Needing advice!!!

[unknownstyle]

Need opinions on if the situation continues. i am a Shodan in Shorin Ryu and have recently started Uechi Ryu. my Sensei has told me how wonderful my technique is and that i will skip ranks and most likely be a Shodan in Uechi in about a year and a half. while this makes me happy some things i have picked up on don't. firstly the last couple of classes when he has demonstrated something a lot of the times he is having me be his uke instead of the senior student. second a few classes ago he corrected a the senior student for saying onegai gozimasu(please teach me) when bowing to me. When correcting him he said "you don't say that to a junior, for now he is a junior tp you." My concern is that if my Sensei continues with things like that it will not make me popular with some of the upper ranking students. if they domt. like me i want it to be for me not the way it seems like I'm being favored. if this continues what should i do? Keep my mouth closed or tell my Sensei it makes me uncomfortable to be put in that position.

[Nidan Melbourne]

honestly I think you might want to mention it to your sensei.

Also it is saying something about your skill level. I understand why he said to that senior student not to ask you to teach him since you were his junior for the time being. But if I were you i would have been humbled a little bit if a senior student asked me to teach them something.

Jealousy can become a factor for those students if they aren't willing to admit that you are a skilled student.

I know for a fact that roundhouse kicks (to the head and reverse roundhouse) are my weakest and i'm a nidan. So when my sensei picks a lower ranked student to demonstrate one of those kicks i'm cool with it because i know they are my weakest kicks.

[Wastelander]

I'm a fan of communication whenever possible. I would talk to him and explain that you'd like to keep a low profile, for now.

[unknownstyle]

Should i wait awhile longer to see if I'm just reading too much into it? I was a senior student of my Shorin teacher and i just don't wanna take anything away from these guys. i try hard to make sure that i ask them questions so that they know i respect that they are my seniors, and if i do lend my opinion to anything i make sure to say that's just how i was taught previously and try to be open minded.

[ps1]

I'm a fan of communication whenever possible. I would talk to him and explain that you'd like to keep a low profile, for now.

I agree with Wastelander on this! Perhaps even add that it's because you don't want people that don't understand the situation to resent you.

Bottom line is you need to feel comfortable. If the Sensei is using you like a senior student, then correcting people that treat you like one, it sends a mixed message. That's not your fault, but I can see where the difficulty is.

[cheesefrysamurai]

Unless I misinterpret the situation it sounds like:

Just because your time in rank is being accelerated, and there seems to be writing on the wall, doesn't mean that he wants to treat you like someone who is 18 months from shodan. I am not sure I blame him. It breaks the structure, though as he acknowledged, it's a temporary restriction. You are easing Into the new school, learning their ways. It's only a matter of time.

Besides he knows you know the technique and maybe wants you to see how he teaches it so you can teach his lessons.

I would hope the other students would trust the instructors discretion in speeding up your time in grade. I know for sure, that I would assume my instructor had a good reason, that obviously that person proved something.

I say, relax, learn, enjoy learning the art, compare the arts. You are in a different category then the other students and your instructor is wise enough to see it.

As said before, instructors often call people that they are comfortable havig as an uki. Try not to read Into things.

He is your guide on his journey.

Good luck

[jaypo]

I went thru sort of the same thing with I started with my current club. I had trained years before in Shotokan, and when I started at my current club, I began with my white belt. Since my new Sensei's style wasn't JKA Shotokan, I was new to his system. Therefore, I preferred to work from the beginning. However, many of the students in class had no prior training before joining his club, so as soon as I got the rust off, I was actually showing more skill than those that were a lesser rank than I was as a Shotokan student. I remember one of the ladies telling another one in a sarcastic tone "he's not a white belt!".

I am a very humble individual, so I preferred to keep a low profile. That is why I refused to wear my purple belt from Shotokan and chose to work as a white belt until I was able to test up to the appropriate level. I asked for a lot of help from the students there for 2 reasons- to help me learn the way of this club, and to make them more at ease with me as a student! I didn't want them to feel like I was the cocky guy coming in to show everybody how to do things. I wanted them to understand that I didn't put myself above anyone else in that class. And it worked out pretty well.

There's nothing you can do about the jealousy of others except to communicate with them your true intentions and reassure them that you're not there to step on any toes.

[Zaine]

I agree with Wastelander. You should talk to the Sensei and I would even go as far as to bring it up to the senior students when you feel more comfortable to them. You're there to learn just as much as they are.

[mazzybear]

I would work through it for a while, it may be he just uses all the students at one point or another, I know that's how my instructor does it, it's not just senior students who get up. I'm only 4th Kyu and he uses me a lot (sometimes I think it's just because he enjoys hitting me! ) ask the other students if it bothers them, they may not even realise.

M.

[Kusotare]

second a few classes ago he corrected a the senior student for saying onegai gozimasu(please teach me) when bowing to me. When correcting him he said "you don't say that to a junior, for now he is a junior tp you."

Do you mean "Onegaishimasu" here?

If so, this term doesn't really mean "can you teach me" - it's doesn't translate literally but in a dojo context it sort of means "please look favourably upon me!".

It is most correct - when practicing paired kata (or even informal paired training) to start proceedings with both players saying "onegaishimasu" - irrespective of rank or position.

It's a mark of respect (and to certain extent gentlemanly caution) toward one and other!

Just thought I'd throw that in.

K.