My Old Sensei

I’m taking kickboxing this quarter. I found out that I have a good chance of seeing my old Sensei because karate was moved to 8:30 to 9:30. That’s OK because I’m very happy with my new dojo. If we spoke to each other before I joined my new dojo, I don't know what would have happened. Probably, I would have been sucked into his dojo again. I missed my old dojo greatly because of the training and hardcoreness. Every time, I would have to remind myself of how badly they treated me. Now if I did one class in his dojo, I think that I'll run away because I like my new dojo too much. I would hate to stand there for a half hour stiff as a board watching the black belts do kata. It would have been so much more productive if the lower belts were allowed to work on other things because one can only learn so much just by watching. On the other hand, I'm glad that I watched because I learned what all the kata looks like.

I talked to my Sensei about him. Sensei said that Chinen doesn't like to correct his students. He demonstrates how bad they are and that exaggerates how good he is because only he is doing the technique correctly. Therefore, we grovel and worship at his feet because he’s a good Sensei and we’re bad students. Sensei Chinen didn’t explain anything. He didn’t explain how a technique in a kata would apply in a real world situation. After nine months of training, I still didn’t know how to protect myself even though he said that he taught self defense. Sensei Chinen didn’t explain and teach me all the fine details of Saifa. He just expected me to copy his movements and don’t ask any questions. That’s not a good way to learn because one learns more if he or she can ask questions.

I wonder if Sensei Chinen is going to say anything to me when he sees me. If he does, I would like to tell him that he taught me Gekisai Dai Ichi and Gekisai Dai Ni all wrong. LOL. I know he didn’t teach wrong because it’s his own style; however, he says that’s how his teachers before him taught them. I don’t believe him because even his own students say that he changes kata over time.