asked:


Not many people know what a real Karate sensei is trying to do. Too often people enter a karate lesson, learn to bow and address the teacher as Sensei, and don’t even know what the word means. This is true not just of karate, but of other arts, such as Kenpo or Kung Fu, which have taken to using the term to indicate a martial arts instructor. To understand the word sensei, however, is to change one’s mind about what the martial arts are all about.

In Japan there is a three year sojourn for budding monks. During this time they must live by begging. They sit where people pass by and hold their cups out and silently beg.

One of the places for these monks is at crossroads. People travel by, flip a coin in the cup, and walk on. And, occasionally, people ask where a destination is.

The monk, who after a time of living in such a manner actually looks like a bum, merely holds up his arm and points down the road. Thus, he points the way, and this is what the word sensei means: ‘He who points the way.’ And this term has been taken and used by people who are guiding others through a specific method to a specific destination.

Kansieo.com