An outsider's view is valuable in showing you what a vision not steeped in the same environment for years can see. It is the newbie view, and if the newbie is already bold enough to ask frank questions, it can be a good assessment of things that may have gone unseen or at least unprioritized.
We had such a newbie, called Ku, come by recently and I wanted to respond to their questions and observations fully and for everyone to see. I will caveat that I can only respond based on my own view and position; others can consider the questions and respond as they wish. I'll state the newcomer's questions and try to roll in some context around their other observations. I do thank Ku for voicing their questions and observations!
First, on training, Ku wonders why our training wouldn't look more like:
- accessing & tangibly MANIFESTING the "supernatural", "quantum", "magick", "Divine", "Force", etc
whatever you want to call it.
- kendo training accompanied by lessons from the "Go Rin No Sho" by Musashi & Art of War Sun Tzu by
(while swords are not legal or practical self-defense, the life/business lessons & disciplines are)
I think these have been themes throughout the Force Academy's long history, but the first has waxed and waned, depending on the tolerance of the occult and energy work of active members. There was a time in the early 2000s when this was very commonly discussed, and indeed the current Dark Aspect (DA) program draws its structure and progression from occult principles and concepts, but within the DA that fell out of favor, and then up again, and so on. The leadership of the Dynasty (what we call the periods of time delineated by leaders of the Dark Aspect) tends to set the school of thought. My current Dynasty (the 8th) includes it as advanced material after getting one's own self in order, but not right up front.
There has also been something of a tension between the people who scoff at typical "Jedi tricks" such as telekinesis and those who think it's part of the Jedi package. The FA these days is fairly grounded, so it hasn't come up much, but I think most are wary of going into it because it feels very roleplayish, or at least risks mockery. Occult and supernatural discussion areas have been set up to encourage discussion, but have not seen much activity. I suspect this is not just a feeling at the FA.
So it's there, I think, but not overtly. Maybe we've become a lot more cerebral and that's something to think about.
As for the martial arts training, when active members have had the background to speak to it, it's been part of the FA. The Dark Aspect used to have an entire branch called the Jensaari that we made the martial part of the Aspect, but that faded after I left years ago and I have not found someone to take that on now (yet). I myself have a background in iaido, but not deep enough into the entire lore of things to do it. I also don't have the time to do everything at once. Iaido lessons could be done, but I do not think this is an easy or preferable thing to do online. However, both armed and unarmed martial arts are part of the Dark Aspect training.
A bit of a side note: when I talk about the Dark Aspect training, it is from the angle of knowing what the full program entails. It is also from the angle of being the sole person developing it, and that is a lot of work. So if you read this and wonder where these advanced things are, understand that it is a lot of work and I just can't do it quickly. I never did think /small/...
Second, Ku wonders why we have "Christian-Jedi" and hyphenated differentiaters like "Buddhist-Jedi" or "Atheist-Jedi" etc. They ask "isn't the 'identity' here 'Jedi' - period?" This is something I've wondered myself. I think we, as a community, have had trouble defining what the Force is, and the temptation is great to try to attach it to or at least draw parallels to existing belief structures we already hold.
I confess to not understanding the need to differentiate, or hyphenate, different communities to Jedi. If any of the constructs out there could include multiple faiths and beliefs and lifestyles and choices, it's Jedi, and yet there is still the "I'm a Jedi but a Purple-Jedi". I think the why around that happening is complex, and possibly has to do with people not feeling like their particular flavor of life is understood of accepted by a Jedi group, so they create their own group that is more accepting. To this, I wonder why we don't fix the lack of understanding and acceptance that drove people to hyphenate in the first place, if it's possible.
I would advise that if you call yourself a Jedi but attach specific qualifying rules to being a Jedi that exclude other groups, you might want to really think about that. I don't mean assigning basic morality and principles; I mean, for example, if the trait you have attached to your version of Jedi is homophobia or atheism or Libertarianism, have a look at that projection and what it might do to exclude other Jedi-minded people who don't share it with you.
Third, Ku was surprised that each Aspect Adept was not intimately familiar with all three Aspects, and I think that's a valid observation. I'm guilty of that myself, as I go to extreme lengths not to appear to mess in the other Aspects business, but it's probably taken too far. I'll be taking steps to remedy that.
Fourth, Ku observed that the site has a lot of content that is no longer relevant, and that is also true. We do have a 20 year history, during which a lot of people with different ideas wrote essays for the site. Not all of that is relevant to what we do now, and it's not clear on the site which is which. For the Dark Aspect, as I finish up moving all our historic works to the new site, I will try to set up some context and history to put those works into places where they are 1) valued for the work put into them and the ideas the author had and 2) put into context with our history. Good observation.
And last, Ku asks if we are role-playing or are we Jedi? I think a bit of both, to be honest. I see healthy roleplay as a means of taking on the mantle of something you might like, to see how it fits and to provide a sort of "live view" of an ideal. I view it as the same thing as putting on confidence and remembering not to move so much during an interview, to cover nervousness. Eventually, the good parts of the roleplay become ingrained as habits, and we grow. The negative part of roleplay is to use it as escapism, living two lives with no intention or strength of will to grow from an undesired state to an ideal one holds. Someone who acts like a Jedi online, and yet acts very unJedilike offline, is this kind of unhealthy roleplayer.
There are, obviously, some members of our community who are in it for the Jedi robes and lightsabers, but not very many (3.3% said Star Wars fandom this year), according to our yearly survey on why and how people participate. I do think that those who wish to be "taken seriously" as not roleplaying as Jedi do not help their case by dressing in robes and describing what we do in fictional terms. If the distinction between loving the fiction and drawing inspiration from it, and wanting to fly in spaceships and fight with light swords is very nuanced, that nuance is often lost.
As such, on that, I think the answer is going to vary as much as "what is the Force?" does.
Thanks, Ku, for the insightful questions. I will be taking action on what I can here, and hope this has given you some context and thought process for what you have seen with us.