|
Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 15:41:21 +1000 From: Simon Russell Subject: Re: The sandan crisisThank you for your insight. I have recently gone through my own "post nidan crisis" for similar & different reasons. I have been particularly lucky that with the Griffith club, thanks to Danny & John (Ward), I haven't really had the problems with worrying about the rent & so on, but I basically stopped training because the seniors I looked up to had moved Interstate & I had developed a of lack of confidence in Aikido being able to deliver an effective art. So I went & trained in depth with another art. I found that the other art carried the same fundamental problems that I was experiencing with Aikido & worse still offered less in order to deal with it. We really have got a good thing going on with this Aikido Yuishikai stuff. The thing that turned me around was one morning I was training with one of their seniors & we were both experiencing the same level of muscular pain derived from the previous days intense training. He asked me "why do we do this" & I thought "well, yes.....why do we". It doesn't matter whether it is Aikido, Bagua, Karate, Judo or whatever, you still need a reason. We aren't in the Edo period where this stuff could come in handy for basic survival. If you do need it for it's martial skill in the modern age, you are either (a) Unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or (b) looking for it, in which case you haven't learn a thing. Either way you could end up in court & an awful lot of trouble if you start exercising your acquired martial skill on the public. So, why do Aikido or any martial art? I hope that the answer is different for everyone. For me it is to find a "better way", to follow the Tao if you like. Basically for the spiritual progression/development of myself & the people I come into contact with. But why Aikido? For me, it is the only art that is based on no contest & your skill as a practitioner comes from not offering or engaging in contention. No other art, that I'm aware of, can offer that. The only path to a true spirit is one of no contest because as soon as we start engaging in recognition of an enemy or contesting wills, we are attaching to them & our feelings. Aikido allows me to see these pathogenic forces as elements of Ki that simply need redirecting, or getting out of their way, & life goes on. What I found with these other arts is that they still based all of what they were doing around attacking or counter-attacking an opponent, looking for their weak points & striking at them in order to bring them down. There is no peace in this way & that is why I return to Aikido & especially "The Art of Peace" (the book that is) to look for The Way. Aikido Yuishinkai, I think, gives us the mandate & platform to discover this in it's full as it has no boundaries. It allows me to discover what this Aikido thing is that O'Sensei has left us with. I think I you can ask yourself "why do I do Aikido" & answer it honestly, then it doesn't matter whether you continue to train or give it up right here & now. Just so long as you are honest with yourself. I see too many seniors today training for reasons that I don't think they really know themselves. It shows in their Aikido & even worse their teaching. These people should at least take a break & think about why & what it is they are doing. If this means stopping at Sandan then so be it. Thanks for listening. Simon |
Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 15:41:21 +1000 From: Simon Russell Subject: Re: The sandan crisisWow what a dialogue and lots for me to think about - however i'll cut to the chase on what I think. Training is essentially about lifestyle - if it fits your lifestyle then you can do it. Lifestyle is about the practicality of getting to training for most people, and for juniors its just about being able to get to training and finding a teacher you can learn from. For seniors i think it gets increasingly difficult to find a teacher you can learn from and so a change in mindset is required. As a junior you can pretty much turn up to any class on the planet and be told where to put your feet and how to move. However once you move beyond this you get taught more advanced concepts, and beyond that you either need a master teacher or to seek out a teacher who has mastery in some aspects of other that you seek. If in your lifestyle thats not easy to do then its a long time between drinks Beyond that I think you reach the sandan crisis - this is where you look around and its clear there is not too much to learn from your peers, and you don't want them telling you stuff you don't agree with anyway. Practice becomes a bit dry and stale and its too much effort to cross training, read books watch videos, get together with peers and exchange ideas (everyone is too busy in their own dojos anyway) At this point you have to decide in some ways that its your aikido and your going to learn it from yourself - now of course i don't mean hand yourself a 10th dan a new style name and off you go - but you do have to take responsability for your own learning and make critical assessments about why some things work and somethings don't etc.... Unfortunately I think this is a big responsabilty and many don't rise to the challenge... not sure where the above is going ... any comments cheers, dan |
The Sandan Crisis - Where do the senior students go
Dear reader,A collection of emails between some senior students about why so many of our collegues drop away just as they start to become good exponents of their art. Its been labelled affectionally as the Sandan crisis because this is the last technical grading within our school. Students approaching this grading inevitabbly have reached the technocal limits of the syllabbus and can no longer be spoon feed material to improve thir aikido - instead a more active form of learning is required. Additionally around this time it becomes more difficult to find teachers who are able to provide leadership, and peers who can challenge and ush the development of their aikido along. More to come...
