Often it’s a difficult choice, training should be hard and with a sacrifice to commit to a certain path. ‘Man who chases two Rabbits ends up with none!’
For Juniors and Adults alike, there are many demands these days. Life dictates that many routes are taken, but think about it, does it really? We choose and often the easier path is taken and there are many ‘enablers’ to this along the way, don’t forget, it suits them. Educational demands, sporting demands, regional choice, friendship demands, social demands, work demands, family demands but least of all these days personal sacrifice and therefore development of one’s character seems to fall down the list. To have everything go your way breeds a certain attitude that makes a society selfish and the result is a People that want results now, rather than learn perseverance and endeavour and then reap the rewards of those virtues, have the patience to wait for those virtues!
It’s hard to please everyone but too many people are trying and in doing so falling short of the mark with every endeavour, in most cases anyway.
To slog away at ‘the art of again’ week in and week out, to encounter the disappointment of not being up to scratch, to not have your own identity (for what is often only an hour) but step in line and be defined by the colour of your Belt and more so the performance of your Karate, that itself has its virtues. It means for one that you learn to toughen up and work hard on learning your stage of the syllabus correctly. Of course, no one should be berated or made to feel intimidated but to a degree some of that feeling is a necessary evil! Its discipline isn’t it, I know, to a point.
Of course, to coin a phrase used by one of my seniors, ‘it depends’ on the Student and circumstances, and to coin another phrase used by another of my Japanese instructors ’more train!’ (bark that one) it’s all work and very physical! It’s hard and should be, even for children!
Unfortunately if the Student doesn’t love the work then it’s an onerous task to get to the Dojo. I guess our job as Instructors is to see that they love the work, for children make it fun, be animated in your style and entertain as well as teach a serious Martial Art. Teaching is a tall order for most adults, in fact most cannot Teach Karate, or can Teach it selectively, some can they can only make people copy, you could argue that in itself is useful. Some can’t do some things but are excellent Teachers, it’s all about outcomes isn’t it?
Begs the question….what is an appropriate role model? I guess ‘it depends!’
We tend to judge those that can no longer do and have to get longer Obi because of their growing waistline, but behind the scenes, behind the curtain of impression that has existed for so many years there is a Human Being. A Human that may have suffered health issues, life may have taken its toll (it does that) they may be hurting, physically and mentally. They may be very different in the Dojo to how they were 25 yrs ago! In some ways they’re better and in some ways they’re worse. Changes are inevitable, honesty is so important, it’s been said!
Added to the former account that was given here of those changes to society and the plight of an Instructor it’s not a great combination.
Maybe Teaching methods must also change. Of course any Instructor has a choice to either change, stay the same and diminish his Dojo (which some would say is fine as Karate isn’t for everyone) or quit/retire/or whatever you would call it, you know what I mean.
Of course this blog gives birth to yet another question ‘what is Traditional Dojo?’ maybe we’ll follow on with that one.
For now we continue despite this Blog raising more questions than it answers, debate often does that!
Do the same and expect the same, or worse, change or get left behind! Life itself is an unrepeatable experiment!
Commitment has it’s virtues, always has! Change the only thing that remains!
Ash Hawkes