To me, this is about commercialism vs traditional and somewhat about good Sifu vs bad Sifu and good student vs bad student.
I never ran my Kwoon as a business. Membership fees were charged and the fee was an amount just enough to cover the rent and expenses of running a non-profit corp. There was lots of free stuff such as; Dit Da Jow was free, treatment for injuries was free, tea was free and with lion dance money I would take the dancers out for a meal. On some occasions I paid for new years dinner for students and spouses who could not afford it. For one of my senior students at the time, private lessons were free, acupuncture treatments were free, herbal treatments were free and he came over for a number of meals prepared by my wife and Simo of the Kwoon. So…my point is…kung fu martial art lessons were not charged for and neither were the other items plus more. Material taught, had to be earned by the student, in conduct, knowledge and ability. Did not charging for lessons result in a better student/person?…NO for some, YES for others and for some YES for awhile and then NO after. Some of the ‘NO’ ones will be a big NO, such as this guy, who turned a bad side and is full of unjustified anger, resentment and malice. In fact, he went retrograde (real regrettable) shortly after moving to another city and started and still does black ball me..even though he had free private lessons, meals, dit da jow, and the rest. This guy thinks he is a victim with a capitol ‘V’, when in fact he is not a victim at all. I ended up having to expel him and remove his grade. As a Sifu, in over 25 years of teaching, I have only had to remove one students black sash for behaviour unbecoming. It was not done lightly and he was given numerous chances…but in the end it had to be done…and as a Sifu not charging for lessons, but rather for expenses of running the Kwoon, I had and have every right to do so and it was a consequence of his actions. Heck, if I had done this to my Sifu, I would have received not only an expulsion but also a most serious physical lesson. Unfortunately, I could not remove the knowledge and teaching I gave this guy…unless of course he gets total amnesia. However, what I could do and had to do, was to reject him as a student and one time friend. Would I have liked for this to have turned out much differently than what transpired…of course…but what is …is. From a few other of my students who know what appreciation, consideration, loyalty and respect is, I did and do have returns (spiritual and worldly help when I need it) from them.…some of these students are old friends now and they have not changed even after 19 years, though they no longer do kung fu due to health issues. They just had and have a much different set of values and code of conduct than other students of mine, such as this guy.
Are there teachers out there who treat their students badly and unfairly…sure. Are there students who treat their teachers badly and unfairly…most assuredly.
For you honourable Sifu out there, appreciate a good student and give students a chance, but if the student is a bad apple or penny…then he is…and you have to do what needs to be done.
For you honourable students out there…appreciate a good Sifu when you find him and if not finding one…keep trying…they are out there.
In western culture, I personally believe that if you run a commercial school, based on ‘pay for every single thing’, then run it like one, without the other traditional requirements. If you operate a traditional school, where the only fee is ‘membership’, to cover operating expenses, then run it as such and students have to understand this and abide by those traditional requirements.
For students thinking it is ‘tough to be a student’, believe me it is much ‘tougher being a Sifu’. Well…as the saying goes…when the going gets tough the tough get going…all the rest go shopping.
...ask for Kam
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"Fool me once, then shame on you. Fool me twice, then shame on me"