When people come over to make the final one-to-one rei at the end of a practise session, there is always the expectation that the more senior kendoka is going to say something useful about their keiko. This is not always easy as the teacher or sempai might be thinking:
- No change since last week, so nothing to talk about.
- I did not really notice what you were doing, I was just enjoying the practise.
- You are still doing what I have been telling you not to do for the past 2 years, so what is the point.
On the other hand and more likely, he or she may have some useful advice to give you. The only problem may be, that it sounds completely different to the advice you got from the guy you bowed to 30 seconds before. In this case you need to remember that different people see things in different ways. One teacher may tell you your feet are too slow, and another that your hands are too fast. If you think it through, it is clearly the same point made differently.
You do though often get conflicting information. I regularly visit a club where I invariably suggest to a number of members that they make a bigger men attack. The resident instructor urges the same people to make smaller movements. The reason behind my advice is not because I particularly like big techniques, but because there is a tendency for them to cut only with the right hand, which will limit future progress. My colleague on the other hand, wants them to make small attacks so that their kendo becomes quicker. Who’s right? Why me of course:-) , only joking, but the real issue for the student is which advice should you take.
I believe the solution comes back to the concept of shu ha ri. When you start, you should find a teacher you trust and follow his or her advice exclusively. Later when you have the basics established, you can benefit from the knowledge of other instructors, but evaluate the information thoroughly. Either that, or you can start cutting big in a small way, whilst moving your hands slower and your feet quicker
I’ve found that when I get conflicting advice it tends to indicate a lack of understanding on my part.
You can only act upon advice which you understand so this tends to decide which advice you can follow.
However I try and keep the bits you can’t use at the moment as I find they fall into place later on when my understanding of my actions has developed enough for me to appreciate the point that was being made.
Hi Geoff,
Being surrounded by kodansha all the time, this is something I potentially face on a daily basis. Everyones right of course but – as you said – it doesnt make things any clearer or easier for those of us still developing our own kendo.
Whats apparent to me is the stylistic range of kendo is indeed wide, and some of the methods that the more advanced apply are mutual independant of others. Some methods might not even fit you personality wise (!).
Personally, the best dojo for me are those where there is only 1 or maybe 2 teachers, the rest – whether kodansha or not – do not “teach” per se. This is what its like in the dojo I go to with M-sensei (2 hachidans, 20+ nanadans, etc etc).
Something I have noticed is that the best teachers here generally do not give advice to anyone bar their own students. To do so is rude, not necessarily to the student (although it potentially could create conflicts), but to their teachers.
I could go on about it more but I will stop myself.
Of-course, places where the kendo community is small and experienced teaches few – like the UK – require some different ways to do things… an example is holiding seminars where all the higher grades get together, or where you invite people to teach. Come to think of it, I havent been at a seminar for 7 years now….
(p.s. Sorry for not commenting in a while!)
At my level I often have to give advice that could equally be given to me, in that sense I feel I am helping myself as well as the students and trying to find new ways to explain things seems to make things clearer for me as well. I remember reading something in the hagakure once that paraphrased said anybody can tell people things, the trick is to find the time when telling them will make a difference. I used to like getting advice in the middle of a session more whilst there was time for me to show that I was trying to follow it rather than at the end. One question that I am still thinking about is how to find ways to practice what you were told at the last seminar etc (ie the go and practice this in your dojo advice) when the practice is structured and directed by someone else. I think this is similar to the point about getting conflicting advice in that we have to be comfortable holding several ideas at once. Thanks as always.
Nice pic!
b