It was March of 2020, the last dojo class before the pandemic shut down the entire world.
Only we didn’t know it yet.
Before class a few of us joked with each other how if this thing really spreads we might not be able to train for a while, the kind of joking about a serious subject where the only way to process it is through laughter.
We kidded that it might be a couple of weeks before we all see each other again, and what we were all going to do with a vacation from the dojo for a bit.
The dojo was the constant regulating factor in many of our lives.
Class three times a week, same time, place, and people not matter what.
Winter, spring, summer, fall.
The dojo had been through many things, overcoming them all and getting back on track to the training.
Moving to the new location, when the building got flooded out, renovations.
All of it, the training continued.
It just happened, class was canceled indefinitely.
The teacher got all of us on the phone in a group call and instructed us to continue training on our own, especially at the appointed class time, and that he was working on something to get us back up and running as a dojo.
In the mean-time, stay true to the promise we all made when we entered the dojo.
If you wanted to join the dojo the first step was to schedule a visit and to come and watch a class. This gave the person the chance to see the training first hand, and answer any surface questions that they might have.
The main reason for watching a class was to immediately filter out the curiosity seekers or those with an agenda.
This is what we do, do you want to be here?
The next step in the process was to take two weeks of classes at a nominal rate, a chance to experience the training first hand, and after that make a decision about asking to become a student of the dojo or not.
Of course during those two weeks the teacher and senior student watched the person’s temperament and noted and potential issues.
If the training was not for them, they had an interesting two week experience to talk about and maybe they learned one or two cool things.
But what if they wanted to continue?
Join the dojo and be a student.
If that was the case teacher would make a decision based on mushashin (warrior’s heart) and if accepted it was required to make a promise to the dojo.
Such promises had existed for hundreds of years and historically involved making a blood oath, a keppan where you put your soul on the line under a promise.
As much as things change they remain the same.
When joining the dojo one makes a promise:
That one will practice the martial arts of the dojo to the best of one’s ability each and every day.
That one will never issue a challenge, but if one is made against the dojo one can accept it.
That one will not teach without the teacher’s permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment