Thursday night’s workout was, as
We had determined ahead of time that chances were good that Sensei Brewer and Sensei Hartman were not going to be there, so we formulated a lesson plan. McCabe-san and Garls-san had some ideas, and I was content to train so I opted to take warmups. Dukes showed up a few minutes before class started and we made him privvy to the details, and it was determined that he could take second class so most people would get a chance to do something.
The plan was devised, Team Nidan was to ride again. Or so we thought.
Ten minutes into warmups, Oedewaldt showed up. Sensing that he would likely try to hijack the class before the plans got into place, I ended up modifying my warmups by working in the theme that Garls-san and McCabe were going after: moving backwards which would then lead into so sparring drills. I had them do dorsal rises and tricep pushups in the spirit of doing things backwards.
I handed off class with “and now McCabe-san is going to give us some backwards basics.” Surprisingly, Oedewaldt allowed this to proceed and McCabe-san and Garls-san lead the first class with Much Success.
In between classes, I mentioned to Dukes that if he wanted to take second class he should probably go claim it or else Oedewaldt would. Dukes goes to Oedewaldt and said “I was thinking we could do some sparring.” At this point, I knew what was going to happen. Oedewaldt replied, “I was thinking about doing some kata.” This annoyed me, so I clarified the situation by mentioning “no, I think Dukes-san was wanting to teach sparring.” Oedewaldt’s reply was “well, we would do both.”
At this point, I divorced myself from the situation and sparred with McCabe-san.
The second class we started doing the Macomb Special block attack drill. After about 20 minutes of the same drill, Oedewaldt decided to “up the ante” by having us step in and block with a lunging attack attached. Kuras had us do this in Macomb, but I never understood why so I wanted to ask what we were supposed to do if someone came over the top with a punch. This had happened to me by both Sarah-san and Garls-san, so I assumed it was a common trend.
He danced around my question by saying something along the lines of “they’re supposed to wait until you block to counterattack.” I knew that, but it wasn’t happening in practice, so I wanted to know how to handle it. I pressed the question, and this was starting to grate on me a little. Class ended shortly thereafter, and there was much grumbling between the nidans regarding the proceedings.
After class, Dukes-san and I were so worked up about this that we thought about calling Oedewaldt and discussing it. I really didn’t want it to seem like a gang-up, so we elected to call Sensei Hartman instead and work it out that way. He recommended that we talk about it with Sensei, which will probably be a good course of action.
I took the opportunity to mention this discussion with Oedewaldt after he tackled me on Friday morning via chat. He replied that he was under the impression that his extra six months of rank meant he had “final say in what was done.” Yes, that’s true. I come to find out on Friday (after a long chat session with Odie) that he took exception to my questioning, stating that I was trying to “undermine his authority” and “derail the class he wanted to teach.” I was trying to get a question answered. Was it a little pointed? Yeah. But I still had a legitimate question. I’m not trying to be insubordinate here, but all the other ranking nidans are at least open to discussion when it comes to letting someone else take point now and again. That’s all I really wanted.
I am always concerned when dealing with stuff like this. I don’t want to seem whiney or like an instigator here, but this is a problem that has been simmering for quite some time and I’m not the only one that feels this way. I just want everyone to have an equal share of teaching time and for Oedewaldt not to think that he can shit on his peers and expect us to respect him. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, he’s just got a weird sense of entitlement here and what appears to be blatent disregard for the wishes of others. That’s not what being sempai is about.
For an example of being a good sempai, look to Garls-san. He’s getting more into teaching now, but he’s always willing to listen to other peoples ideas and let them carry them out from time to time. I respect him because he cares about what other people think and doesn’t talk down to us. I just wish we could make that the standard.
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I’ve been struggling with the meaning of sempai/senpai as well.
So I’ll use up your blog space to throw out thoughts
as best as I’ve figured it out the sempai/kohai structure is a codification of respect.
I did a bit of surfing around and found 3 basic rules for determining who is sempai… unfortuantely 2a&b can be in conflict.
1) anyone older then you is sempai, even if only by a day.
- this should be a given, not sure there is a single culture without this rule
2) anyone with more experience then you
- this also makes perfect sense, except it can be broken down into 2 sub rules:
2a) anyone who has been involved in the activity longer then you
2b) anyone who has is higher ranked then you.
