Is responsibility of the teacher to teach the (ora at least what he believes is) meaning of the Kata or is part of the student's journey to discover it? And what if out of the context in which the Kara was created (and in this case we are many centuries and several miles out of the original environment) our explanation of the meaning of the movement is really wrong? What do you think Sensei?
I believe that it is the responsibility of the teacher to give the student all the necessary tools so he can learn both the practice and the meaning of the kata. Another responsibility, or perhaps it is better to say foresight, of the teacher is to give the essential information according to the level of preparation of the student: it is useless and counterproductive to give too many indications at the same time, not to hide something but to allow the pupil to learn gradually and to the fullest. When the student has reached a certain degree of self-awareness he will be able to continue his journey alone. One thing that the student must do is ask for clarifications, always in the proper ways and times. If the teacher does not have an answer, he must have the intellectual honesty to say it, and make sure to look for the requested information in turn. In this way, both the teacher and the student grow and make the dojo grow too.
The second question deserves an in-depth answer and a specific post that I will publish next week!
Is responsibility of the teacher to teach the (ora at least what he believes is) meaning of the Kata or is part of the student's journey to discover it? And what if out of the context in which the Kara was created (and in this case we are many centuries and several miles out of the original environment) our explanation of the meaning of the movement is really wrong? What do you think Sensei?
Thank you for your insightful questions!
I believe that it is the responsibility of the teacher to give the student all the necessary tools so he can learn both the practice and the meaning of the kata. Another responsibility, or perhaps it is better to say foresight, of the teacher is to give the essential information according to the level of preparation of the student: it is useless and counterproductive to give too many indications at the same time, not to hide something but to allow the pupil to learn gradually and to the fullest. When the student has reached a certain degree of self-awareness he will be able to continue his journey alone. One thing that the student must do is ask for clarifications, always in the proper ways and times. If the teacher does not have an answer, he must have the intellectual honesty to say it, and make sure to look for the requested information in turn. In this way, both the teacher and the student grow and make the dojo grow too.
The second question deserves an in-depth answer and a specific post that I will publish next week!
Thanks for the answer. I'm looking forward to your next post then!