How much do you learn from your Sensei?

[mspain]

HDT.

I understand.

MSPain

[oneya]

Hi Desktop,

I think the main reason why there is a reluctance to dispensing information on the wado subject over the internet is that it is simply not the vehicle for dissemination of much that can really only be taught via the dojo and its hands on method of teaching and learning.

Everything that I know of wado ryu came to me via the charms of the dojo and its magical methods of inculcation, while everything I know ‘about’ wadoryu has been an accumulation of the melding of experience and information. One cannot know wado ryu via this second instance. Just about everyone here knows that wado ryu is a process. Initially a process of learning the fundamentals of its philosophy, principles and practice followed by the continuing process of development towards – in my opinion - a discovery that its end product is not bespoke. Again in my opinion, the realisation of this is the most enabling aspect of knowing wado ryu. One can only know wado ryu by its practice and it is within this knowing that ura waza can be revealed to the practitioner. We can talk about ura waza all day and night but the simple fact is that ura waza are really ephemeral and can only be really understood in context. Ura waza are ephemeral because, once they are revealed they would by definition become omote.
I would have to think though that the exception to this are the ura waza of koryu which remain concealed within the higher echelons of its practitioners.

oneya

[kyudo]

I understand the reluctance some have with dispensing information on the Internet, and we are all the poorer for that.

I don't see any reluctance to share information. On the contrary...
What I do see is the struggle and frustration on both parts to try and convey complex information over a medium with very limited bandwidth. Would you be able to convey what you learned from Jorn Utzon through this forum? Some of it, yes. But you would never be able to pass on the experience of light and space, nor the forces playing through an architectural structure. This is what we on this forum are struggling with.
To some extent, you and I are in similar situations. I was the student of a sensei who studied with Ohtsuka mejin. And who then travelled abroad, to find himself more or less isolated from the main body of the wadokai. When I first connected to the likes of Oneya and Gusei21, some 8 years ago, a whole new world opened for me. This led to an intense dialogue, then travelling and meeting and ultimately a transformation of my wado and that of some of my peers. The Wado Collective, which is discussed elsewhere on this forum, wouldn't have existed without the online dialogue. But then again, no real change would have taken place if it had only been online.
This place is great to spot the gaps in your knowledge. But the dojo remains the first place to actually fill those gaps…

[wadoka]

I think there are natural ebbs and flows here, as in life.

I started off the tanto dori thread as a previous idori thread went really well, but it didn't gain the same sort of traction. We just move on. I don't think there is a reluctance as can be seen by previous contributions and the quality of them. It is through the freely given time that people spend here which makes this a great pool, but it can only be an adjunct to more important things in life.

[honoluludesktop]

............Would you be able to convey what you learned from Jorn Utzon through this forum? Some of it, yes. But you would never be able to pass on the experience of light and space, nor the forces playing through an architectural structure.....

While this is true, about experiencing space over the Internet, we are still able to discuss Architectural design (which is what I do) with no difficulty. Unlike a Karate stylist, Architects are not trying to design as Utozonians, but as Architects.

[shep]

I've always found that if a question cant be answered then the questioner will be pointed in the right direction where the question can be answered and that is inevitabley in the direction of the dojo door. I think that is right and proper.

shep