Invisibility Training

There's always a challenge striking a balance between responsibility and fun when it comes to dojo life. Especially when your school plays host to several high ranking guests.

The presence of high ranking guests means that as a dojo you need to tend to your guests to ensure they enjoy themselves. This shows respect towards your guests and helps demonstrate how effective and thorough your Sensei has trained you. Lack of attention to your guests, in the correct way ... makes your Sensei look bad. When done correctly -- it builds respect for your Sensei and for your school.

When I speak of tending to guests -- I don't mean in an overbearing, obvious manner. In fact, you should be invisible.  Like a ghost.

If a water bottle goes empty while sitting in front of a guest, as soon as the guest turns their head, the empty bottle gets replaced with a cold, filled bottle. When the guest turns back, they should not have perceived your presence -- and should be pleasantly surprised that a cold full bottle has replaced their empty one. Tending to guests requires, close, constant attention with a sensitivity to protocol. Not an easy task.

Tending to higher ranks is usually reserved for higher ranking students in the dojo. In some schools, no one beneath a Nidan is allowed to even poor beverages for high ranking instructors.  Being invisible requires paying attention to small intricacies of timing and protocol so that the head instructor is able to play host to special invited guests. Invisible, complete catering to guests allows them to relax. Once guests relax, teaching begins and stories flow.

Invisibly tending to high ranks and special guests involves a myriad of things -- from making sure there are no distractions, to ensuring that any surrounding sounds are not competing with normal conversation levels, to ensuring that what ever the guest requires or wants is at their finger tips before they even think to ask for it. This level of sensitivity is not just for the guest's enjoyment. It is part of the training. To learn how to be highly attuned and read others in the correct way -- helps develop acute sensitivity and discipline in the martial arts.

A problem occurs when lower ranks that should be watching and paying attention to how these acute, invisible activities are performed -- aren't paying attention. Many make the mistake of not watching closely enough. When things run smoothly, sometimes others don't realize it's a training situation. Then no transmission occurs.

However, in these situations the lower ranking students also have responsibilities:
1. Watch and learn how the higher ranking students tend to guests
2. Allow the higher ranking students to perform their duties of acute tending. In order to do that, lower ranks should take care of other, more obvious tasks so that the higher ranking students can focus their attention on serving higher ranks. In a party situation, lower ranks can do this by clearing plates, changing out trash bags, keeping noise levels down changing out and refilling food as necessary, etc. Lower ranks should not wait to be told these things -- because that would require the higher ranking students to break their attention on the higher ranking guests in order to provide direction. Thus begins invisibility training.

The presence of high ranking guests -- changes everything. It's tough in a party situation. Lower ranking, and sometimes higher ranking students of the school see a party and forget that it's not really a party. Not for them anyway. The presence of guests from outside the dojo turns any event into a presentation of the school and needs to be managed accordingly.