View Single Post
Old 05-22-2007, 09:42 AM   #5
senshincenter
 
senshincenter's Avatar
Dojo: Senshin Center
Location: Dojo Address: 193 Turnpike Rd. Santa Barbara, CA.
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,474
United_States
Offline
Re: Is this 'normal' procedure?

I would agree, it seems the instructor is a bit to "preoccupied" with testing performance. For me, there's never really a good reason for such preoccupation - the opinions of others may vary. While you may not be in a "belt factory," your situation as described sounds like there is a kind of fetishization of rank going on nonetheless.

I understand that there are some situations where it is good to talk to an instructor, but this for me usually pertains to our own difficulties regarding our capacity to assimilate. I do not think it is good or even necessary to talk to an instructor to see if he/she can or will alter the dojo so that we do not have assimilation issues. For this case, for example, you instructor clearly knows how and why he decided to do what he did. It is highly unlikely that you are going to alert him to something he failed to notice or consider, as if he is going to say, "Oh gee, I didn't think about that - now that you mention it. So, let's go with your plan. It's much better than mine." The reason I'm saying this is because I feel students must always be prepared to leave a dojo whenever it doesn't fit with them. I'm not saying they should always leave a dojo whenever it does not fit with them, but they should always be prepared to leave. There's a difference - and the main difference is that as a student, one should set out to fix all of a dojo's problems or issues.

dmv

David M. Valadez
Visit our web site for articles and videos. Senshin Center - A Place for Traditional Martial Arts in Santa Barbara.
  Reply With Quote