Externally my response was that I had not heard anything about that, which was true as this was the first I was hearing about it.
When I was asked my opinion on it my response was considered evasive, as it was.
Publicly I would never say anything in such an open situation, not because they were correct, but because one does not talk about such things if it can damage the integrity of the tradition.
It was not my place, especially as a senior student to offer my opinion in public, so I didn’t.
But privately?
It pissed me off, and put me in a difficult situation.
When one decides to become a teacher and open a dojo, a hierarchy of binding relationships are established when a student walks through the door.
You lead, they follow.
As long as they are your student, under the tradition, you as a teacher have a responsibility to train them, guide them, and make sure they don’t get killed.
This duty continues until they leave the dojo, or until the teacher dies, and some would argue a good case that the obligation of the teacher carries on beyond death.
This is why entering a traditional dojo is so strict.
So what position was I put in that pissed me off?
A certain teacher had just shut down his dojo and abandoned his students.
We weren’t talking about a medical or family crisis, or a change in spiritual pursuits.
Those could have been navigated.
They shut down the dojo and left their students hanging so they could move an train with another teacher in order to get higher rank.
Whatever desires they may have had, whatever points they tried to navigate, was irreverent as they had students to look after.
They didn’t even arrange for the students to come with them.
Just dojo closed, and go train somewhere else.
Not even a concern as to how this would be perceived by the martial arts community regarding our tradition.
Selfish.
Normally I would just be a bystander in it, but I became involved when unsolicited some of the students approached me and asked me to be their teacher.
Can you see the place I was now put in?
Our first conversation was the same that I give all prospective students that come to the dojo. We need to make sure things are good fit. Come to class, train for a few weeks to feel the vibe, and then we can make a decision.
If after a few weeks things don’t work, no problem.
You learned a few cool things, had a good time training, and I’ll help them find another dojo that might be a better fit for where they want to go by making some calls and introductions.
I would never block anybody from joining, but of they did join, I would now forever be linked to the actions of that other teacher through his students, now my students.
That would just have to be something I would need to navigate.
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