Stewardship For The MA!!

[sensei8]

Are there Stewardships for the MA? Do they exist?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "Steward" as...

"One actively concerned with the directions of the affairs of an organization."

From said definition, do we, the practitioners of said style of the MA, have the right to be "concerned with the directions of the affairs" of the Hombu and the like? Can't the governing body take care of it's own affairs?

Our Hombu conducts more open-door meetings than closed. Private affairs, often don't concern with the student body, hence, private, in closed door meetings!! Our open-door policy covers a wide plethora of topics, and we've a network of means to keep our student body highly informed as to the Hombu's daily concerns. No one is left in the dark, so to speak.

Our Hombu is accountable to it's student body at all times!! As a MA, I'm accountable to myself, first, then to the governing body afterwards.

My own MA betterment is of my concern, therefore, I'm a steward in the directions of my MA betterment. In that, I must conduct myself accordingly so that I'm an honorable representative of my Hombu as well as Shindokan.

Your thoughts, please!!

[cheesefrysamurai]

IMHO yes of course I think as members we have the right to be concerned. After all our eggs are in their basket so to speak.

Whether or not it's proper to voice your opinion or if it will make any difference if you do is completely different.

[bushido_man96]

I think it depends on your rank and time in the organization. A new white belt coming in wouldn't really have a right to tell me which direction he thinks my school or organization should be headed. Those kinds of opinions should only come to the fore after some time in, and seeing how things are done and why.

I think this is why we have seen the splits that we have in the Martial Arts world. After spending years training, we all start to see some of ideas as to how we would do things differently, and what our own approach would be to training and philosophy. Therefore, when one gets to the point that we ask for something to change, or go our own way, we tend to go our own way.

I don't think this is a bad thing, either. We all have our opinions and thoughts on how things should be done, and as we mature to the point to put ourselves into a position to accomplish our goals, these things will naturally happen.