We're all Kancho's students
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The spirit of Kancho's karate is always with us in the dojo. |
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Recent events have made me realise that students become closely attached to the sensei who taught them, or the regional sensei who oversees their training and conducts their gradings. It's not surprising; apart from occasional regional seminars, most of us don't get to see or train with anyone more senior. Of course, Kancho and Shihan are great people, sure the Zone director in your area is an accomplished martial artist, and someone to look up to, but it's your sensei who you see week in and week out; it's your sensei who takes a personal interest in your development, and it might even be your sensei whom you socialise with.
But never forget why you started training. Did you start training to socialise with your sensei? I bet you didn't! You (or your children) started training to take advantage of the many benefits offered by GKR Karate, including self-defence, fitness, membership of a huge global karate style, and much more besides. It's great that you have a really close relationship with your sensei, and there's nothing wrong with that, but from time to time, senseis have to move on. They get promoted within GKR, or their day jobs mean that they don't have the time to teach any more, or their lives simply take them in directions away from GKR karate. This is always going to be unsettling and even upsetting for a while, just as it's sad to lose any important person in your life. However, don't let this short term upset derail you from your training with GKR. Remember the reasons why you started training, and I'll bet that in most cases, they still count just as much now as they did when you started.
Last of all, I'd just like to ask you this - where do you think your sensei, and their senseis get their instruction from? From Kancho and Shihan that's where! There's no GKR sensei in the whole world that is more than three steps away from Kancho himself, and most regional senseis train with him several times a year. So you can be sure that the training you receive is coming to you as Kancho intended. All senseis receive regular instruction, and they receive additional material on a weekly basis, to ensure that their knowledge stays right up to date. All of us are working hard to share Kancho's karate with you.
When one sensei stops teaching, another equally enthusiastic one is ready to take his or her place. They may have a different teaching style, but the karate is just as good, just as effective, just as beneficial. Senseis may regrettably have to leave occasionally, but remember, we're all Kancho's students.