Would Ya' OR Wouldn't Ya'?

[sensei8]

Let's say that your walking somewhere, and when you suddenly come upon your Martial Arts Instructor involved in a fight.

Would you or wouldn't you immediately jump in to help your instructor?

OR

Would you or wouldn't you just stand there and watch to see if your instructor could truly take care of him/herself?

Myself, as bad as this might sound, I'd probably just stand there and watch to see if my instructor can or can't take care of him/herself if he/she absolutely had to. After all, it's my instructor and I've already a pretty good inclination that he/she can take care of him/herself, at least this is the preception that I have.

As far as I'm concerned, he/she are..."latty dotty I know karate, if you mess with me, I'll break your body!"

So, would ya' or wouldn't ya'?

[ps1]

I'd probably try to break it up. I'm certainly not going to jump in and fight, especially when I don't even know why they're fighting.

[Lupin1]

I think my instructor would be extremely mad at me if I joined in. He'd want me to run away and get help.

[tallgeese]

Jump in- immediately, with no questions asked.

I don't like the "see if he can handle himself" idea. There are too many varables in true combat that can allow even a superior fighter to be beaten. Espicially if there might be weapons involved. Mass (ie. more people) win fights. I'd be furious if one of my people let me hang in the wind. I wouldn't do it to anyone else either.

As to what it's about, if you're training with someone who would throw down on the street without unaviodable cause then you should have already questioned training with them.

[evergrey]

I would try to defend him with all my strength. He's a much much better fighter than I am, and he might be unhappy with me for putting myself at risk...

Actually I think we've discussed this a bit. I believe the compromise we came up with was that if he was in trouble or couldn't defend himself well enough, and I couldn't get help fast enough, I'd do my best to protect him. I'm not entirely sure he's happy with that, even. He's pretty protective of me.

But I also know, like tallgeese said, that he wouldn't be fighting unless he absolutely had to. I trust that if he is in a situation like that, he has no choice and is not being dishonorable, so I will stand by him.

And I am familiar with the concept of on and giri. I have an obligation of loyalty to defend him. I can never repay him for the time and knowledge he is giving me, and will continue to give me.

So yep. I'm willful and a terrible pain, and I would do my best to help him stay safe and sound, even though he'd likely chastise me for it later.

[Ashigeru]

If my sensei was in a fight and handling himself well, I would use the experience to learn. I would watch him and take new knowledge from it. I would not jump in to steal his thunder.

If he wasn't fairing well (i.e. outnumbered, weapons being used, outclassed, etc...) I would definitely jump in to help. I was trained to use what I know to help those who can't defend themselves. This would be the case in this scenario.

[evergrey]

OSU, sensei. I'll uh, take that as a hint.

[Kuma]

I'd hop in. I've already seen how he can handle himself every time we spar in the dojo.

[GeoGiant]

I'd jump in immediately!

My instructor is an older retired gentleman so if he's in a fight, something is wrong. I'm not sure my last statement reads like i intend it to read. Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe my instructor can handle himself, I've been on the receiving end! What I mean is, my instructor is low key and he preaches being the bigger the person (check your ego at the door) so if he's in a fight, he's being attacked.

I would like to think that I would help anyone that is being attacked.

[JiuJitsuNation]

I would most certainly assist if needed and other than that i'd probably just watch amused.