the Teacher / Student Relationship

Introduction

As an educator and Instructor of Karate Do I feel it is important to consider the teacher / student relationship in order to better understand Karate Do on an even deeper level.  At the heart of every style of Karate Do lays the common philosophy of 文武両道 Bun Bu Ryou Do, the importance of excelling in both literary and military art (This is a concept that deserves its own post. Therefore, I will not discuss it in great detail in this post). I just want to point out that the majority of the martial arts in Japan place a unique emphasis on the development of the mind and the body, this is true of Karate Do as well.

 

Relationships

Every experience in our lives is an extension of a relationship. Even when we experience something alone it is still an extension of our relationship with nature or with the event itself. Therefore, we must consider the fact that our relationships with others greatly affect our experiences. This is especially true in Karate Do. The teacher student relationship in the Karate Do context is a very unique relationship that can sometimes become very complicated but, when all of the conditions are right and the level of understanding among those in the relationship is mutual this can be a very fulfilling relationship where both the student and the teacher enjoy physical, mental, and spiritual growth as a direct result of their unique relationship.

 

Forgive me for stating the obvious but, in order to develop a good relationship on any level with anyone else it is very important to begin with listening and continuing to listen as the relationship develops (See my previous post ‘Listening is the Key’). We are capable of listening and not hearing and at the same time we often hear things even when we are not listening. But, the key is to “listen with the intent to hear.”

There is a famous saying that is well-known world-wide, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I wish to suggest here that this statement should not be taken literally. That is to say, the 'teacher' who will 'appear' is not always a person dressed in a suit and tie who will, like an advice genie, magically appear suddenly, when you are ready and in need, to tell you what to do and guide you through the rough patches or by becoming your mentor after you have fulfilled the basic requirements. Although this is sometimes true, some times the teacher is not a person at all. Rather, the teacher could be an experience or an event that opens our eyes to new possibilities or expands our awareness. Growth like this in an individual thing that can only occur when that person is ‘ready’. Perhaps, it is someone or maybe even something that has always been there but we just couldn’t see it until we recognized it. We couldn't see it because we couldn’t comprehend the importance of that presence and how it could influence our life until. Once it is in plain sight, it we can learn from it or them. I think we have all felt this at one point or another in our lives.

Approaching Respect, Honorifics, Titles, and Rank in Karate Do (Part 2)

Keigo in the Karate Do Context

I have found in my personal experience that no matter how highly you are ranked, you should always treat those around and especially those senior to you in age with the utmost respect. More often than not, this is expressed in many ways that not verbal. These subtleties can often either go unnoticed or can be misinterpreted if we don’t have the basic cultural understanding that I discussed in my previous posts. As with anything, there are always exceptions to this rule and showing one’s respect for and or toward another is no different. However, a good rule of thumb would be to remember that age seniority trumps all other ranks in almost every case.
 

The Image (Sensei and Professor)
Let’s take a common example and put it into a Karate Do context: A university/college student would address his/her professor(s) in a respectful way whether that respect is has been earned or not. They may call them "Sir." or "Dr.~" as a sign of this respect. However, the professor wouldn't have to be as formally polite when talking to the student (Rozek, 2010).

This is a pretty straight forward and easy to understand example but, I have a question for you. As you read that example what kind of mental picture did you create? Did you get a mental picture of the University Professor? What about the student? What is the common image of the ‘Professor’? Did you picture an older man, possibly with a beard or a moustache, wearing a tweed jacket? How about the typical image of a university/collage student? Was the student you pictured younger than the Professor? If we ask enough people this question we will be able to judge the common answer but, it may be assumed that the common image of the Professor is older than the student(s), would you agree? Assuming this to be the norm we can begin relating this example to Karate Do.