Thursday, September 25, 2008
Accountability
In this day and age where it seems that no-one believes they have any responsibilities that they don't have to be held accountable for their actions. That it is the responsibility of some other entity to take care of our (Karatedo) responsibility to those we teach.
Are we as Sensei’s to be held to a higher degree of moral responsibility than the average person? Or are we to follow the path of the sheep in our society and be part of the herd, lowering our need for morality as our society grows.
We need to be accountable, to be responsible to teach the moral end of the human condition. Our students come to us to learn Karatedo and in truth to protect themselves, from the evil of an immoral life style is as important as defending against a physical attack.
As Sensei’s we should say do as I do, instead of saying do as I say. We are the leaders of our students and as leaders we should lead from the front lines of society. We need to be examples not only of proper Karate Techniques but also in our personal as well as social values.
As Senseis, words like commitment, human respect, loyalty, equality and morality should be our life style as well as what we require from our students. As we live so we should teach and expect the same from our students.
We as sensei’s cannot expect from our students that which we are not willing to live up to ourselves.
Are we as Sensei’s to be held to a higher degree of moral responsibility than the average person? Or are we to follow the path of the sheep in our society and be part of the herd, lowering our need for morality as our society grows.
We need to be accountable, to be responsible to teach the moral end of the human condition. Our students come to us to learn Karatedo and in truth to protect themselves, from the evil of an immoral life style is as important as defending against a physical attack.
As Sensei’s we should say do as I do, instead of saying do as I say. We are the leaders of our students and as leaders we should lead from the front lines of society. We need to be examples not only of proper Karate Techniques but also in our personal as well as social values.
As Senseis, words like commitment, human respect, loyalty, equality and morality should be our life style as well as what we require from our students. As we live so we should teach and expect the same from our students.
We as sensei’s cannot expect from our students that which we are not willing to live up to ourselves.
Freedom
The way we live our lives, the freedom's that we have become the trap that destroys our way of life. With all of this freedom comes the worst freedom of all, the freedom to forget our past. The freedom to not to be responsible for our own actions or the actions of the people around us, that there actions do not reflect our own actions.
We seem to easily fall into this trap of forgetting where and how our arts were brought to us. We are good at using words and not backing them up with our own actions. You should not only be able to "talk the talk", but you have to be able to "walk the walk". This basically means that you have to be able to back up your words with your actions no matter what the outcome of your actions may be, take responsibility for your own actions.
In Karatedo, we as Sensei’s can site our own lineage, the ancestors that have brought us our martial arts knowledge. This then gives us an air of the debt we owe our students, but not the scope of what that debt really means. Can we really understand the time and effort that it took to bring our Karatedo to us? What our ancestors had to give up getting the understanding that they passed on to their students.
I have been teaching and training in the Karatedo for over Forty years. I have also been involved with tournaments for most of that time. Through that time I have met many people and judged tens of thousands of students. The trend with Sports Karate saddens me. Sports Karate seems to be running a poor parallel to the Chinese Wushu practitioners. This seems to be a poor mix of some Karate and some Gymnastics. The use of flash without a continuous flow, and a lack of balance coupled with a lack of Karatedo content seem to be the norm.
The use of Sports seems to be used by some Dojos to chase the buck not to build the proper Karatedo attitude. Through the chase of the buck and the trophies the teachings of Honor, Loyalty, Respect and the Karate Family are going by the way side.
I see the lack of respect for the Art's and the Senior Black belts who judge these students on a daily basis. A student is only a copy of their instructors and as such I judge the instructor by the student. Without the teachings of the Karatedo Family of duty to the system and the other students, without the value of Honor and Respect I cannot see a bright future for Karatedo as a whole. The Respect, Honor, Loyalty, Commitment and Family have to be more than just words.
We as Sensei’s have to walk the walk take responsibility and hold ourselves and our students to a higher value. That we may need to weed out the bad apples no matter the loss of money or the loss of a Sensei that does not adhere to these principles. We understand that we teach Karatedo and the true spirit of its meaning, this spirit needs to be forged in the Dojo not lost in the flash.
I challenge all the members of the World Sansei Koryu Goju-Ryu Karate & Kobudo Organization to rebuild their own Karatedo Family with an eye to the future, where Respect, Honor, Loyalty, Spirit and the Family are the ultimate goals.
We seem to easily fall into this trap of forgetting where and how our arts were brought to us. We are good at using words and not backing them up with our own actions. You should not only be able to "talk the talk", but you have to be able to "walk the walk". This basically means that you have to be able to back up your words with your actions no matter what the outcome of your actions may be, take responsibility for your own actions.
In Karatedo, we as Sensei’s can site our own lineage, the ancestors that have brought us our martial arts knowledge. This then gives us an air of the debt we owe our students, but not the scope of what that debt really means. Can we really understand the time and effort that it took to bring our Karatedo to us? What our ancestors had to give up getting the understanding that they passed on to their students.
I have been teaching and training in the Karatedo for over Forty years. I have also been involved with tournaments for most of that time. Through that time I have met many people and judged tens of thousands of students. The trend with Sports Karate saddens me. Sports Karate seems to be running a poor parallel to the Chinese Wushu practitioners. This seems to be a poor mix of some Karate and some Gymnastics. The use of flash without a continuous flow, and a lack of balance coupled with a lack of Karatedo content seem to be the norm.
The use of Sports seems to be used by some Dojos to chase the buck not to build the proper Karatedo attitude. Through the chase of the buck and the trophies the teachings of Honor, Loyalty, Respect and the Karate Family are going by the way side.
I see the lack of respect for the Art's and the Senior Black belts who judge these students on a daily basis. A student is only a copy of their instructors and as such I judge the instructor by the student. Without the teachings of the Karatedo Family of duty to the system and the other students, without the value of Honor and Respect I cannot see a bright future for Karatedo as a whole. The Respect, Honor, Loyalty, Commitment and Family have to be more than just words.
We as Sensei’s have to walk the walk take responsibility and hold ourselves and our students to a higher value. That we may need to weed out the bad apples no matter the loss of money or the loss of a Sensei that does not adhere to these principles. We understand that we teach Karatedo and the true spirit of its meaning, this spirit needs to be forged in the Dojo not lost in the flash.
I challenge all the members of the World Sansei Koryu Goju-Ryu Karate & Kobudo Organization to rebuild their own Karatedo Family with an eye to the future, where Respect, Honor, Loyalty, Spirit and the Family are the ultimate goals.
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