The Keichu dojo

Sensei Linda McCoy expressed so eloquently the relationship between student and teacher in a Keichu dojo. Here are some excerpts:

This is not just another karate school. This is a dojo, a place for learning the way. The Way of Keichu has evolved through the years, and is always evolving...At first some things you will learn might seem meaningless or even silly; but if you do your best to learn them anyway, then the understanding will follow. You will learn to take pride in your dojo and in what it will come to mean to you. You will change...

This is not just another karate school. This is my heart I share with you. You have come to me because you want to learn what I can teach you. By allowing you to become part of my dojo, I have accepted the responsibility of teaching you what you need to know. By becoming part of my dojo, you are accepting responsibility to learn what I have to teach, and I have a lot more to teach than just [how to] kick and punch.... I am here to share with you my way of life; there is no way you can buy that.

This is not just another karate school. This is not just a class, it's a family. ... This dojo is a household, and is related to other households with whom we share the family name of Keichu, and a common way of life.

This is not just another karate school. This is a Keichu-Do dojo. Keichu means "devoting oneself entirely", not to your sensei or your dojo, but to the way of life we share. Devoting yourself entirely will mean doing your best at everything, all the time ♠ at school, at work, at home, in the dojo ♠ so that you can become the person you want to be.

Being involved in Keichu-Do is, I believe, an extremely valuable use of one's time. However, like anything else, the effort one puts forth and the commitment one makes determines how much benefit that person receives. Those who come to "try out" a class for a week or so may leave thinking that there wasn't a whole lot to be gained from training. However, they have not invested enough time and effort to make a fully informed decision about the benfits of Keichu. It took many of us years of training before we began to appreciate all that we were being taught.

Someone once likened the study of martial arts to an onion. At first, you may think you know a lot about the onion, as you view it from the outside. However, as you continue on your study of the martial arts, more and more layers are revealed, layers that were completely obscured previously. And so it is with the martial arts. Some never see past the punching and kicking to all the rich layers of what there is to learn from the martial arts.

Stick around. The best is yet to come.