@sore knees yep, I was a very junior grade when that was said to me. But I took it with a grain of salt. If I had taken it personal, and gotten upset at what my sensei said, I might not have stayed around to continue to discover aikido. If that statement had taken me too far out of my comfort zone, by words alone, I wonder where I would be today. Anyways, like I said, you could never tell if he was serious or not...he did not have a smirk on his face at the time. I thought he was serious, then after sticking around a few years, and getting to know sensei, I came to understand his personality and his nature and approach which caused his students to question their own reasons for training and push themselves beyond personal values previously held, values that many left the aikido training / dojo over (those that could not get past themselves and their esteemed values, and comfort zone) Comfort zones were broken down and reestablished often. Nothing personal, except for the aikido training, which was a great gift from my sensei and instructors to me.
I'm gonna go completely overboard here and tell a story. Someone once was testing/grading for some level of brown belt...may have even been black belt. This person failed the test and came back on the next cycle and failed again. Rather than quit or stay at that rank, they started over. That's right. Started over. It was totally their idea and decision. They put on a white belt and literally started from the beginning. And they eventually did make it to black belt.
hello, best story ever monkeywrench. similar sentiments have been encountered in bjj (yep, not quite aikido, neh?). in separate discussions with high level people (examples: marcio feitosa, paul schreiner, marcelo garcia, shawn williams) ALL of them professed the same wish. they all wished they could be white belts again and get it right. you however actually know someone that actually DID IT. believe it or not monkeywrench, your post is a LOT to think about. thanks
Holy crap! So you mean to tell me that hard training, and a good instructor, in the budo can actually allow one to train toward achieving these lofty goals of self improvement that are so often spoke about but never actually trained for? How about that, eh? Failing tests are important, putting people on the spot are critical; challenging yourself and your students and making them achieve and perform under pressure and stress are the most beneficial means to grow in budo and as a person. A dojo that does not require offer some difficulty to overcome, pressure, risk, or a martial atmosphere is more akin to a social club than a serious study of the martial arts where one is forced to develop themselves. In my opinion, anyway.
