Do You Need
an Instructor to Learn Martial Arts?
(Extracted from Iaido-L)
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
I see your point, but your arguments miss some aspects:
1. "Do you need an instructor to learn martial arts? Do you need one to learn
History? Do you need one to learn Basketball?"
There is a difference: Basketball is (usually) just technique and history is
(usually) just knowledge. This you can get without a teacher. But most MA are
not just technique or knowledge, but education in the sense of developing the
personality of the student or help him to develope himself. This is obvious for
all Aikido-related sword arts, but as far as I understand for koryu and kendo
(if it is not "just sport") too. For this you always need a teacher, i.e. a
trusted person with knowledge and experience, looking at the student from a
certain distance (which you can never do yourself), criticising and encouraging.
* After reading the discussion on the list, I would add, that humans are born as
* "social animals". Learning from parents and teachers in your "horde"
* is the most natural way. Every child does it. Everything else (books
* is just cultural decorum. Humans are biologically made for social
* exchange with other humans and not with books, videos or computers.
* Forget about "direct transmission". It might be just biology.
2. If I look at the seminar invitations and on the websites of american
equipement stores on the list I'm always wondering how people in America are
able to pay these prices. Not to mention how they look like if you take into
account the miserable exchange rate of the euro. And if I have a choice where to
spend my money, I will always choose a lesson on the art itself - and buy a book
for the rest.
3. "Why an accrediting agency (ie college or university)? Would the senate of
the University have a clue about the legitimacy of a course of study on the
lineage of MJER?"
This is probably not the point. Even people who don't want to spent money on MA
history courses would do so if they have to spend the money anyway - to get
credit points. At least, if the educational system is not free of charge. If you
have to pay for a history course anyway - why not budo history? In fact, I have
already seen university courses about MA-related topics - at our department of
Sinology. The teacher didn't practise any MA herself - she's an academic.
The university would never pay a martial artist for it - because there is none
with the apropriate, accredited title - and because of general strategy: You
don't need to practise yourself what you are teaching at university, don't you?
You can talk about the lovelife of bees too without haveing been a bee before,
what's the difference? People who practise can't do research on an academic
level anyway. Please don't miss my <big grin>.
4. Why pay for a budo history/culture course? We have iaido-l for free! ;-)
And it should be free indeed, because everybody (=those active) is contributing
and everybody is teacher and student at the same time. By the way, thank you
very much for the work you spend on it. As you said, work like that pays back,
even if not in money.
Some more food for thought, probably.
Inken
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Hello, Bushi!!
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
> I see your point, but your arguments miss some
> aspects:
>
> 1. "Do you need an instructor to learn martial arts?
> Do you need one to
> learn
> History? Do you need one to learn Basketball?"
> There is a difference: Basketball is (usually) just
> technique and
> history is (usually) just knowledge. This you can
> get without a teacher.
> But most MA are not just technique or knowledge, but
> education in the
> sense of developing the personality of the student
> or help him to
> develope himself. This is obvious for all
> Aikido-related sword arts, but
> as far as I understand for koryu and kendo (if it is
> not "just sport")
> too. For this you always need a teacher, i.e. a
> trusted person with
> knowledge and experience, looking at the student
> from a certain distance
> (which you can never do yourself), criticising and
> encouraging.
Especialy in the case of MA you do not need a teacher to learn MA, he can sure
facilitate the process, but it all depends only on the student, like in the
tale, the teacher is only the finger, you can find the moon by yourself
althought there are many places you can search for, eventualy, you will find.
It4s a sad thing that some people get mesmerised with the finger and forget
their pursuit.
Regards,
Leonardo.
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Last updated on 13 Sep 2002