I’ll tell you what the point is!
This is my understanding of the reason why there’s a hierarchy in traditional kung fu schools. Let’s look at the basic model from top to bottom:
Sifu, dai see hing, see hing, welp.
Ideally the sifu would only teach the dai see hing and the dai see hing teach the see hing. This system is put into place so that the older, more experienced, guide the younger at differing levels of development. Technically you are always younger and there is always an older unless the sifu’s teacher is dead or too far away.
My sifu told me that if I needed to correct another instructor that I make sure not to do this in front of the younger students. He didn’t explain why which is also the way of tradition. Sifu says. Know what I’m saying? Anyway. I was in a seminar once. There was a main teacher and two helpers. The main dude asked one of the helpers to demonstrate in front of the whole class and while she was doing this the main dude blurted out, “No, no. You’re doing it all wrong. I guess I’m going to have to step in.” I felt really bad for the chick and thought the main dude was a d!ck. The rest of the class, based on that incident, thought that the helper chick was a moron and wasn’t worth listening to. These older brother traditions are put into place to teach people MANNERS because let’s face it…America is short on such things. I’ve seen brand new students start spouting off their fighting philosophies or show what they would do in a situation though it had nothing to do with what was happening in the class. Older new students tend to be like this which is why educators in martial art schools and other schools don’t like to teach grown ups. They are cranky, convinced they know the subject already or better, and don’t like to be told what to do. You know what? Fuk older new students. Fuk you really hard! LOL. Seriously though, why are you older new students like this?
In my own school I’ve seen instructors get into open arguments about forms and even correct each other in front of new students. This needs to be remedied in traditional schools if students are going to take the instructors seriously. Here comes my, “I don’t” rant. I don’t believe that arrogance is the best way to go about this though. I don’t believe that new students should be made to feel like they owe something to teachers or older students. I don’t believe that a system of making students feel like they’re a tadpole is helpful unless a cranky older student needs to be taught his place.
In the martial arts school there should be a general respect that is to be echoed in the real world. When you meet someone you smile, look into their eyes, and shake his or her hand. You shake with a firm grip and not that soft crap like girls shake. Or you say hi to the whole class in a respectful way if the class is really full. This is the kind of respect that should be cultivated in a martial arts school and in any relationship. What I’ve experienced(not necessarily in my own school) is that the olders expected a military like respect from the youngers. “I say, you do!” kind of mentality. I’ve seen instructors berate students for not practicing after a “touching hands” session when the reality could’ve been that the newer student was being respectful to his senior and not trying his hardest. In this kind of a situation it seems the traditional hierarchy is used to make newer students feel lowly, cow tow, and then not try as hard when touching hands with older students. This is a disrespectful way of being and a bad way of mentally conditioning students.
Perhaps this way of utilizing the hierarchy was to protect against disrepectful students. That’s definitely tangible because there are people out there that can and will act like d!ks in the school purposely trying to embarrass someone. Students like this should be weeded out in their first few months. These students and seniors do not make for a good learning environment.
Does this hierarchy system get abused or used to cultivate manners and respect in all of your schools?
