It's just a drawing, a cute little cartoon. How do I "Know" it's cute? I have been paid to manufacture cuteness for twentyfive years. One way to know for sure if something is cute is to show it to a female between ten and fifty. If the first thing they do when they see it is say "Awwwwwwe" or "Ohhhhhhhh" it's cute. This is actually born out by science. Images of infants faces with specific proportion elicit in females and urge to extend care. It's hard wired into the brain and body. Men can respond similarly but not to the same degree that women do. For women, it just happens.
But how about a martial artist? What does a martial artist or martial arts teacher see? Some would imagine a class full of similar kids and shudder. Some might see it as the embodiment of everything wrong with martial arts today. Dojos full of little "Drag ins" (kids that don't want to be there). Some might see this and consider training children as "a necessary evil", "You know, we gotta pay the bills and keep the doors open. They support the place so the serious students can train. Some teachers would look and say I'm sorry she is to young to begin training. Some others may look and see a member of their "Super Dooper Junior Blackbelt Leadership Team Club" or just "SDJBBLTC" for short. Some see a $2500 contract.
When someone enters a school and begins training they are looking for something. Some may want to improve their health or want their child to be able to protect themselves.
Some are looking for a fun activity. Some might even sheepishly admit wanting to become enlightened. Whatever it is they are looking for as teachers we need to respect that search. People ask me sometimes what will practicing martial arts do for them? Now this is the point where a smart businessman would say something like, Better grades, self respect, lose weight, self confidence, fighting skills...did I mention better grades? More and more I find myself saying "I don't know".
The truth is I don't know what the person will get out of their training. I think another truth is this, if you have a good teacher and are in a good school you will learn things about yourself that you might not want to learn. Now that's not what a parent of young kids usually wants to hear. A dojo should be a safe place to learn those things. It should be a place to explore what you are looking for and why.What Are you looking for and why?
There is a story about Zen master Fenyang. Someone asked Fenyang, "What is the work of a teaching master?" Fenyang replied, "Impersonally guiding those with affiinity".
That is something to ponder. More and more these days I find myself saying I don't know. When someone asks me about what they will learn if they begin training I say "I don't know" quickly followed by "Let's find out".
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2 comments:
I'd add that why you continue training can be very different from why you start. From my experience, I started because I loved Jackie Chan films and was feeling pressure (which I agreed with to an extent) to get out of the house from my mom and do something other than video games. I seriously wanted to quit after one or two classes, but training evolved into a lot of diverse things to me: fitness, a hobby, self-defense, an important buffer to self-esteem, and a community. And I've missed that since I haven't found a way to continue training in Lawrence.
On the other point, the term "McDojo" that I once saw glancing through a forum cracked me up. DKS is family-focused from a business standpoint, but Master D has enough integrity to avoid that fate, even it loses him a little business.
How about a "Town Topic" Dojang? Mmmmmm. Calories out, calories in. Meat gooooooood.:)
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