Oftentimes martial arts teachers impart lessons to their students as part of the everyday instruction that are so important the lessons are remembered for life.
About 30 years ago my teacher, the late Professor Patrick Browne, had a conversation with me that I still clearly recall. It has led me to learn many lessons in martial arts and went like this.
Five hundred years ago old men who had practiced martial arts all their lives (and by definition, had survived) were revered and respected by people in general, and their students in particular, for two distinctly different reasons. A fact that is not commonly known is that well-developed martial artists placed as much value on healing and resuscitation arts as they did on combative techniques. These arts, known as katsu or kappo, gave the practitioner the ability to restart someone's heart or breathing that had stopped as well as treat other injuries such as nosebleeds and testicle blows. It doesn't take a genius to see that these techniques were a natural out-growth of martial arts practice where the need to reverse techniques was commonplace. These abilities, coupled with bone setting and other heaing arts, earned the old martial artist as much, or more, respect as his technical abilities.
Remember that we are talking about 500 years ago, now imagine the impression on a crowd of people surrounding a man who has taken a blow or a fall and stopped breathing, or has a stopped heart, when a little old guy pushes through the crowd, grabs the victim, kiais, strikes him, and the victim is revived. That was big medicine.
These types of abilities earned a type of respect that even the greatest physical prowess couldn't achieve. This brings us to our second, distinctly different reason these old men were respected.
In popular martial arts movies the idea of the young, fast, strong, talented student challenging the old master is cliche; Fact, fiction, or frequency of this sort of event is not the point. A real student of martial arts, meaning one who can see beyond mere physical technique, that is on the true path to learning could never conceive of issuing such a challenge for a variety of reasons; however, they can all be summarized in the word respect.
If you consider the study of martial arts to be one of the best things to happen to you in this life, then how do you consider the person who shared this knowledge with you? (Someone to be beaten or outdone? What kind of person thinks like this?)
The Japanese have a word, "on", which best summarizes the answer. An "on" is debt that can never be repaid; for example, you have an "on" to your parents. No matter what you do, you cannot repay them, for without them you would not be here. So it is with your martial arts teacher.
Remember also, all those who have come before your teacher. Generations of men for hundreds of years have thought this activity so worthwhile and valuable that they have spent (i.e. given the precious, limited gift of time) their whole lives dedicated to passing along this knowledge.
Finally, remember that all of this hasn't been done to merely end with you. Although you can never repay your debt, you must always try. Perpetuation of the art is the most noble attempt.
Over the years I have thought many times about this conversation. It has guided me in many situations and choices. I continue to learn about respect which has many different levels, and I continue to thank my teacher for this invaluable lesson.
Many times in martial arts to take a step back is to take a step forward. In this case, let me start at the beginning with something that every student learned during his or her first class with my teacher. Respect is a two way street. Initially, we learned this in the context of the meaning of bowing at the beginning and end of class. The student bows to the teacher out of respect for his willingness to teach, and the teacher bows to the student out of respect for his wilingness to learn. Over the years this has come to have a wider meaning for me.
Initially, I saw the major burden of responsibility on the student; now I have a different perspective. If the teacher is unwilling to share or has no students, there is no perpetuation of the art. Also, if a teacher is sincere in his desire to teach more than physical technique, he does not take sexual advantage or financial advantage of his students; nor does he treat them as indentured servants. The responsibility of appropriate behavior and leading by example belongs first and foremost to the teacher. These are the roots of true respect that are earned; something quite different than the superficial bow to a belt rank.
Respect has taught me that there are many different dimensions to the martial arts. It has helped me grasp some of the meaning in Miyamoto Musashi's words. "The true way of strategy cannot be learned within the narrow confines of sword-fencing alone."
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