When I started Judo, almost nineteen years ago, I kneeled at the end of the line, as a symbol of my novice status in the discipline. Another tradition: at the end of practice, while everyone else steps off the mat to have a nice-cold-beer, the person at the end of the line sweeps and mops the mat. One day, Sensei watched me mop the mat for a few minutes. Then, "You don't clean your house?" That's all he said. It was left for me to figure out "the way to clean." He never had to correct me again.
Often, I hear people in the Tango talk about "beginner," "intermediate," "advanced," blah blah blah, and their eagerness to climb higher and higher on whatever ladder it is that they think they are on. Before a practitioner attains black-belt (many years), he is simply a novice, or apprentice. Only after he reaches that first landmark, does he become a student. And, after he earns the fourth-level black-belt (many decades), he is honored with the title, Sensei, or, teacher.
(This is Sensei's new dojo, with a new crop of novices taking on the time-honored duty.)
2 comments:
People immediately want to be advanced. The idea of it is empowering and watching those stronger in technique execute mind-numbingly advanced feats (be it in judo, ballet, or tango) makes you want to be at that level.
The mistake that everyone makes, myself included, is that true professionals never stop learning, never stop being students. It's never about being "advanced", it's about taking in as much as possible and using it.
novice, apprentice, student. i like it.
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