Disappointment and an Entering
Thought
(Extracted from Aikido-L)
Date: Tue, 7 May 2002
20:39:20 -0500
From: Randy
Subject: Disappointment and an entering thought
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone on this list for presenting
such nice ideas for me to steal :-D
This is my first post to aikido-l and I'm really sorry to make it such a
sad one, but here goes:
I recently applied for a study-abroad program in Japan. My 'sister'
college is in Nara, and so I
wanted to apply for entrance into the Nitto Ichi Ryu dojo there. I also
wished to apply to one of
the Nara kendo dojos. Well, I've been studying for almost 8 years now,
and I thought I had a good
chance of getting accepted.... Only to receive a reply that they don't
have any info on me... So my
depressing question is, has anyone (not necessarily in budo) on the list
been duped? Also, I've been
demonstrating bokken work (the kendo kata, Stenudd's aikibatto, and some
Shinkage basics) for my
aikido classmates... how do I break this news?
Randy "Three %*#~! more years and I could've been teaching!" Bosetti
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Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 11:09:38 +0900
From: Christopher Li
Subject: Re: Disappointment and an entering thought
Have you really been duped or did they just mean that they have no info
on you (which I wouldn't find surprising)? What style have you been
studying? Answeres in English from Japanese people can sometimes seem
curt or short because of their language skills, are you reading too much
into the text of what they wrote?
There are very few dojo in Japan that you'd have problems getting access
too, evern without applying for entrance ahead of time. However, a lot
of folks may just not want to bother with dealing with someone in a
foreign language who's not even in the country yet.
Best,
Chris
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Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 11:10:11 +0900
From: Peter Rehse
Subject: Re: Disappointment and an entering thought
If you want to study Budo in Japan you come and look around - its that
simple. As soon as you start doing things formally questions about
letters of introduction start becoming important. Hard to believe - but
every single kendo practioner is not registered in Japan. Finally I
hope you did not say in your letter that your goal was to teach in three
years - sheesh.
Case in point. I just moved back to Japan some two hours away from my
home dojo. What to do during the week. Well I walked into the local
Budokan and said that I wanted to train. Judo, Kendo, Aikido all were
glad to have me - I chose Judo they asked more detailed questions after
they fed me to their black belts. If you are any good in Kendo you will
be promoted pretty quick if that is your worry.
Visit your sister and use the time to explore the possibilities. Nara
is one of my favourite places.
Dr. Peter H. Rehse
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Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 21:21:58 -0500
From: Randy
Subject: Re: Disappointment and an entering thought
I've been studying standard ZNKR kendo, and I just started (6 months) on
shoden techniques from TSKSR.
The training (??) that I received was mostly kendo, and then we'd do it
again, in the "kenjutsu" style. The reply was in Japanese, snail-mail.
They were still willing to accept me, but I was more worried that it'll
take longer for me to start teaching. Geez, I sound so glum. *shrug*
Aikido seems more my "thing" anyway...
- rlb
PS Thanks again.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 11:34:18 +0900
From: Christopher Li
Subject: Re: Disappointment and an entering thought
>I've been studying standard ZNKR kendo, and I just started (6 months) on
>shoden techniques from TSKSR.
I'm not surprised at all that they had no info on you, there are probably
hundreds of thousands (millions?) of registrants in ZNKR Kendo, and I
doubt that record keeping is all that modern. On the other hard, you
should be pretty much able to walk into any ZNKR Kendo and train without
worrying about applying for entrance. Just go and show up - there
shouldn't be any problems.
>The training (??) that I received was mostly kendo, and then we'd do it
>again, in the "kenjutsu" style. The reply was in Japanese, snail-mail.
>They were still willing to accept me, but I was more worried that it'll
>take longer for me to start teaching.
I know plenty of folks who have been training 20 or 30 years (and more)
but who don't teach on a regular basis (myself included). Twenty years
doesn't even put you near the top of the student list in most of the dojo
that I go to - I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Best,
Chris
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 21:32:33 -0500
From: Randy
Subject: Re: Disappointment and an entering thought
Peter Rehse wrote:
> If you want to study Budo in Japan you come and look around - its that
> simple. As soon as you start doing things formally questions about
> letters of introduction start becoming important. Hard to believe - but
> every single kendo practioner is not registered in Japan. Finally I
> hope you did not say in your letter that your goal was to teach in three
> years - sheesh.
My goal is to begin teaching in three years... I know I won't be
great, but I
learn quicker and I want to give something back.
> Case in point. I just moved back to Japan some two hours away from my
> home dojo. What to do during the week. Well I walked into the local
> Budokan and said that I wanted to train. Judo, Kendo, Aikido all were
> glad to have me - I chose Judo they asked more detailed questions after
> they fed me to their black belts.
I'll take that to heart, thanks.
> If you are any good in Kendo you will
> be promoted pretty quick if that is your worry.
No worries, just want to teach. If I took the letter correctly, I
have all the
more reason to do it right...
>
> Visit your sister and use the time to explore the possibilities. Nara
> is one of my favourite places.
>
It's really nice during the rainy season, I visited the daibutsu
there, pretty neat :-)
Thanks a lot for all the help, I really appreciate it.
- rlb
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 23:31:15 -0400
From: Peter Boylan
Subject: Re: Disappointment and an entering thought
Randy wrote:
>
> My goal is to begin teaching in three years... I know I won't be
> great, but I
> learn quicker and I want to give something back.
The only reason to be teaching after 3 years is if there is no real
teacher in your area. I'm in that situation now, and I would
desperately love to go back to being a student. In most dojos in Japan,
twenty years qualifies you as a dedicated student, but not really as a
teacher. Most of the guys heading kendo dojos in Japan are at least 7th
dan with at least 50 years experience. I'm not exaggerating this. Even
in the dojos in inaka where I trained the depth was at least 2 7th dans
with at least 50 years of training each. In big dojos there will be
even more depth.
> >
> No worries, just want to teach. If I took the letter correctly, I
> have all the
> more reason to do it right...
Don't worry about teaching. 3 years isn't even enough to learn the
basic properly (I'm walking proof of this).
>
You mentioned wanting to do Nitto Ichi Ryu. There are no Nito dojos in
Nara. There only 2 of those, and they are both in Kyushu. You also
mentioned studying some Katori Shinto Ryu. There are several groups
teaching Katori Shinto Ryu techniques in the Tokyo region, but only one
has connections to the current Soke and Shihanke of KSR, and it is in
Chiba.
In Nara you have Hozoin Ryu Yari, Shinto Muso Ryu Jo, Yagyu Shinkage Ryu
Kenjutsu, and Yagyu Shingan Ryu (sogo budo includes loads of weapons and
jujutsu). You are also within striking distance of all the budo
available in Kyoto and Osaka, so I don't doubt that you will find
something to take up your time. Just don't expect to have permission to
teach any of these after 3 years. Maybe after 10, but certainly not
after 3.
I'm not trying to discourage you. Most dojos that I know are very open,
and will be happy to teach you. It's just that they don't give
permission to teach lightly.
Peter "the Budo Bum" Boylan
--
Peter Boylan
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Last updated on 13 Sep 2002