Unraveling the Essence of a Grandmaster: A Perspective on Leadership in Martial Arts

[Steve]

Wouldn’t being flamboyant get you in ‘trouble‘ on the mat?

When I practised Kendo, if somebody turned up with a gold-flecked lacquered chest protector (‘Do’) or something flashier than the usual black, everyone made it their number one objective to strike ’Do’ to scratch it up a bit or hit the wearer slightly above it’s upper rim, and under your armpit…that is painful!

When someone turned up with a white sword sheath (‘saya’) at an Iaido seminar, he was approached by a senior grade with the comment, “You’re brave, aren’t you?” The student’s inability to read people and situations meant he retorted with, “I’ve ordered a pink one, too.” We never saw him after that seminar as he failed his shodan grading.

i think that’s generally what one can expect, but hopefully within reason. What I mean is, lack of political savvy and an inability to read a room will surely put a bit of a marker on a guy. If you are drawing attention to yourself, you can’t be surprised at the attention. But i would hope the goal isn’t to make him feel so unwelcome that he quits after a failed test.

All I’m saying is that it’s healthy to keep things in perspective. This is supposed to be fun. It’s okay to take the activity seriously, but (IMO) healthy not to take ourselves too seriously. Particularly in a traditional art where there is a fairly thin line between martial arts and historical reenactment.

 

[Hanshi]

I'm not sure I truly understand what "grandmaster" actually means. I never really thought much about it. I do admit to "pestering" my (sensei/organizational head) with questions about "professor", hanshi and some other terms other than grandmaster. I've satisfied myself by not giving much thought to the subject.

I'm retired now but back when I had my dojo I paid little attention to how my students addressed me even in class. Commonly it was "sir", "sensei", my first name or even things like "boss". I do have just a bit of a problem being serious for more than 10 minutes at a time. There were also running jokes understood by my current students but not so much beginners. There was also the joke (sort of) concerning my oldest and favorite black (long ago turned gray) gi with quite a few patches. I referred to it as my "Nascar" gi . I had yet to find a good Budweiser patch.

Except for formal events even t-shirts were okay; I kept everything mostly "laid back". My students were very good and I worked them hard - while laughing and joking. Some became exceptional martial artists and open schools of their own. That's WHY I started teaching in the first place! IMHO that's the whole shebang for doing it. Being disabled I'm no longer active other than as a consultant for my former dojo & the sensei who bought it.

This thread hit on a number of concerns, so forgive me for my attempt at posting my $ 0.2.

 

[Hot Lunch]

Wouldn’t being flamboyant get you in ‘trouble‘ on the mat?

If everyone is flamboyant, then no one really is.

 

[drop bear]

I hear you. Speaking just for myself, I mention it specifically because I’m not sure if it’s an exception to a rule, or confirmation bias. Simply put, I’m not sure the clothes are much of an indicator either way. When charlatans wear flashy clothes, it just hits differently (if you can forgive the pun).

Part of me also wants to make sure all the newer posters know that @drop bear has a tie dyed gi.

Matching uniforms are not an indication of quality instruction.

 

[Hot Lunch]

View attachment 30635
Matching uniforms are not an indication of quality instruction.

If the fact that they don't match is involuntary on the part of the students... eh.

I'll fully grant that what an instructor wears has nothing to do with his knowledge.

But what if the instructor's clothing looks something like Michael Jackson's or Elvis Presley's concert stage clothing, while the students are required to wear something plain? Assuming the instructor's martial arts competency is commensurate with his position, he's probably a "know it all." The kind of guy whose competence you can acknowledge, but really don't want to learn from.

 

[drop bear]

So yeah. I rock the the dye gi. (I have 3 of them). Because they were cheap to do and look amazing.

For my No gi look I rock a$12 rashi and shorts from lets say K mart.

Because I think BJJ rashies are mostly a scam.

(I do own a judge dredd rashie I paid real money for.)

 

[drop bear]

If the fact that they don't match is involuntary on the part of the students... eh.

I'll fully grant that what an instructor wears has nothing to do with his knowledge.

But what if the instructor's clothing looks something like Michael Jackson's or Elvis Presley's concert stage clothing, while the students are required to wear something plain? Assuming the instructor's martial arts competency is commensurate with his position, he's probably a "know it all." The kind of guy whose competence you can acknowledge, but really don't want to learn from.

I think matching uniforms is super cringe. Even before we get to matching uniforms exept for the instructors which is better.

There are BJJ schools that do that.

And part of the reason I wear the tie dye.

 

[Buka]

We were more of a scruffy bunch than a matching one.

 

[geezer]

View attachment 30635
Matching uniforms are not an indication of quality instruction.

All uniforms are matching, at least to some degree, otherwise you'd be wearing ...oh I dunno, maybe multi-forms?

In my old association, proper uniforms were highly emphasized and seen as directly related to disciplined, quality instruction.

I guess that's just one more thing that I had a different opinion on from the folks in charge there. They didn't like people having different opinions either.

 

[drop bear]

All uniforms are matching, at least to some degree, otherwise you'd be wearing ...oh I dunno, maybe multi-forms?

