Pulling rank or Pulling your weight

If you have to pull rank to get your way, maybe your way isn't all that great.  If the only leg you have to stand on is the fact that you are the Master / Sensei / Sifu / whatever, then maybe you should reevaluate your position.

Leadership should make sense, and rules should have some basis in logic.  Instructors who run their academies by brute force are the lowest type of fake leaders I know.  Insisting on being obeyed, regardless of the validity of one's position, shows weakness rather than strength.

Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee 2011

I am blessed to be part of the Jhoon Rhee International organization.  Every year I am amazed by the example that is set by Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee.  Quite honestly, it's hard to live up to.

No, you may not call me that

When I was a kid, I only knew grown-ups by their last names, unless they were family and therefore had a title, like Aunt or Uncle.  It was always very clear who was in charge and who wasn't.  At my daughter's pre-school (which is a completely awesome Montessori school!), the teachers are called "Miss Carol," "Mr. Dave," etc.  I find that is a common practice these days.

Now, since I adore my daughter's school, I am not going to question the reasoning behind their titles.  It's their system and I follow their rules without hesitation (such a good doobie, I know).

In martial arts academies, however, I believe there should be a different kind of verbal connection.  There is a need for some distance between the instructors and the students.  And truthfully, the difficulty is not with the children in the classes, it's with the adults.

'Scuse me... I was talking to the other one

What do YOU think?

Just a brief thought... let people answer for themselves.  I met a couple yesterday and the wife kept telling me what the husband wanted.  He was standing right there!  I would ask him a question and the answer would pop right out of her mouth.  (sheesh)  I see this sometimes with parents and their children, and even with siblings, but not so much between grown people.  What IS that? The funny thing was that the wife wanted their kids to enroll because they won't stand up for themselves.  Hmm.  


When siblings do that to each other, it's usually a simple thing to make a joke about who's old enough to speak and who isn't, then to ask the answer-bot if her sibling could answer for herself.  Everyone giggles

Ending a friendship ... Firing a student

I was a bit socially awkward as a kid, and when I got invited to hang out with a b-list cool kid one summer, I couldn't believe my luck.  Mom took me shopping for a new bathing suit and sent me off for some fun.  It was a great bathing suit... turquoise and pink one-piece, with a flattering cut for my tentative 'tween figure.

As we were getting ready to go to the pool, my social-ticket friend saw that bathing suit and said, "Hey, why don't we trade suits... I'll wear yours and you can wear mine."  Now, let's not even think about the hygiene issues, because there weren't any in those days.  Just focus on the dilemma: brand new bathing suit ... potentially important friend.