This is a more thoughtful (I hope) corollary to what I wrote a few days ago.
I am a budo teacher, but also a student. Unlike some art forms where, sooner or later, the artist casts off her apprenticeship and becomes a full-fledged, independent thinker (that's the theory at least), classical budo people are like ballet dancers - no matter how good we get, we still need to train with others, to have more experienced colleagues or teachers looking over our shoulders and kicking our butts. So, whenever I meet a budo teacher who does not have a teacher himself, I do wonder. How do you manage to maintain integrity in your style all by yourself (of course, if you have invented your own style, the point may be moot, but not really, when you think about it).
Anyway -
My teacher, Mr. Otani, was a very generous guy. He did not mind if senior students pursued other budo, especially if that person decided to bring back what she was learning to the dojo. He was also very respectful of other classical budo (if, in his opinion, they were worth respecting, and he thought they mostly were). As I have said previously, if you did not rub his nose in something, he was pecfectly fine with us pursuing other interests.
What I am really talking about here is of course a mixture of trust, loyalty and respect. They are not mutually exclusive, and it is really difficult, if one of these elements does not exist, to maintain the others. Sensei was very open, but he also would not tolerate disrespect - not directed towards himself or other students, or even (moving outward) other dojo, or the planet in general. That did not mean he did not have an opinion, and it also did not mean he did not have a temper - he had both. But in regular day-to-day dealings he had all of these three qualities even as they were laced with an almost brutal insight and honesty into what was actually going on.
What should a student expect of a budo teacher? That s/he should be able to train in a trusting environment. I don't mean that stuff should be soft-pedaled so the person feels "safe" - there is actually no really safe place in a sword dojo - but that the student could feel assured that no one is going to deliberately try to physically hurt or otherwise compromise them in the course of their training. The student should feel a sense of mutual respect, and while "no ego" is an impossible goal, at least there should be a sense of restraint and mutual respect. She should feel that if there is a problem, the teacher is there for her. A student should never be left to the mercy of other students when there is a problem. The student also should be able to trust the teacher such that, whatever is being offered in the curriculum should not just be competently done, but should be offered in such a way that it is in the best interests of the group as a whole.
This last sometimes comes up against people's expectations. Say the curriculum changes. This used to happen to us from time to time. I remember sometimes spending so much time on elementary jodo and kumidachi that we would go months without drawing an actual sword, but no one complained. We did whatever the sempai or Otani Sensei wanted to do (sensei was fond of things like making us practice nukitsuke-noto or chiburi for long periods of time. Frustrating, but necessary). No one complained. We knew that what we were doing was intended to improve our practice. Likewise, while we kept some core curriculum, some other things would come up and then fade away entirely. While someone might put in a request to review an old technique, generally, again, no one would complain.
More recently as a teacher I have noticed students who want to do this, but not that. That's not a dojo - it's a department store (or, if you want a more up-to-date metaphor, a shopping mall). I have come to realize that there is no pleasing these people and that loyalty is basically a nonexistent quality (trust me - I have had some rather searing experience with that lately). Pay your fee and get your training - save yourself time and money and just buy the video, please.
What should a teacher expect of a student? Those three qualities apply here, too. Trust, loyalty and respect. The teacher is not just a dispenser of technique or a reference book - she should have a deep understanding of the curriculum, and the student should be able to trust what he is learning, and also how he is learning it. Classical budo includes much more than technique - aesthetics, morals, and philosophical ideas are imbedded in the best of it, and the teacher should be able to communicate those; but, more importantly, just as the teacher "has the student's back," the teacher should be able to trust the student. Sure, NYC is a candy store of budo, all out there to be sampled, but whatever tempts the student, she should know the teacher's opinion and respect it with regard to outside training. Moreover, just as a good teacher will teach mutual respect in the dojo, those students, when they do go outside, whether to a seminar in dojo's style or elsewhere, should not give her cause for anxiety. A respectful student is welcome everywhere and should reflect well on the teacher.
As one of my prior teachers once put it, "Your students will take more out of you than your children ever will." I do not have children, but otherwise I agree wholeheartedly. I admit to a selfish interest in needing people to train with - even though what I do is 2/3 solo kata, I cannot do this alone. But sometimes the price seems awfully high.
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