In Karatedo it is your teacher who directs your progress – not you. You as a student can’t decide and think, “well I’ve been doing sanchin for two months so now I’m ready for sesan.” No, that’s not how it works.
Practice is grounded on what your teacher thinks you’re capable of learning and what you’re ready for physically and mentally. This is very hard for western students to accept sometimes; the idea of letting go and relying on the decisions of someone else for your progress. It’s humbling as it should be and difficult because its not part of western culture.
It may make you feel like a child trying to please his father to get his approval (which you may or may not get) and in some respects that feeling is right. The important thing is to balance your own feelings with trust in your teacher.
Hi Mario,
Your last two posts have been a welcome read, although, if you look at the most recent post on my blog, “Setting the Bar”, you may get some idea as to why karatedo is no longer practised or passed on in the way you have been speaking of. At least, not in the overwhelming majority of clubs and organizations that exist today. Finding a karate “dojo” run by a “sensei” in the western world, is as rare as chickens teeth!
besides, I doubt very much that most people involved in karate training want to enter deeply into it. Certainly, the majority of those who are teaching karate to others, have little room for training in their busy teaching schedules, and if they’re not training, what chance is there for them to learn anything about themselves….worth knowing!
I doubt very much if the subject matter in these past two posts of your would even enter the minds of more than a handful of karateka.
Mike
Yes I did read your most recent blog about the local “Kurodee Advert”. The bar is set low as you say because “Kurodee” is marketed that way which results in students acting like consumers and teachers acting like salesman. The end result is a watering down of Karatedo, but really who cares? I don’t mean to be flippant, but Traditional Karatedo will always survive and be propagated by small groups.
Cheer,
Mario
As you say Mario, “Who cares”? And I agree, authentic karate will survive (in small groups) becuase there is something deeper than pretend fighting to be appriciated here.
Mike
Well I care. I may have left Karate and followed my Budo journey down a different path for all the reason you both raise. However I still believe there is a great amount of value in the Okinawan way. However in a litigious world where you can lose your house because someone slips over training in your back yard, we are going to have to accept some level of “westernising” our martial pursuits for them to survive. I don’t like it, but such is life.
Stu
Thanks for the comment Stu. As I said, my comment was flippant and I think we all care about Okinawa Budo very much; otherwise we wouldn’t be spending so much of our valuable time practicing it. That said I feel although it is practiced world-wide my millions it is a cultural asset of Okinawa. So it is up to them to decide what direction to take in preserving it.