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Post by meguro on Apr 20, 2013 8:37:57 GMT -5
Osu! I used to love that whole sempai/kohai dynamic. It worked well when I lived in Japan. In the dojo, strict observance of the hierarchy, but in the pub always afterwards not so much. Still a lot of "Osuing" though. Now that I am back in the West, it is very hard for me to get into that frame of mind. I've met guys with one or no dan stripes outclass everyone in the field, guys will multi dan stripes who were poor examples. Who can tell? Today, I much prefer the environment I experience at a seminar where there is one instructor and everybody else is a paying customer. It is the same in say a yoga studio, one instructor, many students. Or say a boxing gym, one coach and everybody else a boxer. If you are the instructor, there is no need to prove your worthiness. You are at the head of the class and call the shots. Everybody else pays the same amount of money to be there. Sempai/kohai is not my cup of tea any more.
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GJEC
Member
LOUGHBOROUGH ENSHIN
Posts: 3,218
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Post by GJEC on Apr 20, 2013 8:43:31 GMT -5
Osu! I used to love that whole sempai/kohai dynamic. It worked well when I lived in Japan. In the dojo, strict observance of the hierarchy, but in the pub always afterwards not so much. Still a lot of "Osuing" though. Now that I am back in the West, it is very hard for me to get into that frame of mind. I've met guys with one or no dan stripes outclass everyone in the field, guys will multi dan stripes who were poor examples. Who can tell? Today, I much prefer the environment I experience at a seminar where there is one instructor and everybody else is a paying customer. It is the same in say a yoga studio, one instructor, many students. Or say a boxing gym, one coach and everybody else a boxer. If you are the instructor, there is no need to prove your worthiness. You are at the head of the class and call the shots. Everybody else pays the same amount of money to be there. Sempai/kohai is not my cup of tea any more. Agreed. I still respect many of my mentors but today it's a firm handshake and eye contact. Gary
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Post by powerof0ne on Apr 20, 2013 12:59:04 GMT -5
Perhaps I've had different experiences in the "casual" martial art setting...or I'm just wired differently? The latter might be it! When I'm around my one true last instructor that I have any dealings with today..I only call him by his rank in front of other students, or in the public eye, because we're trying to start a dojo again. However, in private, him and I treat each other as friend. I used to believe outside the dojo, everybody should act like they're friends, forgetting about rank BUT I have seen this backfire. I'm not saying that my students should call me sensei or anything outside the dojo...I've always been the anti-authority type (contradiction, I know!), BUT some students think because they're chumming it up outside the dojo that they can do the same thing inside the dojo. Hell, I have a picture of my belt on my avatar BUT it's only because I plan on having this belt for at least a decade, unless it starts falling off. I'm at the point where I don't desire anymore rank...and I think I still have some growing to do, inside my current rank. With that being said, I've always insisted upon students or training partners to really try to attack me. I've left an open door policy to those that disagree and want to try dojo yaburi with me. Not because I look forward to a fight, but because I've always felt that an instructor should be capable. I've seen and known of instructors that only demonstrate with compliant uke, never spar anybody, and have many gold dan bars on their obi. Now, some of this is for a different subject/thread but I find it all interesting Hearing the rest of your opinions. Just like with "traditional" martial arts and modern sogukakutogi/MMA ring sports, I find myself in the middle between formal and a casual training atmosphere. Osu!
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tmd
Member
Think Fast Hit hard
Posts: 242
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Post by tmd on Apr 24, 2013 12:16:48 GMT -5
I once heard about an instructor complaining that a student went to hard on him, and by this failed to respect his rank by going to hard??? the student in question was a 15 year old lad I knew, for sure he was quite strong but ragged and easy to control.
I do point out to those who do the knockdown classes about how the level we spar at is not the same as they should expect to be able to train at in a general dojo setting but still....
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Post by kyokanrik on Oct 5, 2013 16:26:19 GMT -5
Some of the most productive sessions I ever had were just gi bottoms and T shirts. Gary Agreed!
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