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Peter Rehse (PeterR) wrote:
Hi Charles - this is a good point. Basically at the end of class you DO thank your teacher - each and every time. Doing it again seems a little over the top.
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Yes, but it is part of the form. I personally feel extremely grateful to my teachers, but from the outside what I do to express it is physically the same as some other guy in the dojo who really doesn`t care.
I think that personally, having been (fortunately? unfortunately?) indoctrinated into the Japanese way of doing things, the main reason I don`t thank my instructors "personally and specifically" is that it is just not done here and I would feel strange to act outside the norm.
I`m not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. As a non-Japanese living in Japan, this question is just one part of the total problem of how to act in the best way. Having lived here awhile, I generally know how a Japanese person would act in a certain situation, but I also find that merely doing the same thing does not always adequately express my feelings as a non-Japanese.
Charles Hill