I think this might be a bit contreversal, but it's been something
I've been struggling with, & would like some input. In Okinawan
Karate, there are three areas of development; Shin, Gi, Tai; or
Heart, technique, & body. Of those three, they say that the
development of a good heart is most important. In Okinawa, you can
actually see this, as the Okinawan people for the most part, are
very genuinely nice people, & it is very peaceful there. If I wasnt
married, I wouldnt of came back, I enjoyed it soooooo much. The
thing is, in the western world, atleast here in the US, often times
this is overlooked, IMO. People concentrate on the development of
both body, & technique, & overlook the development of a good heart.
This saddens me very much. I've noticed that many instructors like
to judge a book by it's cover, & do not like to look into the
contents of a book, but to discriminate by it's cover. I've had
instructors that have been racist, & have given me a hard time
because I am a bigger sized person. To many the Dojo Kun is just a
bunch of words just to be said, they dont take it in, learn from it,
& live it. I am from a lineage that part of their Dojo Kun it says
to be humble, & polite, & dont be to proud, or modest. But, many
within this lineage, even w/ present leadership are both rude, &
boastful. The founder of my style of Goju Ryu, Miyagi Chojun Sensei,
often said, You should not eat from Karate. Over the last several
yrs, this saying has changed for me a bit. I originally thought that
he was saying do not charge for instruction, but dont think that is
what he intended. I think what he was trying to say, is that you
should not rely on Karate as your full time job. Reason being, is
that alot of the time, no matter what field it is when you start
making money from something greed will take over, & you will forget
the reason why you 1st started doing what you do, for the love of
it. Just for an example, something not related to Karate, some
people become truck drivers, because for some it is good money, &
you can earn it fast. They do so to support their families, but are
often times out on the road so much, their family starts falling
apart, get caught up in making the money, & forget why they started
to drive, to provide for their family, but their not providing the
love needed. In the past Shodo (calligraphy), Ikebana (flower
arrangement), bonsai, & music, etc were all part of Budo. There is a
saying in Japanese, Bun Bu Ryu Do, or the way of the warrior, &
Scholar are one in the same. If we look at the Kanji for Shin, it is
the same Kanji used for both heart, & mind; reason being, they
believe the mind, and heart, are one in the same. All of above was
done for the development of a whole person. My question is, is that
how can we teach the development of a good heart, in a society that
is very violent, & filled w/ hate, discrimination, etc? I am
planning on opening up a non commercial, semi private Dojo at my
house that is being in the process of being built. Being that my
wife, is of a different race of me, & I want to be very selective of
who I teach, because I want there to be a bond between us, as in
Okinawa, the teacher/student relationship is very important, how
would I go about selecting the right students, since they will be
comming to my house? Eventually I would like to get a building, but
first I have to build up a student base. Also, I know of a few
instructors that have been charged w/ sexual harrassment, some have
been wrongfully accused, some students I know of have developed
feelings for their instructors, & this has created problems. I have
talked to my wife about this, & we are in agreement, I do not wish
to put myself into this position, but yet dont want to be accused of
discrimination either. How would you go about this? I also do not
wish to teach children as #1 I would have to water down my art, & #2
nowadays parents wanna drop their kids off to karate class, because
they wanna instill in them discipline, & often times the child does
not want to be there. Often times, children are classified w/ ADD,
or ADHD, & have emotional problems because their parents just dont
care, & there's a lack of love, & discilpine at home. Then their
child will act up in class, & disrupt it. I have to be very
selective, but how; and how do you go about teaching the development
of a good heart in todays/western society, that is totally different
from where the are originated? This is a struggle for me, HELP!!!!!!
David Somers
www.angelfire.com/fl5/okinawagojuryu
www.okinawagojuryu.org
If I were teaching again (which I'm not) I wouldn't teach children either. I have a small training area in my home which I use to train, and I have a select few individuals that use this facility. But, it's more like training partners, not a teacher-student relationship....my best advise would be, if you are teaching out of your home, be very selective. I would look for people who also already possess many of the positive character traits that you are looking for...then you can focus more on training the technique, rather than trying to develop their character.
JP
While I agree to a point. My instructor while there, had us go clean up around the village, had the mayor come to my welcome party, etc.
So, he is very community oriented. I would like to do the same here. Clean up around the neighborhood, get involved in different events for various charities, etc.
Most of my familly that has died, has died from cancer, & my wife has diabetes. Every year here in town they have walks for these diseases. They also have something called paint your heart out. It was originally done to help out those in financial need to get their houses repainted, but now their also doin the yard, fixing minor repairs, etc.
This is some of the stuff I would like my Dojo to get involved in. One of my favorite shows on TV is Extreme make over: Home eddition. This to me is what it's all about. Helping those in need. I would like to have students that feel the same way, w/o imposing on them, it should be because they want to, not because it's required, & have an I dont wanna do that attitude. But, yet, I think sometimes this is something that should be taught, that it is very important to give.
Budo is many things to many people, this is my idea of what Budo is about.
If we look at the Kanji for Budo, it is made up of stop spear way. So, in essence Budo is a way of stopping violence, IMO. Again, Budo is something personal, & over time our views of what Budo is/is not might/may have changed. This is just my point of view on what it is, you or somone else might not agree on what it is, but that is because you are not me, & I am not you. So, we have our own feelings, & this is just the way I feel about it. Not saying you agree/disagree, but that this is the way I feel about it.
David
Nothing wrong with that....go for it. I applaud your efforts.
JP