29 May 2012

Thinking about Deshi

Defining Deshi
According to Wikipedia, deshi () means either “pupil; apprentice” or “disciple” (弟子, 2010). Further research on Wikipedia reveals two types of deshi, the uchideshi and the sotodeshi (Uchi-deshi, 2012). An uchideshi “usually live[s] in the dojo” and “serves the teacher all day, every day.” A sotodeshi is a student who lives outside the dojo.

Looking at those Definitions

The first definition, that of being a pupil or apprentice, is much more in line with a standard western philosophy of a student-teacher relationship. Most westerners can accept being a pupil, after all, they’ve grown up with being a pupil through their formal education. Apprenticeships, and those who have been apprentices, are harder to find than ever before. The Star Wars fans out there might find it interesting to note that the Master-Apprentice relationship, especially the Padawan concept, of the Jedi and Sith orders are much more akin to this definition of apprenticeship than the one normally associated by non-Star Wars fans.
Disciple is a touchy subject for Christians. Christians look at Jesus of Nazareth’s closest followers as his disciples doing his work for his purposes. Confusion abounds when the religious cannot separate this connotation of disciple from the definition, again provided by Wikipedia, of “[a] person who learns from another, especially one who then teaches others” (Disicple, 2012). I prefer to leave my religious views at the door and adhere to the literal definition of disciple rather than the Judeo-Christian connotation for these purposes.

How I Look at the Deshi Concept

The average student will never become deshi. There really is no reason to have a bunch of these apprentices nor could a single sensei do justice to the training of a lot of deshi. With that said, deshi are essential to the continuation of a school. Without deshi a school fades and withers when the founder departs for whatever reason. Deshi are the continuous consciousness of the dojo remembering and passing on the culture developed.
Cultivating deshi from a promising batch of students is impossible, in my opinion. Through the dojo’s doors will pass many, many students. Some will be premiere athletes thriving in any competitive or athletic task. Others will thrive on learning their techniques or self-defense. Some may learn how to teach and pass techniques to the newer students with exceptional transference skills.
Unfortunately, deshi are not like any of these. Deshi self-select. They may show little promise at any of the skills of the athlete, the scholar, or the teacher. Instead of promise they show a constant drive, desire, and dedication to not just the art but the sensei. That drive, desire, and dedication to the sensei is not a cult of personality, but a steadfast belief in what the sensei offers. The deshi follows not because the sensei leads, but because the guides.
Deshi have a most unpalatable road. Through their learning they will undergo many arduous challenges. Some of those challenges may cause the athlete nary a moment of concern but strike fear into the deshi but the deshi continues. While the technician learns the outward form of a technique, the deshi becomes one with the technique through time. Where the teacher demonstrates, the deshi embodies. The athlete, technician, and teacher are all separate but the deshi becomes all of these and more.
Over time a deshi will become the embodiment of the dojo or perhaps take on the task of growing a branch of the original dojo. Unfortunately, for the sensei, finding the deshi is a task that, like everything else in martial arts, requires patience, care, and understanding.

What do you think?

These are definitely not judo-as-sport beliefs. Keeping that in mind, what do you think about the usefulness of deshi?

Bibliography

弟子. (2010, November 2). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/弟子
Disicple. (2012, January 12). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disciple
Uchi-deshi. (2012, April 9). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchi-deshi
Augé, P. (n.d.). Becoming an Uchideshi, or How to Train Seriously in Japan. Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Aikido Journal: http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=1
Reafsnyder, L. (n.d.). Deshi. Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Koryu Budo — the Online Journal of the Itten Dojo: http://www.ittendojo.org/articles/phil-5.htm



No comments: