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Thread: Going from SMR to Seitei

  1. #1
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    Default Going from SMR to Seitei

    In a few years I might end up in a place with no SMR-jo available but prolly seitei jo..I'm worried about the transition. I will spend 3 years maybe for university studies before going back home again and rejoin my SMR-training. If and when the time comes and I leave for studies I will have spent several years hammering in the ways of koryu-jo and all of a sudden, if I choose to train seitei, I'll have to reprogram myself to a different way of thinking which I honestly cannot see myself doing (with ease or willingly) in order to keep my jo-skills alive.

    Any other guys out there who where forced to from SMR to Seitei? Can you tell me a little bit what to expect and/or a few tips? Is it worth even considering seitei?
    Fredrik Hall
    "To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous." /Confucius

  2. #2
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    Don't sweat it. Flexibility is a good thing. Being able to do the "right" thing at the right time is a valuable skill. Studying seitei should open up your jo (if you let it), not shut it down. You will be learning different ways to do things, but you won't be learning an entirely new school, so your previous training should serve you well.

    You've probably seen all the kata before, so you know the sequence. You will be learning some alternate ways to do things. I think that is good. There are differences in the way SMR people do things, so at some point in your training, you will have to come to grips with ambiguity or variance.

    I think training is all about seeing things in new ways. These new ways are certainly filtered through the logic of your school, but there should be some progression. I think SMR and seitei share the same basic logic so the reprogramming shouldn't be as daunting as you fear.

    You also don't know what kind of flavor your future teacher will impart to seitei. (I'm assuming you haven't met him/her yet.) While certain movements may be different in the seitei kata, they can be done with the same flavor as koryu. (They are jo kata, after all.) It depends on how your future dojo will employ them. (This is probably a bigger issue than seitei vs. SMR: what is the atmosphere of the new dojo? What are the teacher and seniors like?)

    I don't think it will be as big a deal as you think. If you are training under a legitimate jo teacher for those three years, it will be time well spent.

    Kevin Cantwell

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    Well thats reassuring at least. As of now it simply looks like I'll end up in either of two cities, one of which has Seitei so its more attractive that way. '

    Just as a related side-note, in Sweden Shinto Muso-ryu isnt that spread out in comparison to Seitei. I wont swear on it, but I believe I currently train in the only Swedish dojo represented in the European Jodo Federation. The other SMR-dojos, with the exception of Stockholms JodoKai which belongs to Kaminoda Senseis group, I have no idea..In fact I'm not even sure there are more than two SMR-dojos (regardless of groups) in Sweden right now. I heard something about koryu-jo being taught in the southern-most part of Sweden but nothing solid.

    Anyways, thanks for the pickmeup there
    Fredrik Hall
    "To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous." /Confucius

  4. #4
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    Hello Mr. Hall,

    In fact I'm not even sure there are more than two SMR-dojos (regardless of groups) in Sweden right now.
    In Pascal Krieger's book, he lists five jodo dojo as of 1989: three in Goteborg, one in Ostersund (yours, I imagine) and one in Stockholm. That was about twenty years ago, though, so perhaps things have changed.

    As of now it simply looks like I'll end up in either of two cities, one of which has Seitei so its more attractive that way. '
    Does the dojo only offer seitei jo or is something else taught there?

    Kevin Cantwell

  5. #5
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    Ah yeh, 20 years ago is perhaps a bit long for accurate information . There is now only one listed dojo in Gothenburg ("Shobukan") which trains ZNKR Jodo and "Shinto muso ryu kata". They aheed a certain Takao Momiyama Sensei. However, from my previous inquiries of my Sensei, I seem to recall him mentioning that this particular dojo have (in the recent years) started to put more emphasize on Seitei rather than Koryu.

    Rest of the dojos I've heard of that incorporate Jodo is either purebred seitei or "Seitei Jo with SMR-kata". Though my own Sensei is graded in Seitei as well as koryu but he never teaches it specifically but goes straight to the koryu-jo.

    That leaves, besides Östersund, the dojo in Stockholm which is still active under two very skilled and experienced Jodoka, Lars och Lena Carlberg heading the Stockholm Jodokai.

    Thats all the SMR I know of. And no I got no possibility of moving to Stockholm either.

    Besides Seitei Jo I have the possibility of training Seitei Iai and Kendo in the city I might be moving to.
    Fredrik Hall
    "To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous." /Confucius

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