How do martial arts teachers know what to teach? Where did they learn their skills? What makes them choose certain styles, tactics and strategies over others? Does your teacher even have strategies and tactics, or just techniques?
A martial arts teacher teaches what he or she was taught. This is then influenced by physical ability, life experience and martial arts experience. When the person becomes a teacher they then pass on what they choose to the student. The teachers skill and experience in teaching along with the students ability to learn, create the next generation of martial artists. It has been this way for centuries.
Like the old expression involving computer data, "garbage in, garbage out", if your input is sloppy or incorrect your output will also be trash. The same applies to the martial arts. If that instructor did not receive solid training from a qualified instructor, they are beginning with bad input. If they then fail to gain meaningful experience, they then will lack first-hand knowledge of what works and what doesn't. They become the weak link in a chain and their students become the next weak link.
I would like to relate a short story about meeting my Zen teacher, Reverend Fujita.
In both my first and second communication with him I expressed my interest in becoming his student. His replies were short. "Don't bother coming. There is nothing to be gained here." Perfect. This was just what I was looking for!
Since Seikichi Odo, my karate teacher, had passed away, I felt in need of some direction. I had searched throughout Rhode Island and had exhausted all options within one hundred miles of home. I was unable to find either a martial arts teacher or Zen teacher with the qualifications I was seeking. Master Odo told me "Without a master you have no karate- only punching and kicking" and I understood that martial arts where more than physical exercises, and, though I had 25 years of experience, I still had much to learn.
A month after my second attempt, I contacted Fujita sensei again. He said "Okay, you can come."
The Zendo
I drove to the Zendo, deep in the forest at the end of a long gravel road just a few minutes from the Vermont border. I sat by the wood stove and waited for other people to arrive and quietly take their places on the futons scattered along the walls. The Zendo was no different from my own home Dojo and I felt right at home. After four hours of zazen (seated meditation) we moved into his home, sat on the floor and shared tea.
After hearing my story he finally said "I will take you as a student but only if you are willing to accept one thing. You must understand that everything you believe to be true may be wrong."
This was the beginning of a great learning curve. Not only was sensei a well-trained monk, he also gained considerable martial arts experience in Japan before coming to America. He was uniquely qualified to help me along my path. Unfortunately, sensei was preparing to move back to Japan. I squeezed in as much time at the Zendo as I could. We shared thoughts while carrying firewood and I enjoyed many conversations over tea with sensei and the other members of the sangha. My time at the Zendo helped me to find my bearings on the Path so I knew precisely how to continue after Issho left for Japan. It also freed me from preconcieved idea's about karate and prepared me to open my mind to the art of Motobu Udundi.
Except for the nights that I slept on the Zendo floor, I drove back and forth three and a half hours each way, over and over again. I managed to spend a couple hundred hours with Issho before he left and not a moment was wasted. He has since moved back to Japan and is sorely missed.
So here I am. My Zen teacher back in Japan and Takamiyagi sensei, my Motobu Udundi teacher, on the island of Okinawa. I won't see him until later this year.
I would love to see lost teachers, Master Odo , Toma sensei or Taira sensei. But all have passed away. I am so grateful for the teachings they have shared with me. My education was worth every bit of the sacrifice and inconvenience required because thier teaching influences every day of my life.
It has never been inexpensive or easy to study under these people, or even to find them in the first place. I walked forty-five minutes to Odo sensei's Dojo each night for a year- sometimes running and hiding in sugar cane fields to avoid a beating from the occasional carload of locals that didn't like seeing a lone teenage Marine far from base after dark.
To study Zen I had to leave my home at 4:00am every Sunday and then make the return trip home after practice. A visit to Okinawa to train with Takamiyagi sensei requires a very unpleasant twenty-four hours of travel each way- and a small fortune.
So why tell this story? To encourage you to think about three things.
My Home Dojo
My Home Dojo
1. You must suspend your judgment and open yourself to new learning if you truly want to learn. Visitors come to the Dojo with preconceived idea's. Experienced people are often looking for a replacement school identical to the school they have left. Inexperienced people tend to be attracted by visually impressive techniques that match the image of martial arts they formed by watching TV or talking to their buddies. The ones who really want to learn come to see, feel and listen and to learn what they don't already know.
2. You need to make an effort to find a skillful teacher. Many schools count on you to find them convenient. They survive, not based upon substance and quality, but because of location, promotional gimmicks and by requiring students to sign payment contracts. But, if their experience consists of little more than teaching suburban kids and chaperoning ninja birthday parties, what good is their teaching? Have they studied under a master? Have they actually been in a self-defense situation? Do they have the training and life experience to make your education more than punching and kicking?
3.Don't take your learning opportunities for granted. If you are able to begin training, do it while the opportunity exists. If you are at a substandard school, leave now and get the best education possible. You never know when the window of opportunity will slam shut or when you will need the skills you haven't developed. Start today.
A mediocre school is a waste of time and money. The right school can change your life.
If you haven't begun your journey, or are goofing off, get started. If you find a teacher who tells you exactly what you want to hear, go somewhere else. That teacher is no good for you. If you don't know where to begin or where to go next, come to the Kodokai.
If you are actively involved in martial arts, step up your training, get more involved, make a difference, take responsibility. Don't make excuses, make choices that facilitate your learning. It's your life and it goes by quickly. You make all the decisions, and, yes, failing to make a decision is simply a decision to preserve the status quo. Maintaining the status quo isn't about learning, it's about stagnation.
Advance your martial arts training by exploring that which is beyond convenient, comfortable and familiar. Start now.
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