn't going to work in their program. Maybe they read the posts and didn't want to be associated with him or his comments in any way, so they exercised their prerogative to send James packing. It was their right.They didn't owe James a spot in the dojo. The proof of that is that they are now 'James free" and James now has a garage for a dojo. That's a good lesson for a young guy like James to learn. If you are training with people that take their art seriously, then be moderate, temperate, and respectful in public venues so that your dojo won't mind being associated with you.. If James wants to be an Internet comedian, then he needs to find a dojo that is looking to recruit someone like that. He just needs to announce himself when he arrives so they will know who they are getting and he won't have to go through this again.

Didn't people already address this? Do you have anything that hasn't been said before because I'm not seeing it.