Good gracious, I never stopped practice! I just don't do much aikido any more. In terms of personality/principle, it could be construed as such, but my decisions were frankly more circumstantial. You would have to have worn my shoes at the time, and frankly, I can't recommend them.
The principle of pure training can be more valuable than personality, so long as those training keep it so. I simply found something that filled the niche I was looking for, checked it out and stayed. I'm honestly surprised that it worked for me.
It was both far more difficult and more deeply personal.
(
www.the-dojo.com is where I practice now)
I am now very careful of both the principles and people I train with.
I'm so glad it's getting passed forward. That's what really matters. It's one of the best, as far as I'm concerned, right up there with Rocky Road ;-> .
I'm not sure I'll ever come completely back to aikido, though I keep an eye on it and try to contribute and participate when I can. Practicing with Sugano Shihan in Aspen in June, I realised that, unless there is some connection, aikido is, at best, a spectator sport for me now.
This is part of why I so appreciate the efforts of Peter Goldsbury, Stan Pranin and others who try to open the doors and keep clear the reality of the history of aikido. There's as many different interpretations as there are bodies and minds interpreting.
It's better embraced, than denied.
Looking in from the outside, it's all ice cream, but sometimes there's nuts in.
;-)
Emily D-G
(fond of butter pecan myself)