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December 07, 2004

Comments

Derek

I agree completely. Moreover, I don't think that it's a bad thing for people to be well aware of this, either. If a black belt isn't a stereotypical "mystic sensei" then that means the person may be able to tell jokes, laugh, go out after class for a drink, give life advice, and do all the other things that friends can do but icons can't.

Speaking as a newer karate student, it has been a great relief to me to discover that the seniors in my dojo are actual human beings instead of paragons of virtue that I could never hope to equal.

My last venture into martial arts was in the art of aikido, and my sensei was very traditional. He expected students to perform services for him (drive him to and from the dojo for class, do shopping for him, clean the dojo before and after class, etc.) Some of his requests were very reasonable, but others were simply designed to create a student/master relationship. By portraying himself as an unapproachable "honourable sensei" instead of a human being, he came across as cold and distant, almost an object of fear instead of respect. Most of his seniors/disciples took up the same mantle of distance. As a result, I left his dojo; I simply didn't enjoy an environment where there was no place for friendship or laughter. I am not a samurai, and I don't need to steep myself in bushido! I'd rather train with people then charicatures.

Shannon

I think that people come to expect so much more from martial arts (than other sports) because of a few reasons. When you think of the people who do it, you tend to think of Samurai. To say "I sure wanna be able to play tennis like Becker" doesn't have the same level of umph as saying "I want to train likie a samurai". The level of wisdom that you expect to take away from training goes far beyond what you'd expect to come away with after playing volleyball for a few seasons.
I agree that people can expect too much from it....but I also find that it one of the few "things" from which you can TAKE so much from. The physical training, the mental awareness, the spirtituality, and lots more. It's easy for it to be mistaken for a "wonder drug".

As for expecting too much from the black belt level....I have to answer on a personl level ....some of the biggest, boastful, braggard jack*sses I've ever met were 1 st degree blackbelt. The Style never mattered. Really isn't until 2nd or 3rd degreee that a decent amount of humility starts to settle in.
Shannon
ps. Hope I dont offend any humble 1st degrees.

LirianFae

I've know some arrogant SOB's that were far beyond Shodan as well :-)

I agree with all of the comments. Martial arts can, and does, offer much that goes beyond a physical endeavor, and I prize that "extra something". But not everyone taps into it, and not everyone wants to. And that's fine too.

And again, even if you do, you're still yourself. You're still going to have weak days, you're still going to have flaws.

In fairness, I guess I would have to say that I have a sort of sliding scale for how much I demand from a person. If someone is a color belt who's only been doing karate for a few months, I don't expect them to have made much progress on the fuzzier side of the martial arts. On the other hand, anyone who has achieved a dan rank has put in their time in the dojo and survived a trial by fire. Those people I hold to higher standards.

The longer you've trained, the higher you get, the more challenges you have met, the more I expect to see as a result. I don't think that's entirely unreasonable; I think it's fair to ask that someone learn something from their experiences, and the more experiences you have, the more chances you have to learn.

So maybe I'm guilty of it too, and I get disappointed when people fall short.

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