Seen in the End

Sometimes there are people in one’s dojo or martial arts circle who like to appoint themselves “assistant teacher” or to “advertise” in one way or another how much they know. For those with a higher rank who, hopefully, are also more knowledgeable, this can be kind of irritating, especially when the person seems to be getting attention and “respect” from lower ranked practitioners. After all, none of us is free from the nagging call of an ego, and we all like to be recognized for whatever status we have legitimately earned.

Faced with such a situation, the higher ranked / more knowledgeable student may be tempted to resort to the same tactics as the “advertising assistant teacher,” and go out of his way to show others that he, in fact, is more qualified and more knowledgeable. For several reasons, that is an unwise response, and is the complete opposite of the budo dictate that one should not indulge one’s ego.

Struggling with this kind of issue myself recently, I hit upon a bit of an insight and, as I like to do, tried to sum it up in a succinct, impactful “lesson” that would be easy to remember. Because such sayings are more memorable for me when in Japanese, that is the language that I used. Anyway, here is the statement that I came up with:

見える人はいつか見えて来る。見えない人はどうでもいい。

Mieru hito wa itsuka miete kuru. Mienai hito wa dō de mo ii.

Translated, it means something like, “Those who are capable of seeing will someday come to see. Those who are incapable of seeing don’t really matter.” In other words, in the end, one’s knowledge, skills, and abilities will inevitably become apparent to anyone who matters, so there is no need to engage in ego-based self-promotion or showing off.

8 thoughts on “Seen in the End

  1. Thanks Mark. Lovely post. Indeed usually the squeaky hinge. For whatever reason MA, and especially, karate seems to attract people who are often weak inside and as such are in need of much care, not matter how good their physical prowess.

  2. Mark San

    Love the new kotowaza you’ve introduced here.

    Agree this is an issue, but maybe a natural part of the evolution of a martial artist as they progress through the pedagogical hurdles of Shu-Ha-Ri

    1. Perhaps.

      But “dojo” is not the only unit of gathering. There are also associated dojo and groups, federations, monthly training groups, etc., at least in the Japanese budo world.

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