In my old association, proper uniforms were highly emphasized and seen as directly related to disciplined, quality instruction.

I guess that's just one more thing that I had a different opinion on from the folks in charge there. They didn't like people having different opinions either.

Indoforms.

 

[Hot Lunch]

We were more of a scruffy bunch than a matching one.

If it's "traditional Okinawan" or "traditional Japanese" or "traditional Korean,"* I'd expect strict uniformity (with the exception of some dojos having black belts wearing a different color or something like that).

When I see this pic, I think of dojos in my area that might call their style something like "American street karate" or "C.O.M.B.A.T. System," where the word "combat" is an acronym for something (not actual names of any dojos in my area, but similar).

*There's a hapkido dojang in my area where every student has four doboks (IIRC) - black, white, red, and blue. There's a schedule posted on what color each rank is supposed to wear on what days. I don't know how common this is in Korean arts. I still consider this to be "uniformity," since it's at least structured and every student owns the same uniforms.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Shouldn't their martial arts training have prevented their condition? Remember, prospective students are going to look at this.

Martial arts training won’t prevent something like hereditary diabetic conditions, cancer, limitations resulting from car accidents, bad arthritis - all actual issues I’ve known instructors to have.

One thing that's important to me is that all of the students should be able to look at any of the instructors - all the way up to the head of the association - and be able to see themselves. They shouldn't see a god among men who's far removed from them.

This I agree with entirely. The association- and the students - will be better served by those in leadership positions (including historical leadership) being seen as people who achieved much, rather than something sacred.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

The low funds don't stop them from buying all the other crap and getting it all sewn on. Getting the sleeves hemmed should take precedence over all of that other stuff, wouldn't you agree?

You were the one who mentioned low funds. I tend to agree it’s unlikely that’s the reason, unless the other accoutrements are expected by the association (some will spend all their spare money on their MA).

I think it’s more likely he’s just comfortable that way. I can’t see why it should be an issue to any of us.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

The pants are very comfortable.

I have a couple of old gi’s I wear lounging around the house. Softened by wear and damned comfortable.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I have seen pictographic evidence that drop bear wears a tie dyed BJJ kimono from time to time. I think he may be somewhat skilled.

Don’t do this. He’ll post more pictures and traumatize me.

 

[isshinryuronin]

I have a couple of old gi’s I wear lounging around the house. Softened by wear and damned comfortable.

After 50 years of wearing them while training, I can't put one on without a strange desire to sweat and get beaten black and blue.

 

[Gyakuto]

If everyone is flamboyant, then no one really is.

I’ll send you a photo of my sequinned and rhinestoned keikogi and you’ll understand the concept of upper limits of flamboyance do not exist

 

[Gyakuto]

We were more of a scruffy bunch than a matching one.

Stars and stripes

 

[Gyakuto]

The West fosters and even encourages individualism. This might account for the desire to adopt the prettily coloured keikogi we see in some dojo: an attempt to stick out from the crowd. Even in the very conservative world of swordsmanship, I’ve noticed the popularity of brightly coloured and patterned sageo (the ‘utility’ cord tied into the sword’s sheath) here in the West.

In Japan (at least) the expression 出る釘は打たれる deru kugi wa utareru ‘The nail that sticks up, will be hammered down.’ is central to their social ethos. It’s an attempt to foster (Confucian) humility by keeping the outside appearance of people as unadorned as possible. The tea ceremony took this turn toward simplicity with Sen no Rikyu’s abandonment of flashy clothing, utensils and tea room architecture. Even the entrance to his new style of tea room was transformed into a crawl-through hatch (nijiriguchi) requiring everyone, regardless of rank, to bend humbly and crawl through to the interior (hazardous in a fire, in my opinion)

It’s a deep cultural difference between our cultures, subtly manifest in our garb.

 

[Steve]

The West fosters and even encourages individualism. This might account for the desire to adopt the prettily coloured keikogi we see in some dojo: an attempt to stick out from the crowd. Even in the very conservative world of swordsmanship, I’ve noticed the popularity of brightly coloured and patterned sageo (the ‘utility’ cord tied into the sword’s sheath) here in the West.

In Japan (at least) the expression 出る釘は打たれる deru kugi wa utareru ‘The nail that sticks up, will be hammered down.’ is central to their social ethos. It’s an attempt to foster (Confucian) humility by keeping the outside appearance of people as unadorned as possible. The tea ceremony took this turn toward simplicity with Sen no Rikyu’s abandonment of flashy clothing, utensils and tea room architecture. Even the entrance to his new style of tea room was transformed into a crawl-through hatch (nijiriguchi) requiring everyone, regardless of rank, to bend humbly and crawl through to the interior (hazardous in a fire, in my opinion)

It’s a deep cultural difference between our cultures, subtly manifest in our garb.

I’ve always been curious at some of the seeming contradictions in Japanese culture. For example, in spite of what you say above, I’ve seen some very fancy looking katana. The tuner community in automobiles can be garish. With led lights, huge fins, fancy paint jobs, etc. it’s not just about performance.

Do you have any insight?