Learning the Language of Budo. Correct teaching on the Path
Learning the Language of Budo: I am an English speaker. I am also learning to speak Romanian. And I am not doing this as a mind expanding experience, which it is. But rather because if I am going to live in the country I should speak the language. It is also required for citizenship.
Plus any opportunity to learn is beneficial to your health and general well being.
I do not believe in the paradigm of the West of sitting in front of a TV all day.
While this is not an article for me to bash the failed and useless educational system in Canada I am going to call out English speakers in one way. Learn the definition of the words you use.
As an example the work "phobia" means "an irrational fear of."
Because I disagree with someone or their ideology does not make me phobic.
The the same with the word conspiracy. A conspiracy is a plot between two or more people to carry out an illegal activity. Therefore Conspiracy Theory is a "belief there is a plot to carry out an illegal activity." It does NOT mean PARANOID or being WRONG. If correct then it is Conspiracy FACT.
People who use words incorrectly to me look foolish. Especially when they have lots of meaningless letters behind their names.
Language of Budo
I come from a Korean root art. During my training Korean words were used and tested upon. While I taught this was pretty cool I really did not understand the reasons why it was done, other then tradition. Grand Master, Mr Chung Oh, my root Grand Master, spoke pretty decent English, so language was not really an issue.
So why Korean?
The Japanese arts are very good at teaching the terminology to their students. But as time goes by this is disappearing. And I have been guilt of it too! When I opened my school in 2000 I continued the teaching of Korean. And I had a BIG test for it at Black Belt level.
But I got lazy and stopped. And it was not because I decided, and wrongly so, that there was no benefit to this. I was just being LAZY.
Benefits of Language of Budo
What are the reasons and benefits to the Language of Budo?
Recently I was watching a video of Hanshi Juchnik teaching a Kosho Ryu class. He caught one of his instructors teaching ONLY in English. Upon asking the man "why" he did this.
He was honest, he said "because it is easier."
Hanshi then replied, "I know, but you are cheating both yourself, and the student of the chance to THINK." ( Like Kosho, in the west, a lost art of itself ).
Learning the Language of Budo in Conclusion
I hope if you have abandoned the roots of your art when it comes to language you will add it back. You will benefit and so will your students. The issue faced by martial art teachers is turning customers into students, and then keeping them as students.
In a commercial school or Dojo customers pay the bills, students grow up to keep the teachings and the tradition alive. I hope you enjoyed this article on Learning the Language of Budo.
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