Dojo administrator

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[ruthmc]

Hi folks,

What would be the correct japanese title given to the person who manages the day to day running of the dojo? I don't mean the owner (kancho?), more the second in command who deals with all the admin and helps sensei with the teaching.

At the moment we call him "the dojo sempai" which I dislike - there must be a more accurate title! Fukushodoin doesn't really cover it either, as that is simply assistant instructor, and he does rather more than that.

Thanks for any input,

Ruth

[Karen Wolek]

Wouldn't "dojo cho" be correct?

[ruthmc]

Wouldn't "dojo cho" be correct?
I thought that was only used to describe the head of the dojo?

Ruth

[Karen Wolek]

Well, my sensei is also the dojo cho. But in Woodstock, Harvey Sensei isn't. One of his most senior students is called the dojo cho, I think. I may be wrong, but I think the dojo cho is the administrator, not necessarily the "head" of the dojo?

[Josh Reyer]

Well, the Aikikai Ibaragi Dojo has the Doshu listed as the Dojo-cho. Isoyama-sensei, who actually handles the day to day running is called the dojo-cho daikou 道場長代行. 　Dojo-cho dairi 道場長代理would also work, meaning basically the same thing. Fuku-dojocho 副道場長 would work, too. If the chief instructor is kancho 館長, then dojo-cho by itself would be fine, I think.

All those work fine as words describing that kind of office, but which would be best kind of depends on your organization, I think.

[Lan Powers]

I am not too sure, but isn't dojo-cho the chief instructor ?
Lan