----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Lewis"
The level of enthusiasm, the desire to learn, the warmth of the people are
all at least as good as in Europe, if not better. The only downside is
that
American society as considerably more regimented and conformist that in
Europe (heads down, duck the bullets!). For example, people here want to
work by calendar dates rather than by sniffing the wind and following
nature
- and they seem to want to follow rigid formulae rather than be creative
and
break the mould. This isn't just bonsai, but it is more prevalent in
bonsai, probably because of the way bonsai has been taught in the past.
------------

When one begins an endeavor (like bonsai), there should be one way, and only
one way, shown for how to do most of the basics. Things should be taught in
the manner that says, "this is how you do this and you do it this way every
time." There should be no room for modification, variation, exceptions,
etc... This way students get the basics down and when they've got the
basics down and are skilled in applying them, the variations, the
exceptions, the modifications will become apparent and the student can grow.
This is when the exceptions and variations can be best explored.

Here in the U.S., too many are immediately concerned with the exceptions to
the rule, the variations on the basics, and these distracting irrelevancies
prevent most from ever concentrating on the "right," basic way of doing
things that they never get a grasp of the basics. Meanwhile, everyone has
artistic license, everyone is an innovator, everyone tries to do everyting
they can think of far too soon and the results are that those who want to
teach have no great skill and all that they can teach is basics, basics,
basics - and they do it rather poorly and hold it to be the dogma instead of
foundation. This is so because they've never had the experience of building
a firm foundation and discovering how and when it is advantageous to break
with the norm, break from the "rule."

When a teacher does have the right background and they rightly begin
teaching the basics, most American students get bored and say, "All he wants
to teach is the basic junk. I want the exciting stuff!" and they soon quit
being a student and become an "artist" or most certainly an "innovator."

I am not merely speaking of bonsai, but many of the foreign arts and
endeavors. Those who do behave as students while they're in trainng as
students do learn the foundation and then learn the rest of the stuff will
certainly find both the preoccupation with "rules" to the exclusion of all
elese, or the ridiculous and weak efforts at innovation, to be odd and
disappointing.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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