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Consider that we are talking about a dojo, not a hospital or a kitchen. There is sweat in a dojo, at least should be if training is in earnest. If swat bothers someone, they probably shouldn't be in a dojo in the first place.
@@tristanchermack6735 We sweep or wipe the floor every time and we do not want to wipe extra space that is the wall. Japan is so humid and it gets mold so easily. This is just my assumption. The way it looks bad is very interesting because I am not a person who follows Japanese rules but even for me it looks bad probably because I was born and raised and I have been brainwashed in Japan so long. Anyway you should have asked the reason. I believe that not asking the reason is a very bad custom. I would avoid such a teacher who does not answer questions from students.
I honestly do not care about "looks" when I am training for self defense. I am however greatly affected by practical reasons. Leaning against a wall because you are in a compromised position is perfect. Compromised escape routes and compromised balance. You may also have a compromised awareness if you use it for relaxation. Other good considerations is spacial awareness, uke is learning to fight as well and so you want to be aware and avoid the dangers of being thrown into walls. One is also perfecting their mental and physical fortitude by remaining standing. The final practical reason is to avoid putting holes into the wall. It costs money to do repairs...
@@chriswheeler6838 I was never told not to lean against the wall so I am just assuming the situation. However I can imagine it easily. A Japanese room is surrounded by doors with paper film or clay wall. We should not lean against those wall or doors. So there is no way to lean against anything in the regular traditional room. I need to explain about "looks". The looks in Japanese common sense can be nonsense but as further I study Japanese martial arts, such a nonsense behavior started to make sense. So Japanese stupid tradition can be just ridiculous but you may find a very good reason in the end. For instance, proper bowing resets body structure in proper posture. And it makes you stronger. Sloppy bad bowing does not reset.
A story on etiquette, religion, bowing and clashing cultures. First and foremost Montreal is extremely diverse and open to many cultures. One of the things I love about the city is how we so easily celebrate our differences together without losing ourselves and our own identity. At least for me, this is my truth and how I live in this city. And so this story both makes me proud and sad at the same time. One day not long ago we had a pair of teenagers come in for our usual free trial classes. Outside of this story I would not even think to mention this fact, they are of a non christian faith. In our dojo we do not have a kamiza, and we have no typical shomen. Yes our head sensei has his various diplomas up on the wall as well as a few key pictures of his past senseis. When we do our opening/closing of class bows, we only have two. First to our senseis and second to the dojo and is done from our knees. This represents to us a thankfulness and as a sign of mutual respect to our teachers and to our fellow students for our place of learning. We do not bow to anything on the walls. There are also certain bows done throughout the class. Because we are expected to be kneeling during a technique demo by the sensei, we do a quick bow after the demo before getting up. This is a sign of thanking for the instruction and as an acceptance of the challenge to learn this technique. We will also bow to each other just before and after we are done practicing said technique. This again is as a thank you for being my partner and as a sign of respect to each other. Now these two kids decided adamantly not to bow. At first we were extremely puzzled as to why and so we asked why. There response was due to their religious beliefs. They are not allowed to do a kneeling bow to any other god. Again, we were slightly puzzled by this. So instead of the usual short explanation of this process we patiently provided the long explanation. We re-iterated there is no religious component in our bows. It is a cultural method of giving thanks and respect to one another, nothing more. Being young and devout in their beliefs we could see the doubt/fear in their eyes and as they continued to stand firm. So we made the decision to let them continue the trial class respecting their beliefs. At the end of class we first asked them the feeling about the class and the style of training. They were very happy with the system as a whole and were very interested in joining. But now we had to address their religious beliefs which clashed with our dojo culture. We calmly explained again why we do the bows and their context. It had come up in the discussion with them that this was the first time someone of their religion had a problem with the kneeling bows, especially after having explained the context. But it is not for us to peer pressure them into doing something they do not feel comfortable doing. Because this is a point of religious crisis for them, that they should go ask their parents and their religious leader for guidance. We mentioned it is not our place to interpret their religion. But we also told them that if they wish to continue, they will need to respect the culture of the dojo and our non-religious traditions which included the bows. It is unfortunate that the kids never returned even after our explanations. I do hope they find what they need one day.
Greetings from Italy, Mr. Wheeler. I remember asking to one of my two current koryu teachers, years ago, if something like what you described ever happened in one of his classes, and he said yes. When the guy in question refused to do the initial bowing, very likely also for "religious" reasons, he just said to him "OK, that's the way out [of the dojo]" and that was it. I can't say if this way was better or worse that what you did, but you sure did everything possible to give those guys a chance to fit in the group, I think.
1:02:13 that's exactly the part that Isoyama Sensei wouldn't speak of cause Isoyama is very conservative, which is why Isoyama will use subtle language in reference to the hiding of your feet.
You misunderstand the etiquette in EASTER ASIA. First of all, Japan, China and Korea are so different to begin with. Since I am a Japanese, I can talk about Japan only but people from China and Korea are so different. Now regarding etiquette in Japan, it would depend on area and teachers. You may find many people who hate questions but smart people do not mind any questions. Sodana and Sodesune are so different in Japanese language. We do not even consider it is a part of etiquette. But it would be very difficult for foreigners.
