Читать книгу Traditions. Essays on the Japanese Martial Arts and Ways онлайн

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In the traditionalist’s small world, his sensei achieves a status difficult for the outsider to comprehend. In daily training the traditional budoka is pressed to do things that go against his every instinct: standing compliantly while an opponent practices control by blasting punches just brushing his nose, allowing himself to be thrown flying, continuing on long after his body has told him to stop. These are accomplished only by trusting his sensei implicitly. In return, the student is molded into a budoka, given a life beyond the neuroses and psychological limitations that hobble much of the rest of the modern world.

The serious budoka never for a second forgets the debt he owes for this. He treats his teacher with endless respect, loves him, and considers his advice priceless and undebatable. This is exactly how it has always been and how it should be. If one of my own sensei told me that I could only improve my technique by practicing underwater, you can believe I’d start looking for a sale on aqualungs. But if my sensei told me to invest all my savings in the nuclear-powered lawn mower industry, you can also rest assured that I would consult with stockbrokers and other financial analysts before I sunk my money into such a venture. Unfortunately, too many traditionalists fail to make this distinction. They prefer to perceive their teacher as a father figure, infallible in every situation and with absolute answers to everything from how to dress to whom one should marry.