Both make sense, but I can’t come to an internal conclusion as to how I think they should be ordered when there is a conflict…
Back to the meaning… the general sempai/kohai relationship seems to be about respect, suggesting that someone who is not automatically given respect has failed in some capacity.
Respect does not equal blind obedience or servitude.
As to the roles they are to play…
sempai are to respect, teach and help kohai, giving credit where credit is due.
kohai are to repesct and support sempai to the best of their abilities.
(note the mutual respect, different though present in both directions)
all of this is contrasted with The Sempai (an individual), which seems to be the #1 member of a group next to sensei/the leader. This position it seems can be changed based on performance or lack of trust/respect by sensei. This person’s duty is to ensure proper etiquette is followed and to oversee the direct training of all the students. And it seems in ancient times to protect the life of sensei.
This suggests that part of one’s training is in accumulating respect and trust as much as proficiency in say a martial art… If sensei can’t trust/respect you, you might find yourself “by definition” kohai to someone technically kohai to you but sempai to you in the “overall” ranking.
Now to briefly touch upon my experiences… which seem to relate to your issues
At Boulder Aikikai I’ve noticed two interesting facts
a) High rank does not mean you’ll be asked to teach the beginner’s classes, I’ve seen a week-old shodan be tapped to lead the 9 month beginner sequence.
b) The highest ranking student present does not always lead the advanced class when ikeda sensei or hofmeister sensei are absent, as far as I can tell. Though I’m not sure of the selection process involved. (and I could be wrong about this, not 100% sure of who has what rank at the upper ranks *g*)
Not sure any of that made any sense
done now
Very good points. I hope this whole mess touches off some discussion about what these terms mean in our dojo as well. Time will tell.
oh and after querring great oracles of knowledge… I gleaned a few extra key tidbits…
a) sempai/kohai ordering is only a partial ordered set
b) when the ordering isn’t clear… “slapstick comedy” may result
since I’ve been spweing stuff I figured I’d spew a bit more… this relefects Saotome sensei’s view on yudansha testing as head of aikido schools of ueshiba… I can’t remeber if I’ve copied this before or not.
Yudansha Ranking
Mitsugi Saotome, Shihan
ASU Newsletter, January 1986
Yudansha ranking is given for many reasons, not just technical ability. Just because a person receives a certain yudansha rank does not mean that he or she has attained that ability at that moment. It means that I feel the person is on the threshold and will grow into that rank with the pressures of added responsibility.
Of course, receiving a promotion to any yudansha rank presupposes a certain technical proficiency. But this alone is not enough. My eyes see differently when I watch a student practice. I see that student’s personality as well as his or her growth. I often know what kind of special difficulties the student has had to overcome. I have a good idea how much that person has done for his or her group, how much responsibility has been shouldered and how much he or she has done to help others. I know that person’s social and spiritual growth and leadership abilities.
I’ve been asked many times how a student should train and with what goals in mind for each yudansha level. Most of this cannot be put into words and must come from the individual student’s heart as he or she grows in understanding; but I can give you a little guidance.
To train for shodan:
You are training to become a beginner, no longer just a guest in the dojo, but a student with very real responsibilities. One must study the basic technical form and basic physical principle until the correct movement is automatic and feels natural.
To train for nidan:
The power of movement must be emphasized and developed. The functional reality of technique must be explored and an understanding developed of what really works and why.
To train for sandan:
The student must develop an understanding of aiki principle and begin to break out of technique.
To train for yondan:
The student must discover the philosophy of aiki principle and how it relates to technique. The technical form must be deeply refined according to this understanding and the student must seriously begin to develop the art of training others. Personal training is not enough. The student must understand social responsibility.
To train for godan:
One must make aiki principle a direct part of his or her life, developing an awesome spirit, leadership qualities and the spiritual and social application of aiki principle. A complete spontaneity of technique must develop which is no longer technique but the principle which underlies technique. There must be, at this point, a complete dedication to the art and a great social and spiritual growth. A growth which produces not a narrow local concern for one dojo or one area, but an active concern for all students and all people of the world.
Throughout all these years of training, your physical, mental, social and spiritual understanding and power must steadily progress. The spontaneous application of aiki must progress. If you stop training on any one of these levels, your aikido will no longer grow. Just putting in your time has no meaning. The quality and intensity of your training, the discoveries you make each day, these things have meaning. You must train hard and discover the answer for yourself.
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