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kirkcudbrightThis evening, I witnessed the senior instructor of our dojo break the leg of one of his senior students. It was an accident, to be sure, but he was doing something he really had no good reason to be doing.
The context is that Sensei, the founder of our style of aikido, conducts a weekend-long seminar here every year. And one of the things Sensei really likes to do is to demonstrate a technique on D, and then call other black belts up to do the same technique on D, who utterly resists being thrown, then Sensei drives D into the mat to show how easy it is.
Sensei never really explains the point of this, which I take to be that proper technique, applied properly, works even against D, whereas improper technique doesn't work. But the subtext is that D is better than us, and Sensei is better than D. And we wonder why our dojo has a reputation for being hard-asses.
Anyway, Sensei called up E to do tsuki kokyunage against D, even though he out-masses her by 50%, is 2 dan levels above her, and made fools of the last 6 black belts Sensei sent against him. And D, rather than simply resisting being thrown, decided to counter-throw E, and she landed in some particularly bad way. I don't recall exactly how it went down, but I recall vividly how she got up and hopped one-legged back to the line, sat down next to me, and pulled back her hakama to reveal a bone visibly broken and displaced right above the ankle.
The athletic center med crew was summoned, with their band-aids and ace bandages, and they summoned the campus police (in the same building) and the campus med center EMTs (a quarter mile away), and E was eventually whisked away to MGH. In the interim, Steve from the Northeast Philly dojo took charge of splinting her leg, and endorphins took charge of her pain. Nancy from...I'm not sure which dojo she's from...appointed herself to gather up E's things, and accompany her to the hospital. D pretty much stayed in the background.
I must say, parenthetically, that I feel weird anonymizing friends and fellow practicioners by their initials. You know I usually name names (or at least LJ IDs), but this time I feel a need to be vague. Because it's unseemly to criticize your sensei publicly. Because it's unseemly to criticize Sensei publicly. But really, Sensei condones, and even encourages, this sort of behavior from D, and it's a wonder no one else has been badly hurt before now.
It puts a pall over the whole seminar thing, and I'm thinking of skipping tomorrow's classes, and going riding instead. Cheyenne's another one who will injure you unintentionally, but he's a horse, and I can handle horses.
The context is that Sensei, the founder of our style of aikido, conducts a weekend-long seminar here every year. And one of the things Sensei really likes to do is to demonstrate a technique on D, and then call other black belts up to do the same technique on D, who utterly resists being thrown, then Sensei drives D into the mat to show how easy it is.
Sensei never really explains the point of this, which I take to be that proper technique, applied properly, works even against D, whereas improper technique doesn't work. But the subtext is that D is better than us, and Sensei is better than D. And we wonder why our dojo has a reputation for being hard-asses.
Anyway, Sensei called up E to do tsuki kokyunage against D, even though he out-masses her by 50%, is 2 dan levels above her, and made fools of the last 6 black belts Sensei sent against him. And D, rather than simply resisting being thrown, decided to counter-throw E, and she landed in some particularly bad way. I don't recall exactly how it went down, but I recall vividly how she got up and hopped one-legged back to the line, sat down next to me, and pulled back her hakama to reveal a bone visibly broken and displaced right above the ankle.
The athletic center med crew was summoned, with their band-aids and ace bandages, and they summoned the campus police (in the same building) and the campus med center EMTs (a quarter mile away), and E was eventually whisked away to MGH. In the interim, Steve from the Northeast Philly dojo took charge of splinting her leg, and endorphins took charge of her pain. Nancy from...I'm not sure which dojo she's from...appointed herself to gather up E's things, and accompany her to the hospital. D pretty much stayed in the background.
I must say, parenthetically, that I feel weird anonymizing friends and fellow practicioners by their initials. You know I usually name names (or at least LJ IDs), but this time I feel a need to be vague. Because it's unseemly to criticize your sensei publicly. Because it's unseemly to criticize Sensei publicly. But really, Sensei condones, and even encourages, this sort of behavior from D, and it's a wonder no one else has been badly hurt before now.
It puts a pall over the whole seminar thing, and I'm thinking of skipping tomorrow's classes, and going riding instead. Cheyenne's another one who will injure you unintentionally, but he's a horse, and I can handle horses.
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-05 05:03 pm (UTC)that said, i understand that the mat surface was unfamiliar, and goodness knows that freaks of nature happen. but to me this completely contradicts the spirit that makes our art particularly worthwhile in the first place, which is that we humanize our attackers and take responsibility for protecting them.
i'm kind of waiting (but believe me, i'm not going to seminar today either) to see what the various parties involved have to say about this event. that said, we're senior students now ourselves. we are in a position to be the change we want to see in the world, or at least in our dojo. which of those classes (plus presumably now a few more openings) do you want to teach?
Yes, please wait
Date: 2006-11-06 04:33 am (UTC)And please consider fully what you write. If people were to make serious inquiries or demands based on this event without E's input, the result could very well make E *VERY* unhappy.
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H
Re: Yes, please wait
Date: 2006-11-06 02:58 pm (UTC)if it reassures either of you, i have no plans to involve any hierarchies at any level; not the club, not the school, and not the place where we practice. this is just about what i'm going to bring to my own teaching.
i'm actually mostly curious about d's and sensei's tuppences, since i consider them the responsible parties. e is welcome to tell me whatever she likes, too, of course.
your suggestion that i "consider fully what [i] write" for e's sake is understandable, since i'm sure you're very concerned about her (as i am). but suggesting that i speak or not speak based on her happiness is inappropriate. neither you, nor e, nor d, nor sensei, gets to tell me what to say or do, though i'm happy to discuss the subject with anyone (which is why i've publically posted, of course).
Re: Yes, please wait
Date: 2006-11-07 02:39 am (UTC)You have addressed my only concern. I'll leave any other discussion to E.
Thanks :-)
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H
no subject
Date: 2006-11-05 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-05 11:20 pm (UTC)Makes me remember why I don't miss Jiujitsu.