Visiting Another School of the MA!!

[MatsuShinshii]

However, isn't there another way to show respect without the pageantry of bowing??

We're not asked to bow, we're made to bow, in which we obey as though our lives depended upon it. I'm all for the respect and all, but way to often, I see the pageantry done as though the individual being bowed to is quite near worshiping.

I use to stand before Soke and Dai-Soke in complete obedience in pure awe, as though they were Godlike in appearance and mannerism; and with just one glance, I'd melt away to nothingness. In my youth, I feared them, in which, I blindly obeyed them without question(s).

I am sure there are other ways in which you can extend your respect. And I understand what you are referring to as far as being forced as it sometimes feels that way in some schools.

We bow at the door, to the instructor and to the founders before class begins and after class ends. There is no excessive bowing (in fact none) during class. If Shinshii calls upon you to demonstrate something you do not bow and neither does he.

However we are quite informal in our approach to teaching. Some schools I have been too bow before and after every thing they do. This to me is taking it way too far.

Again I think this plays into ego or what you are referring to as the God complex. This reflects on the instructor or what they learned from their instructor. Me personally, I find no reason to bow every time you do something in class. I expect students to train not bow every time they move or transition to a new exercise. I actually get no satisfaction from my students bowing to me.

I get what you are saying. Bowing being a foreign practice it would be better suited for Americans to have their own customs. However this is an intricate part of the arts (really most arts). Not sure how you totally do away with it.

Let me know what you come up with.

[MatsuShinshii]

One poster said bowing is uncommon in Western culture. I disagree, I think it is VERY common but it is just not as deliberate or formal, more casual and subtle. How many times have you and a stranger lock eyes, while in public and each of of give that little "nod" before looking away? Where I'm from, it happens all the time. That is a bow. You're acknowledging each other and each other's space.

Well said. I never put two and two together but you're right. I do this all the time.

[italian_guy]

This issue is a simple question of mutual respect. When one is a guest in another person’s space, it should follow that one behaves according to that places rules or conventions. When these are not clear or unknown, asking about what is expected is the right thing to do.

I fully agree with this.