Dojo Atmosphere
(Extract from Aikido-L)

Date:    Sat, 23 Mar 2002 00:39:35 -0700
From:    A J Garcia
Subject: Dojo Atmosphere

Listka,

A friend sent me a link to an article on the Aikido Journal website that concerned a topic we'd been discussing...and after reading that one, I cruised the site a bit, read some of the Meik Skoss koryu articles (very informative), and the beginning (a teaser to get you to subscribe) of a David Lynch one: "Squaring the Circle".

He posed the following question:
"Should the atmosphere in a dojo be one of "love and harmony" or something far more intense, aimed at precipitating a psychological state entirely different from that of our everyday lives?"

I'd be curious as to what the List thinks on that subject.

Al

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Date:    Sat, 23 Mar 2002 17:04:22 +0900
From:    Christopher Li
Subject: Re: Dojo Atmosphere

I'm not sure why it can't be both...

Best,

Chris

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Date:    Sat, 23 Mar 2002 01:58:08 -0700
From:    Paul Gowder
Subject: Re: Dojo Atmosphere

Are you suggesting that love and harmony are entirely different from our everyday lives?  :-)

         -Paul

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Date:    Sat, 23 Mar 2002 06:46:54 -0500
From:    Blake Moorcroft
Subject: Re: Dojo Atmosphere

It would seem to be a bit black and white to suggest that the atmosphere of the dojo must be one or the other...while I like clear cut "yes/no" situations myself, I'm smart enough to realize that life almost never works that way.

What I'd hope for is that the latter situation is constantly enforced...IMO its the best environment for learning because it breaks your preconceptions (well, hopefully) fairly regularly.  You get to learn more...as for *what* is learned, well, if the desired atmosphere is one of love and harmony then I'd say that's fairly different from your everyday life.  Some might prefer to strive for something like enlightenment (assuming that they define that state to be different from that of love and harmony)...others for just pure martial focus.  In any event, I'm figuring that would be an easier task to accomplish with the latter.

More later
Blake Moorcroft  (Sei Bu)

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Date:    Sat, 23 Mar 2002 09:48:29 -0500
From:    Mike Bartman
Subject: Re: Dojo Atmosphere

What makes him think that "love and harmony" aren't "a psychological state entirely different from that of our everyday lives?"

               -- Mike "gee, some people..." Bartman --

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Last updated on 13 Sep 2002