In light of JKS's comment, this will be as dispassionate as possible to try to explain why there are still problems with what is being put forth.
Is it a delusion to think that anger isn't the way to go?
http://www.koryu.com/library/dlowry9.html
That article is Dave Lowry's take on his personal development, and it is, in the main, correct. A large part of the training is a focus on Mushin, or Fudoshin, for a range of reasons, however that does not mean that you never get angry, and Koryu practitioners are some kind of blissful, ever-appeased saints. There are large numbers of stories I could tell you that demonstrate this point, vengeful, vidictive teachers who were barely more than bullies, and some of these are considered some of the most talented and respected teachers of various systems around (and yes, Japanese).
The thing is, though, it again comes down to context. What is the cause of the anger? Is it irrational, ego based, or is it due to a reasonable external stimulus? Should you come up against me in a training hall, you'll find that anger isn't an issue I have, but dealing with me personally, when I'm faced with consistent harassment, then I feel that anger, or more realistically frustration, is warranted. And yes, that is perfectly fine in Koryu...
Is it a delusion to think that understanding japanese culture helps in the study on any japanese martial arts including the koryu arts?
http://www.koryu.com/library/dskoss7.html
To think that it helps? No. To think that current Japanese society is really related to Koryu culture, though, is. To talk about bowing protocols in modern Japanese society, and believe that that is of utmost importance, as it reflects the etiquette of the Ryu, is. The actual reiho (etiquette) of the Ryu is quite different, and that is what needs to be understood. Having an understanding of Japanese culture can be an entrance into that, but that's really it. And the reason is that the Koryu community has opened up a great deal over recent years.
Is it a delusion to think that in order to be a teacher of koryu that you either must have spent time in Japan or study under someone who has done the time?
http://www.koryu.com/library/dskoss1.html
The important thing is to have the connection. What geographic location that connection has been established in is getting to be of less importance... but I'll look to this again in a little bit.
Put another way, as much as you would like to turn this into a "puunui knows nothing about koryu, his opinion is invalid", what it really is about is you, and others like you.
Again, whether you know anything or not isn't the issue, it is how you have taken correction. You continued to argue against people actually involved in these arts. You made a comment, you were corrected, and you continued to make the same comment, to the point of trying to tell me that I was wrong. That is what made your opinion invalid, the fact that you were showing it to have no basis, and have no willingness to improve that state of affairs.
It hasn't ever been about me.
You obviously have some sort of mental, emotional, psychological or spiritual block about living and studying in japan. And that block, in my ignorant, don't know nothing about anything opinion, is preventing you from achieving your highest and fullest potential.
No, I really don't. Trust me, there is no block there at all. Additionally, your comment about my "highest and fullest potential", well, that doesn't really have any basis either. The way I achieve my highest and fullest potential is simple... I keep training.
I am not against you. I think you have talent and more important than that, you have tremendous desire and focus. Look how much energy and passion you are putting into this discussion. I think this stuff comes naturally to you, much more so than others.
I am putting energy and passion into the discussion for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Koryu is a great love of mine. Second, I'm rather protective of Koryu, so when things are put down that are incorrect, I will want to correct them (and more importantly, the person making the statements/expressing the ideas themselves). And thirdly, you were baiting me with a range of insults.
I think if you went to japan you have a chance to be one of the greats in koryu.
See, that's the thing. That is never an aim. That aim is, in fact, anathema to training in Koryu. I have no intention of being "one of the greats", I have an intention of doing the best by my chosen Ryu, and doing all I can to protect them and ensure they survive and are passed on to the next generation of practitioners.
It hasn't ever been about me.
I think if you do go to japan and spent ten or twenty years there, you could prove your point that you do not have to have japanese blood in order to fully understand koryu arts. I also think you are running out of time.
I have no need to prove any point, it has been proven by many others over a long period before me. And no, I'm not running out of time at all. I will say, though, that you are unaware of my longer-term plans and aims, so there isn't really any basis for you to make any assumption or express any such belief.
I think there is a pattern of non-japanese practitioners who have gone on to achieve great things in koryu by moving to japan, one of which is that they went when they were relatively young, in their twenties or early thirties. That is why I give you ten more years, because at that point, it will probably be too late to make a long term commitment to living and training in japan.
