# question a sensei asked me



## TallAdam85 (Jun 12, 2003)

Hello Everyone I love EVERYTHING about martial Arts. A few Weeks ago I went to an Aikido Demo. It was realy cool It lasted about 45 mins and I enjoyed it all. But at the end of the demo One of the Aikido Sensei called me up out of the croud ( Maybe cause I was in a Karate T-shirt) The Sensei Put me in a wrist lock and then asked is it fake. I yelled in pain No its real. Then everyone else who came up there  he asked the same question is it real. I am just wondering why did he asked everyone that? Does any one know  why ? 

Thanks 
Adam :asian:


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## Bob Hubbard (Jun 12, 2003)

To prove a point.

Sadly, to me, it would not have been the point he was intending to prove.

:asian:


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## kkbb (Jun 12, 2003)

> _Originally posted by TallAdam85 _
> *Hello Everyone I love EVERYTHING about martial Arts. A few Weeks ago I went to an Aikido Demo. It was realy cool It lasted about 45 mins and I enjoyed it all. But at the end of the demo One of the Aikido Sensei called me up out of the croud ( Maybe cause I was in a Karate T-shirt) The Sensei Put me in a wrist lock and then asked is it fake. I yelled in pain No its real. Then everyone else who came up there  he asked the same question is it real. I am just wondering why did he asked everyone that? Does any one know  why ?
> 
> Thanks
> Adam :asian: *



Did someone say something like "fake", out loud?  Why the urge to prove something?  Must have been egged on...

Other than that, the guy has no brains...  To risk injuring anybody at a demo, is stupidity.  To attract new students while the uke is on the floor writhing in pain, would be almost impossible.


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## theletch1 (Jun 12, 2003)

The wrist lock was real and so, apparently, was this Sensei's ego.  I cannot imagine calling someone out of an audience at random and doing a technique on them.  Sounds like this guy felt he had a point to prove to some one for one reason or another.  Regardless of the reason the action was in poor taste.


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## roryneil (Jun 12, 2003)

Went to an Aikido class once and the teacher asked if anyone had previous MA experience. I was the only one who did, and he said I would have the hardest time with the class. Not rude, just matter of fact. And you know what? He was right. Everything seemed basically "wrong" compared to what I knew. I never returned. But he wasn't rude and did not try to put me on the spot with my MA knowledge. 
   Also that guy had you in a situation where you are trying to be polite as he is putting on a demo. How would he like it if you reversed the lock and broke his nose in front of "his" audience?


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## theletch1 (Jun 12, 2003)

Roryneil,
  I began aikido after 2 years of kenpo and also found that alot of what I was being introduced to was contradictory to what I already knew.  Not wrong exactly but different.  As with kenpo I have immersed (sp) myself in aikido and now understand that neither is wrong, just designed to work with the techniques.  I still train in kenpo with a couple of guys from my old school and attend class at a local dojo for aikido.  I find that having both styles as tools to reference help out a great deal.  I'm glad to hear that the sensei was polite to you.  The instructor at the demo could have used a bit of his tact.


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## yilisifu (Jun 13, 2003)

Having given literally hundreds of demos in my lifetime, I have never called someone out of the crowd to suffer the pain of some technique.  I imagine he was trying to make a point, but I would say that his method was inappropriate.


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## roryneil (Jun 13, 2003)

theletch1
  I see what you are saying. I just had a hard time reconciling stances and what not. And by the way, I don't want anyone on this Aikido thread to think I was saying Aikido WAS wrong, just that it FELT wrong to ME. Like I had learned to play piano, and then someone threw a violin in my hands.


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## Aikikitty (Jun 13, 2003)

I hear and read about plenty of people who look at Aikido and think it's all fake and the uke is just falling down on purpose.  I think the demo sensei was just showing that it can be really effective to the crowd but I don't think he should have probably done it that way and risk hurting somebody.  He might have brought up a guy with previous wrist injuries and not know about it and _really_ hurt him!  

Robyn :asian:


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## theletch1 (Jun 13, 2003)

Rory,
    No misunderstanding there.  I'm still a very new aikidoka and continue to reconcile stances and such as I go.  When we do atemi (strikes) I finally feel totally at ease...lol.  Believe it or not the hardest thing I had to adjust to was the front roll!  It was just a very small difference but I had the hardest time readjusting myself.  



> Having given literally hundreds of demos in my lifetime, I have never called someone out of the crowd to suffer the pain of some technique. I imagine he was trying to make a point, but I would say that his method was inappropriate



I did several dozen demos with my old school and shudder to think what would have happened if we had called someone from the audience to demonstrate something like "Dance of Death" or even something as simple as "Crashing Elbows".  

    I would have really thought that someone who had reached the level of being an instructor would have gotten beyond the point of feeling that they had to "prove" something to the general public.  Singleing someone out that had on a MA shirt kind of defeats the purpose anyway, doesn't it?  Someone with MA experience (granted the shirt doesn't MEAN they have trained) is probably going to have enough knowledge to know that a wrist lock is real anyway.


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## CrankyDragon (Aug 23, 2005)

theletch1 said:
			
		

> The wrist lock was real and so, apparently, was this Sensei's ego. I cannot imagine calling someone out of an audience at random and doing a technique on them. Sounds like this guy felt he had a point to prove to some one for one reason or another. Regardless of the reason the action was in poor taste.


 Im with Jeff on this.  Not the Aiki way we like to do things, at least not in our dojo.  If I were to be lucky enough to participate in a demonstration, and afterwards someone asked me to do a technique on them, Id have to ask them to come to a class to get the full effect, because the physical is only half of Aiki, the rest I cant show him, they must feel it.

 That is all...
 Andrew


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