November 2018 – The Respect Issue

The kanji symbol for Sonkei (Respect) comes in two parts:  (Son = respect of value, Kei = respect or honor).

The western definition, as provided by the Oxford English dictionary, is “To have regard or relation to or connection with something.”  But at the 16^th variant, comes the definition “A deferential regard or esteem shown toward a person or thing."

Shakespeare’s King Henry the Fourth understands the downside of respecting "up" when he laments that his poor condition has lost him this deferential type of respect that he was accustomed to:

But be sure, I will henceforth rather be myself,

Mighty, and to be fear’d, than my condition,

Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down

And therefore lost that title of respect,

Which the proud soul ne’er pays but to the proud.

In feudal Japan, as in many dojo’s throughout the world today, respect often takes this 16^th variant, and is often practiced in a “one-way” manner: respect flows upward to people of authority or power.  I’ve been in many of these dojo’s. At the Hakko Ryu Hombu Dojo in Japan, I was once made to stand at attention for 55 minutes before being given permission to enter the mat.  I’ve been left in seiza, hit with a shinai while in zen kuzadashi.  One senior shihan even threw me over a row of auditorium chairs and then chastised me for leaving the deck in a disrespectful manner.

Jefferson and the Bi-directionality of Respect

What Thomas Jefferson noticed about 18^th Century English aristocracy and government (of which he was, for most of his life, a citizen), is that people of power and authority were often incompetent but that this fact was irrelevant in the fact of hereditary authority.  Jefferson saw this, the structural disregard for the well-being of the population justified by a one-directional deferential respect, as a form of tyranny.

Some respect must be had to the feelings and wishes of the minority.

-Thomas Jefferson

As a proud dojo rat, I enjoyed his obvious love of training and the friendships he collected in each location.  The individual stories were well produced and compelling.  But I most appreciated the profound respect showed to each style and its players.  He treated the young hopefuls in each gym/dojo the same way he treated the living legends.  Respect, for Frank Grillo, is bi-directional and works downward just as well as it works upward.  It seemed very genuine to me and I highly recommend binging on this series at your earliest opportunity.

The summer of 1982, Yoshitsune Dojo, Closter, New Jersey.  The Wednesday night Ju Jitsu classes taught by Shihan “Doc” Cohe were getting quite popular and some of the instructors from other classes and even other dojos began showing up.  There was one senior martial artist who taught a large Tai Kwan Do classes at the Ridgewood YMCA (I attended a few of these myself) and who was showing up consistently on Wednesday nights. He would show up an hour early, lift weights in Michael DePascuale Jr’s private weight room, jump rope for 20 or 30 minutes on the karate deck, and then rey on to the mat with the rest of us.  Sensei Richard Faustini was a senior Yondan even then, with full-contact experience in the ring.  Even so, Sensei Faustini took each of the color belt tests in order.  I know this because we took our Hakko Ryu green belts together that summer.  One difference was that I returned to my place next to the yellow belts, Sensei Faustini returned to his place next to Mickey Bradle.   But the subtext was clear: the one guy on the mat who could have skipped any steps he wished skipped no steps at all.  Such was his respect not just for the instructor, but also for the style itself.

Sensei Faustini was often late to the customary “tea” sessions at the Taaz bar downstairs from the dojo.  He would, as a courtesy, go kumite with the young black belts after class and help them with their sparring techniques.  One night, sitting at a clump of dimly lit small tables covered in red and white checked tablecloths, the topic of Sensei Faustini’s abilities came up in the conversation.  Doc, popping some pretzels into his mouth, casually said “Yeah, I’m sure he could take me.”  The table went silent, none of us having heard a master admit that one of his students could overpower him.  He shook his head and said “You have to respect what he puts into it.”

Two of the most powerful sensei’s in my knowledge taught me –through example—that respect, if done correctly, is not blindly deferential to rank, but travels easily in both directions.

And that’s the onions.

Taking falls for the student, April 2000

April, 2000: Three candidates and one shodan examination: We needed another uki.  Sensei Mike Wilson, a seasoned and experienced blackbelt, graciously offered to take my falls.  In other styles, that would be unusual if not unthinkable.  In our style, respect is shown at every level, even for the student.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. More are coming and your feedback will make them better.
Faithfully,
Sensei Scot Lynch
Yondan, Tsugiashi Do