6. Teaching (C)

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By Graham Noble

“Miyagi Sensei was very strict in his teaching,” Meitoku Yagi recalled. “His attitude was ‘Do not step on your teacher’s shadow’, and whenever he said, ‘Come’, you had to move swiftly and immediately. At that time, there was no dojo. We practised in the small space in the yard at his house. Sensei maintained very strict, stern and intense teaching methods. His eyes were scary. The students were too afraid of him to say anything. Sensei created the atmosphere that the students could not lie about anything. Sensei made the students sit on their heels (seiza). Perhaps, other teachers would allow them to sit comfortably, but not Miyagi Sensei. His students had to sit on the heels for an hour or two. When it came to the actual karate practice, when he taught us how to ‘walk’ doing Sanchin, Sensei taught us how to take one step. He just demonstrated taking one step. Then, that simple practice lasted two or three months. It was very difficult for ordinary people to endure and to maintain those practices. Sensei often said, ‘Lions throw cubs down to the bottom of the cliff, they only raise the cubs who climb back up. That is my attitude toward the students. If they cannot keep up with my teaching, they can leave. I do not pursue those who leave.’

“Sensei’s training was not only physically intense but also emphasized proper manners. Students were immediately expelled when they failed to exhibit the proper manner and attitude. There were students once who were singing popular songs while walking into our class at Sensei’s garden. They were hanging a towel over their necks. Sensei noticed their behavior and said, ‘You don’t have to come to the practice any longer.’ The students said, ‘We are very sorry.’ Sensei replied, ‘No, you are not allowed to come.’ It was just as in the old saying, ‘One can figure out a whole situation with just a few clues.’ One could imagine what they would do if they were not being watched. Sensei always said, ‘When looking back, one must have nothing to hide.’ Sensei was a sensitive person as demonstrated by this incident. He expelled those students for that kind of a behaviour. That was the end of it as far as Sensei was concerned. At the same time, Sensei was a person of compassion. When we were not performing well at school or not making good grades he was concerned about us and visited our school teachers without telling us.”

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