Hello Everybody. My first post, I dont intend to chat too much.Somebody asked me to put in two cents here as I am often the "clean-up guy" for some of this BS. First off, this whole thread is possibly not entirely Kosher by Japanese standards. Japanese budo schools like to keep problems inside the family, if you know what I mean. Candid and frank discussions of unpleasant subjects are not common in Japan. Take that for whatever it's worth.
Please never ever refer to any Japanese teacher without using the title "sensei" or at least "san" after his or her name. This applies to speaking and writing. This is a really basic rule of etiquette.
Putting milk in green tea or soy sauce on rice - Eat your food however the hell you want to. If you paid for it, it's yours. In five years I have never met any Japanese people who cared at all what I put on my rice or in my tea. (yes I asked)
Panty hose are a part of the dress code for female teachers and city hall employees when they wear their skirts.
"People leaving a class when they find out one of the Shihan is teaching instead of Soke."
This ought not to be discussed in public. It is an issue, but really not for public discussion. If you show up at the hombu for a class, stay for the class. That's all that ought to be said.
I sometimes lay down in between classes. It's been humid as hell and hot as hell and I just couldnt do 4 hours without being able to lay down and close my eyes for a bit. George has been coming over and fanning me while I lay there. thank God the weather has finally changed. 65 and clear skies. I love the Fall in Japan!
"Trash issue of course....Training bags/shoes....some care needs to be taken by everyone to allow Soke and everyone else clear path to walk into and out of areas they need to go..."
I spend about 5 minutes of every class cleaning up the bags and piling them into a mountain next to the armor so that Sensei and his cameraman can get in and out of the training area. People can be pretty selfish and totally unaware. More than that, people have been crowding Sensei while he is teaching, instead of backing up against the wall or sitting down as far away from the center of the room as possible. We had to actually ask people, during class, to back the heck up so the cameraman could get out there and film Yabu san's grimaces.
As to individual people's behavior like wanting to be the teacher or doing something different from Sensei or whatever, that is all a part of learning Budo, people have to grow and learn. It can be annoying and sometimes dangerous, but you can always go to the bathroom and then find a different partner. I do it all the time. If you get a crackerhead, just go get some tea, clear your thoughts, and go find someone else.
Believe me, there is NO WAY that people who don't get it will ever fool Sensei into believing that they do get it. It's all in your taijutsu and that always tells the truth. Sensei will say " ok, you teach." You will get up and do something and Sensei will know by your movement how much you understand. It's the ultimate lie detector. Rehearsed techniques, physical wrestling stuff, it's all easy to recognize and Sensei knows before you even do it what's going on.
So do yourself a favor and understand that Sensei (all of them) is watching you from the minute you show up until you leave. You show him how good or bad your budo is by how you stack your shoes, how you stack your gear bags, where you stand when he is teaching, what we say on the internet....there are a million things.. Sensei is a very smart and observant man.
