誠 - Sincerity

I watched a video on Youtube (=PKLPplI5xo4) of a supposed test for Shodan for the style of Karate I trained in when I was in High School/early 20's. Having been in Japan for over 10 years and having access to legitimate masters, I was shocked, amused, and disgusted all at the same time from watching the video. What I thought was "the real deal" uber-traditional school is so far off the mark that it is laughable. It is not only that they don't know, they don't know that they don't know. Probably 95% of American martial arts studios might as well be dance studios, because they are teaching the moves without teaching the culture/thinking that gave birth to the moves. They are teaching brain surgery without teaching their students basic first aid first. The basic fundamental I see lacking is sincerity.

There are some serious, dedicated warriors in America, but the bread and butter students that pay for the "dojo's" strip-mall rent lack the level of sincerity that a typical Japanese person has. Part of this is of course cultural. Being raised in the same culture that produced the art you want to train in naturally helps one understand the core philosophies that are the real lesson of any art; courtesy, respect for others, justice, etc. However, most American "Sensei" have none of this background of understanding, which results in crap in, crap out.

Specific examples of this lack of sincerity in training/teaching include:
- The lack of precise focused techniques.
- The lack of the combat mindset in the techniques being taught, and the way the students perform them. Suzy Soccermom is basically doing martial-esque dancing 2/3 times a week thinking it is going to enable her to stop a rapist. When I started with this particular chain of studios, we were REQUIRED to choke someone out and BE CHOKED OUT for 1st(?) Brown Belt. Now, I have heard from my brother that they don't even do light contact sparring anymore, which means they are training in a striking art, but they don't actually strike anyone. I sincerely hope this works out on the street...
- The lack of the cultural customs and courtesies that even non-martial artists know, i.e. don't sit on your ass when talking to you instructor

I could go on and on, but the point is this: The true benefit of traditional martial arts ARE the TRADITIONS that they were developed in/with. Without a sincere attempt to learn, understand, and teach these, the martial arts become no more than teaching a hairless monkey how to kick and punch...insincerfe teaching and training leads to insincere people, and the world certainly has enough of those already...