Sensei Harshness Question

Ruth, and for anyone else teaching kids in the UK.

Foget about wrist locks! If you teach them and the kids do them you can be sued for physical abuse. Indeed, the wee one's wrists are still growing and putting pressure on them means that you are damaging them.

Basically, if you intend to teach in the UK please consult the BAB. They will give you all the info you need to avoid most pit falls.

Hi Yann,

Just out of curiousity, what is considered a "kid". I think I read in a previous post that in the UK this was up until the age of 18.

Does the BAB (what does that stand for?) have a website? I'd be interested in reading up on how various countries police the teaching of martial arts to minors, as well as what restrictions are imposed.

cheers,

--Michael

Yann - I know, I've done the BAB coach course!

Michael - In England and Wales, a child is anybody under 18. In Scotland it's anyone under 16.

BAB stands for the British Aikido Board - website: www.bab.org.uk. The downloads page contains a lengthy pdf document with all you ever wanted to know about coaching.. and some!

Hope this is helpful,

Ruth

Thanks Ruth

--Michael

Man, what happend to British public schools ?
I made the experience 25 years ago, and therefore couldn´t imagine one without
tough rugby matches, fighting pupils,
hitting teachers, bullying monitors and prefects and genital-inspecting doctors....
Times seem to change even in British institutions.

Sorry, didn´t mean to be sarcastic ...

I have just moved to a new dojo, where, through some quirk of fate, I am the only white belt at a certain practice time with everyone else either being brown or blackbelts. The Sensei appears nice, and is a 6th dan, but is rather harsh. Constant "A real martial artist does'nt do this" "how many times do I have to ask you to bend this" "Never do that!" etc. constantly. He also seems to not care, when for instance, he has everyone practice with a weapon I have never trained with before, and basically tells me to just try to follow along. Has anybody here ever seen a confused newbie attempting to mimic patterns done at fairly high speed by advanced students? Is it just me, or is he being overly harsh? Thanks in Advance for answering a newbie.

It sounds like your sensei is harsh. Or maybe you are too soft?

In my opinion, martial arts are made to push you to the limit, to challenge, to teach you discipline, to harden both your body and mind. No one ever said it would be easy.

A remedy might be to attend beginners classes until you have basic movements down. Just keep at it. A month of traing is nothing.

My teacher's teacher (Gozo Shioda Sensei) claimed that all the way until he had finished training with Ueshiba Sensei and went to discover aikido on his own, O-sensei had been unrelentingly rude to him. Wow. Imagine that.

So, perhaps modern folks are a little soft. I know I am.

I forgot to say that I'm sorry to sound harsh like your sensei. I really am.

But, for a second, try to imagine:
getting screamed at for not answering the phone before it would ring!! Or maybe being subjected to conditioning classes of 500-1000 push-ups. Or 1000-3000 breakfalls (Yoshinkan style). What if you desparately wanted to study a particular martial art style or with a particular teacher and the test to prove that you wanted it badly enough was a door in the face, being cursed at, being told that you didn't deserve to learn the art in question. . . one or two dozen times in a row!!!

These are all tests that have been used by various senseis (bless their spirits) to prove the intestinal fortitude of prospective students. To put it simply, they don't want quitters. If it is true budo being taught, then it is an absolute priviledge to learn these arts.

Shioda Sensei once said, ". . .after the demise of the samurai class, the martial "arts" became martial "ways," and great value was placed upon them as a means of generating the moral strength necessary to build a sound society. Nevertheless, in the last analysis the martial arts are the arts of fighting [women and men]--of the samurai--and if the basic objective of defeating the enemy is lost sight of, then as martial arts they must cease to exist. Accordingly, they must not become mere intellectual exercises, the fundamental budo "conduct" must not be treated lightly and the "way of technique" must not be neglected as a form of spiritual and physical training."

In other words, budo is something that shouldn't be treated lightly. Of course, have fun at the (right) dojo, laugh, meet new people because this keeps people coming back to the dojo. But get down to business. Remember where all this stuff came from. It is not sport. Remember that you are learning physical skills on how to move your body, how to handle yourself when things get hairy in an instant. Life or death situations don't care whether I'm a quitter or the other person(s) is/are. It all takes care of itself in the end, right?

So first ask yourself why you want to study budo, and then ask what you are willing to sacrifice to the right dojo/sensei. Cast your ego/pride away and apply yourself. What do you have to lose and gain?

Again, sorry to sound harsh, it's just my opinion, nothing more.