No, there isn't. There is a collection of Western practitioners who have trained in Japan, or in the West (increasingly, these days), who have been recognised within the community for their level of understanding and knowledge. The rest is a case of post hoc ergo propter hoc, but I'll deal with that in a moment.
I was told that koryu.com is a good place for koryu information. But if there are many more informed sources, I would like to hear about them. Can you name some names?
Actually, you were told to visit koryu.com as it's a good place for an introduction to Koryu. The aim was that you would get some form of baseline from which we could then begin to discuss things in more detail, however you seem to have misunderstood, or just plain missed, most of the pertinent details there.
When it comes to more informed sources, as with anything in this community, it comes down to personal contacts. I, for example, count quite a number as friends. But to get to the point where you are getting such information and insight from them, you first need to demonstrate some form of base understanding. The greatest amount of information and insight comes from experience. So, if you are genuinely interested, you'd need to start over, both in terms of training (if you were wanting to train in Koryu), and in terms of the way you are approaching things here. I'd advise recognizing that the Koryu are still very much a private organisation (each Ryu itself), so when you are told something by myself, Paul, Ken, Sukerkin, or others involved, it is us letting you into our world, and letting you share something very private to us. We don't have to let you know anything, when it comes down to it (for the record, I'm a fan of letting information out, as much as is permitted, in order to improve understanding of the Ryu themselves, and Koryu in general), so I'd suggest being grateful and, for the most part, accepting what you're told.
Staying with the original topic, is it possible to be "great" at koryu without studying in Japan for at least a little while? If so, which arts would those be and who would be the teachers outside of Japan who can make someone great without having to live in Japan for an extended period of time?
There's really no such thing as "being 'great' at Koryu", though. There really isn't. That's the thing that you've missed most of all, it's not about the practitioners, it's about the Ryu. Ideally, any teacher of any Koryu, whether in Japan or not, should be aiming to get the students to be good representatives of the Ryu itself, but if you want a list of names, that starts to get subjective. I could give quite a list, some would agree with all, some with most, some would disagree with a number as well.
How hard would it be to gain a teaching license outside of Japan? Do you know of any practitioners to have not gone to Japan and received the highest teaching license in a koryu? If so, who are those people, and what art do they teach?
Which Ryu? It really does often come down to that. You can get a licence to teach Katori Shinto Ryu in the Sugino Dojo without necessarily spending decades in Japan, (yearly trips for as little as a week or so might do), but the Otake Dojo would be a different story. Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu and Muso Shinden Ryu, as well as Shinto Muso Ryu are so widespread that you might never go to Japan. The Soke and Sodenke lines of Takeuchi Ryu have a single dojo each, literally down the road from each other, in Japan, so you can't even take a single lesson in those lines of that Ryu without going to Japan... but the Bitchu-den line has dojo in a number of Western locations.
I'm curious because the articles cited say that living continuously in Japan for at least five years, being able to converse in Japanese, etc. are all important to be a koryu teacher.
The thing to remember is that those articles were written near onto two decades ago, at a time when the number of Western dojo for Koryu could be counted on one hand. As a result, being able to speak Japanese was of paramount importance, otherwise you couldn't understand what was being said in the class, nor likely hold down a job to support yourself, or even ask directions to the dojo in the first place. These days, the story is different, with the necessary component being a connection to that Japanese head and fount. Is a connection to Japan important? Absolutely. Do you need to necessarily spend a decade in Japan? That depends on what's around you. For some Ryu, yes, absolutely. And some trips to Japan (at the least) will be required the higher you go in the Ryu... there does come a point where, if you're not going to Japan, then the connection isn't there.
When it all comes down to it, the most important reason for spending time in Japan studying Koryu for a teacher of the Ryu is that you are a representative of the Ryu, and of the current head of that Ryu. So, that head needs to know whether or not they wish to vouch for you as being a representative, and that takes some time to build that kind of relationship. That's far more important than being immersed in modern Japanese culture, or even the corrections that you receive from your seniors, and as such, understanding Japanese just helps fascilitate that relationship... but there are a range of teachers who's Japanese is rudimentary at best... and they are, in cases, the most senior instructors, holding the highest licences available in their respective Ryu.
