Mark F.
"I was passing on what myself and others have learned. Ask anyone who has done other arts such as judo, besides Aiki JJ and I think they would say the same thing."
Just to clarify, as I stated in my response, in my seach for the art that's right for me I have had a wide variety of experience in different martial arts including but not confined to Tae kwon do, kook sul won, kali/escrima, muay thai, kung fu, 2-styles of ninjujutsu, jujutsu, naginata, capoeira, aikido...the list goes on. Though I've been persuing the arts for 20yrs, I've actually only been studying aikijujutsu formally for 5yrs.
I used to be more involved with the martial arts "community" but I guess I've gotten kinda jaded over the years. Or maybe I was always like that and just dicided not to play with the other kids anymore. I know that sounds real negative, but it's not intended that way. My only motivation is training and learning, and right now I am very focused. Everything outside of that falls short of interesting me. And besides, if I was really not "accepting" I wouldn't be posting at all. My only "agenda", as far as I know, is to share and learn. There have been those that try to maintain a false mystique about the arts, eluding to secrets or privileged knowledge that, quite frankly, just isn't there. This kinda bugs me a little. I make no excuses for the way I am, or how I view the arts. As I stated before everything I say is "In my humble opinion, based on my limited experience".
Respectfully and not too seriously,
Richard Elias
Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin ryu
Yanagi Ryu