Where do they go?

[Tachigi]

....I wonder sometimes about bonsai and the secretive nature of technique. Have the Japanese given us the entire picture or do we not know half yet. The internet has done wonders into reveling secrets about how to do bonsai, but can all this exposure cause harm too?

I highly doubt the Japanese have given us all their tricks and secrets. Even if they have we most likely lost something in translation....we've done it before. I agree with AL that the internet has probably done more harm than good with technique revelations. Its a kin to a magician telling the audience how he did a certain trick....the audience goes ...AHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhh.....and the mystery and wonder is gone.

 

[rockm]

"Its a kin to a magician telling the audience how he did a certain trick....the audience goes ...AHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhh.....and the mystery and wonder is gone."

It is and it isn't. Understanding how it's done doesn't mean you can do it as well as the magician. That's where the Internet breaks down. REality has a way of straightening things out. Just because you can play a mean "Rock Band" guitar, doesn't mean you can play a real one better than a carp.

The mystery is not gone from bonsai. Yes, the stupid assumptions that held it back and made it unapproachable are gone. The notion that some mystical abilities were necessary, along with growing a weak little tree in an orange peel were stupid to begin with...