Discourtesy in the Martial Arts
By Bob Davis (Edited by Dan Blackmore)
12 March 2015
Recently I have been thinking about the Niju Kun, and this has lead me to reflect upon some personal experiences I have had throughout my years of training in different arts. O’sensei Gichin Funakoshi wrote the twenty precepts to guide karate practitioners as they train. One precept states “everything begins with rei and ends with rei”. This goes beyond just bowing. Bowing itself is a sign of respect. Respect for each other, the art, and for oneself. Some recent events have compelled me to write on the topic of the “loss of courtesy” in the Martial Arts. Sensei Egami wrote “He who would follow the way of karate must be courteous, not only in training but in daily life”. This brings in another precept of O’sensei Funakoshi, “karate is not only dojo training.” The lessons we learn in the dojo, carry over into how we live and act in our daily lives. The responsibility and respect that you give and are given in the dojo reflects the way you behave outside the dojo. Courtesy and respect need to extend past the dojo walls.
Within Martial Sports like Tae Kwon Do and Judo, there is a certain amount competitiveness. The desire to win comes along with competition. You view your opponent as someone who needs to be defeated. A little competitiveness can be good but the ego can take over if not guided properly. In the pursuit of the win, sometimes poor sportsmanship or a poor attitude is excused for someone who possess a high degree of skill. A coach or sensei might excuse these students’ behaviours as a necessary evil to place high in competitions. They establish that cultivating an ego is what hones the competitive edge and gives the competitor his drive. I do not believe that a sacrifice in the personality of the competitor is necessary at all. I would go so far as to say that the more contact there is in an art and the greater the chance of injury, the more courtesy has to be maintained. The competitors bow to enter the ring, give their complete focus and control to outmatch their opponent, and bow to exit the ring and return to being comrades.
The loss of courtesy is not exclusive to the sport side. The focus is on self-defence in Martial Arts like Aikido and Karate, with less emphasis on competition. Still, the ego can become inflated if not kept in check. Sensei Stanley Pranin coined the term “Macho Cruncher” for those who show a lack of courtesy in Aikido practice. There will always be some minor injuries in all practice that has contact, but whenever these individuals are involved, injuries tend to be more frequent. In my Aikido-training days, I have encountered my share of these individuals. Often this person a senior student, sometimes a sensei, and usually male. In a dojo that I visited often there was a senior student that loved to twist students’ wrists too far, slam them to the ground very hard, and often wore a gi that was too small so it would come flying open when he practiced. Luckily, Aikido tends not to attract too many non-courteous folk, as the art is non-aggressive in nature; blending with your opponent instead of meeting with force. Still, the prospect that these “elbow straighteners and shoulder expanders” are in the senior ranks of dojos, is a little concerning because they are supposed to be the example for students to follow. Nurturing healthy attitudes throughout a student’s journey in the martial arts is the best way to prevent bigger problems down the road.
The appearance of the “macho cruncher” is even more prevalent in more aggressive arts, like Shotokan karate. Within the karate circles, a new term has arisen; the “Karate Douche”. Once again, they tend to be males within the senior student and sensei ranks. Karate is very self-defense oriented but there is a certain amount of competition as well. I remember once asking a senior student a question about Ashi Barai (leg sweeping) techniques, only to have my legs kicked out from under me repeatedly without any explanation or assistance in break falling. Needless to say, I didn’t ask that question again. This same senior would also use any opportunity in class to punch and kick students a little too hard when they were used for demonstration. He never did this in kumite or kumite drills, where there was a chance of reprisal. This particular dojo seemed to applaud this type of behaviour, and in fact had 2-3 seniors just like this. The attitude became that you had to be tough enough to handle it, because that’s what makes strong karate. There is a line in a Macklemore song that rings true here: “If you preach hate at the service, those words aren’t anointed, and that Holy Water, that you soak in is then poisoned”. The lessons in the dojo flow from the sensei to the seniors to the juniors. There were derogatory remarks made of females, differently-abled students, and other martial art styles. I have personally been the recipient of disparaging remarks about tattoos, piercings, being “too courteous” in nature, not blocking or hitting hard enough, and had more injuries than I can count. You will find that once this behaviour is ignored or approved of by the seniors or sensei, it will spread like a virus. The students that accept this lack of courtesy, they will replicate it, and the students that reject it, will leave the dojo. The only reason why I tolerated any of this was because of the good seniors and sensei also in the dojo. Find me a dojo that has no children, no colored belts, no females, or differently-abled students, and I will show you a dojo where “courtesy” is not part of the curriculum.
Courtesy should carry over into our day-to-day lives outside the dojo. Once you have made karate a way of life, it becomes part of your personality. Unfortunately, poor attitudes and behaviours that are tolerated or even promoted by your seniors, may become a part of you as well. If you have an elevated position in karate because of your rank or tournament success, you have a duty to those who look up to you. You have influence over the next generation of students in the way you present yourself. The example you present, has an equal chance of breaking the “Cult of Karate” as well as perpetuating it. To earn your rank or success and then show a lack of courtesy is inexcusable, even if it is tolerated in your dojo! Bad behaviour begets bad behaviour.
The internet has become a big influence to students outside the dojo. Very early on I developed a profound respect for what this technology could do: share information on a world scale. Just because something is digital and your audience is not physically present, doesn’t make them any less “real”. Facebook is a great social platform and it can do a lot of good, but it seems to have become the pulpit from which senior karate people are choosing to be discourteous. I have had to separate myself several times now from seniors making disparaging remarks about other organizations, styles, philosophy, people, and the “correct way” of doing things on Facebook. Not necessarily because of the content of the remarks – I might agree or disagree – but because Facebook is not the right venue to debate anything. In the end, it accomplishes nothing, and becomes a “flame war” between two sides. All that happens is you may lose a little respect for someone who goes a little too far, or people may lose some respect that they had for you because of the way they act online. The written word is the written word, regardless if it is a book, a newsletter, a website, an email, a blog, or a tweet. Once something is out there, it’s out there forever. If someone has seen it, you can be sure someone has saved it, taken a screen shot of it, shared it, forwarded it, or tweeted it. You now have the ability to reach a million times more people, and therefore do a million times more bad or good, depending on how you act online.
I think the problem here is not only the lack of courtesy, but a failure to understand what courtesy actually means. Karate is not merely technique and courtesy merely bowing. O’sensei Funakoshi was a great philosopher as well as a great technician. He did not establish the Twenty Precepts of Karate and the Dojo Kun for them to be ignored by future generations. These principles are based on Bushido and Zen, and form the guiding principles to practice karate. O’sensei Funakoshi wrote: “The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of the participant”.
In some karate dojos, the students recite a version of the dojo kun either when bowing in or bowing out for each class. The dojo kun includes: seek perfection of character, be faithful, endeavor, respect others, and refrain from violent behavior. It would be wise to remind yourself and all of your students of this important element. Have your students recite the kun in class, research it, and write about it. Once it is perfected in the dojo, along with the techniques, it will spill over into their daily lives. As O’sensei Funakoshi said “the spirit of karate would be lost without courtesy”.
References:
http://blog.aikidojournal.com/2011/09/01/aikido-and-injuries-by-stanley-pranin/
http://www.metrolyrics.com/same-love-lyrics-macklemore.html
http://www.shotokai.com/ingles/gallery/introbeyond4.html
