The virtues of running a very small program

 

For over 35 years years I ran my Bushi NoTe Isshinryu program.  Actually it was two programs, one for youth at the Boys and Girls Club, and another one for adults, The same core content was identical in both programs.

 

 

The program was never commercial, for I shared without cost for the students. I had a profession that allowed me to do so. I was more interested in the karate than making money.  Of course that was a personal decision that I made. 

 

The difference was the youth program spent 7 to 9 years developing it’s sho-dans. At that time they were young adults and most of them moved on with their lives, as young people do.  That program did much more for it made sure every young person, regardless of how long they stayed, learned that they could learn anything if they applied themselves to the task of learning. More important than just the karate they practiced.

The adults, however, were just there to train.  None of them were interested in belts just the training.  Of course all of them did not stay for many of the reasons adults don’t stay.  Among them finding the training was not what they were interested in, changing work schedules, family obligations or being transferred for work.  But step by step a core of them progressed. Eventually I had them enter dan training.

 

The two programs used the same content (at kyu) but were separate as the pace of training was very different.  I was the instructor of both, my wife, a black belt herself, did assist with the youth program for several years, but after our own kids were born she gravitated into youth soccer partly because of our kids, partially as she was drawn to working with larger groups of children. So she stepped off  the program, then I continued to run both program on my own.

As time passed the adult group became much more than a preparation for dan program.  We still had beginners but they had to work alongside the more advanced members working on very different material.  Not sure how true it was  but I remember reading about an Older Okinawan dojo structure where most of the students there were dans and the beginners had to cope with them training at their pace.

They trained with me an average of +17 years after shodan. Some were +35 years. And they were there to train never standing around.

What happened is that I learned:

 

1.     Having skilled students to work with meant a great deal for my own studies.

2.     I got to observe the value of long term study on their Karate and Kobudo.

3.     While my students did not compensate me, frequently they contributed towards bring those who instructed me in other systems to our school for training seminars. There by giving them some of the same training that I received.

4.     As everyone in the dojo knew where everyone was on training there was less need for anything other than dojo rank. And that was a tool more for me.

a.     The new sho-dan was roughly a seasoning time of approximately 2 years.

b.     The lifetime rank of ni- dan was each dan taking responsibility for their own karate needs.

c.      For those so inclined, san-dan was a lifetime rank where they took on more study than what they needed for their own art. They were studying to preserve the greater knowledge beyond their own needs. That did not replace their own ni-dan studies.

5.     I was able to put the instructor training idea I had into what we did do.

a.     All instructor candidates (with no exceptions) had to have at least15 continuous years training with us.

b.     They must be at dojo san-dan training.

c.      The candidate would undergo a 5 years mentorship on being an instructor.

d.     The candidate would demonstrate their own work at how to instruct our system (I was not to be the sole defining source.

e.      Only then would they be instructors.

f.       Instructor was not a rank, but a developed responsibility

6.     Then here would be the researcher which would be outside of the program studies. (That described some of what I did.)

7.     When you shift your focus to long term training, short term activities such as competition focused more on those in their first 15 years, takes on less importance.

8.     That one must keep addressing what the students really need, not to run the program for your own needs. Some of those can be addressed in time if you develop students with the right abilities to use for your studies in which they can participate. But you must never lose sight that their needs come first. Your own needs are always in second place.

 

While by choice my students were not very involved with the wider martial arts world,  I was. Attending seminars that attracted my interest. 

Often being asked to give seminars too. When doing so I had so many studies to choose from, but I never shared my Isshinryu when doing so, because no one was really interested in it either. That was ok with me, as I do not give short term studies in my Isshinryu.