A few years back one of the GRKB seniors came to me to ask about the appropriateness of what he had done to handle a problem that he was faced with on the Dojo floor. The story went something like this:

A senior black belt had taught an advanced class made up mostly of brown and black belts. He was visiting me from out of town, so I invited him to be a guest instructor for one class feeling that he might show us some techniques that would be different and of interest since he was from another system. The class was quite good and was mostly self-defense.

As usual, after class several students asked my friend to show them more. He graciously answered questions and showed more advanced techniques than he did in his class. It was at this time that the problem arose. One of the newer black belts began to ask inappropriate questions; inappropriate because they were of a challenging nature – one of those "my style is better than your style" things. He even went so far as to state in a boastful manner that "this stuff" won’t work against Goju. When I heard this, two things crossed my mind; either the student was being arrogant or he was trying to show that his teacher was better. Neither of these is appropriate.

After hearing the problem I was very interested in the solution; I was concerned also, that I might have to reprimand the bearer of this story. I was pleased to see that this person acted as a Sempai should. After the "session" broke up, the Sempai took the offending person aside and told him that what he had done would not please Sensei; it was in poor taste to "challenge" a guest, especially since he was invited by Sensei to teach.

Of course, most would say the Sempai did what he was supposed to and this I relayed to him. As it turns out he felt that he should have been more stern. I assured him that he did just fine and that a gentle word with a clear meaning said with serious intent is far more productive than a searing censure.

There is in this an important lesson. None of us is so good that we can stand before another and express superiority. The long lessons of Karate-do should teach us humility in all things. When one joins the ranks of Yudansha this lesson should be so much a part of the total package that is "black belt", that there should be no breach.

The most difficult thing for me to swallow is that somewhere I had failed. Of all the reasons that people come to train I value this the most – "to become a better person".



There is an important message in the above article, did you get it?