I love beginners. I love their initial awkwardness, which diminishes with every subsequent practice. In fact, sometimes I wish I could video tape people's first classes (I would have loved to have started with my own), just so I could show people the difference in their abilities, even six months later. They would be amazed at the difference, as I always am. I love that they ask questions I never, ever would have thought of, that are frequently incredibly difficult to answer. As a teacher, I have discovered over and over that someone's straightforward thought can be another person's left field.
It's a good thing I love beginners, because, basically, that is what I have to work with. I have one returnee student who knew me at the old place, found me, and resumed training (though, honestly, he was still mostly a beginner when he left, so I am not sure if he qualifies as a senior, except in the relative sense). And I have one who started with me about three years ago, who is still involved, though he does not come to okeiko as much as I would like him to. I realize that in some arts, three years' tenure might rate a student as an assistant instructor, but that is definitely not true in koryu. Even if you want to debate whether iaido is a genuine koryu, it is close enough - the repertory is large and complicated and takes years to learn. Moreover, a student may know the mechanics of a kata, but that in no way means that she really understands it. Even physically talented people need years of practice to "unpack" (as one of my colleagues put it) iai kata. My teacher used to say it takes maybe 10 years of training to really start seeing the deeper meanings in the techniques. And that's just the start.
One of the problems with having a group of newbies (I started this group approximately four years ago) is that there is little, if any, institutional memory because there isn't much to remember. And the things that a sempai would show students have to be handled by me instead. Like my teacher, I would prefer not to discuss the nuances of proper behavior, and yet, I can't fault people for not being as polite as they should be because they simply have no idea. Even my Japanese student had minimal traditional experience (he played kendo in high school, but that's about it), so he is not as much help as I wish he was. And Americans - well, you know Americans.
When I first started training, we had a hardass sempai who, even though he had actually not been there that long, had a very clear idea of what should be proper in the dojo. I never liked the guy for a number of solid reasons, but that was one thing he did that I will always respect him for. Even though he sometimes missed the mark, the emphasis he placed on proper behavior turned me into a careful observer, both here and in the Old Country, which has proved very beneficial to my practice.
I have found that, when training in Japan, or even in a traditional dojo here in NYC, what you know of a particular style is not as important as how you approach it. If you know how to behave when walking into a dojo for the first time, even if you don't know the specific customs of the place, you will quickly adapt. Once people get over the amazement that a foreign barbarian knows how to behave respectfully ("We get a lot of freaks," is how one teacher explained it to me, in English), you will be accepted as a guest and be able to train with the group. Actually, proper behavior begins before the visit, with a formal introduction of some sort before you set foot in the door. Unhappily, some boors have figured out this trick, so people will still be wary. But, behaving well will put people at their ease, though it might take a little time.
As I said, with no sempai to speak of, sometimes I have to have specific talks with my students that my teacher never found necessary, at least not by the time I met him. I am hoping that by both setting an example and reinforcing it with the occasional lecture, I am building a group that in time will be able to handle the politeness thing on its own.
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