Malcontents in Karate…they are everywhere! Don’t be one!!

I have been around Karate for a long time now, almost as long as I have been alive, and I have seen all kinds of people who take up Karate….train hard for 4-10 years and then leave…some stick about a bit longer and make a bit more of a ruckes but the majority of students only dip their toes in for a few years and leave because of family, work, school, change of location or other life things that come up.

Most students come in and train every class, bow and scrape and lose themselves in the etiquette of training. They never dream of having a leadership roll in the whole thing and they are very happy to not have this burden on them. They show up, train and work hard in class, change and zip home to their families never to have to worry about the club or the organizations till the next time they show up for class.

The truth is most of these students are having way more fun than those in the leadership are having on a daily basis. They don’t have to worry about rent (of the club), membership, paperwork or anything that we have to worry about. Now I am not complaining, I do what I do so that I have a Dojo to go to and train at and to be honest I kind of like the interaction that it gives me on a daily basis with my instructor and other students…but its a lot of work, and other administrators will tell you the same thing.

I am a bit of an odd ball in that I have been the longest running administrator in our organization, going on a decade and a half of doing paperwork and running the “behind the scenes stuff” for my instructor and I will continue to do this till he retires…or I die of stress! I am also a instructor and teach way more than I get to train, and again it’s an honor to do so, but I really feel I get a different kind of feeling when I do get to just train, like when our National instructor comes out and I can just shut up and train…pure JOY!

One of the things I pride myself on is having the mindset that while my instructor is alive the training and hard work is for him. I really respect all he has done for me and will keep on working for him till the day he stops training…and even then I will work for him. My mind set when he is done working with the organization by teaching is that the clubs and organization will MORPH into a “by the students…for the students” mentality and we will all work together to promote an organization that really tries to bring Karate to the students and not for an instructor or individual but for all of us.

I can count on my hand the number of people that I think will be or are the same minded in our organization. Most will say they are, but once the rank catches up to them they seem to want a piece of the pie to take home….and most don’t want to work anymore…they want others to work for them! And that does not “work” for me! When you take up Karate you have to do two things…give into the fact that someone else is running your work outs and “In charge” of you while you are training, which includes not being a parent to your kids while you train…just being a student, and the second thing you need to do is become a member of the organization and take pride in your participation in that organization.

I think that you simply need to review the same things when you get a black belt or higher ranking. You are now there for OTHERS and you are there to SERVE as a senior of the organization, be it as a fund raising member, an administrator or assisting and administrator, planning things with others or simply helping an instructor out. Granted most instructors take an income from teaching (trust me they are not fortune 500 members because they run a club) and they have the right to tell you what to do…but it’s more of a burden than special prize in some ways.

Again, most students will enjoy training and will not transition to the other side of the coin, and if they do…sometimes it’s the reason they leave. The burden of doing what other people SHOULD be doing is just to great and they get resentful that they have more work to do at the end of the day than the instructor seems to. And that’s true, which is why I tend to a lot small portions to people so the “company” we run is not done by any “one person”. Most of the students in our group don’t want to have all the power and praise, and when they do get praised they are embarrassed and kind of shy away from it.



There is a second kind of “student of the art”! They come in and buddy up with the instructors and seek to be “besties” with the “top brass” in a Dojo. They kiss butt so much I think they should be kissing babies and running for office!....They do know instructors are trained and developed…not elected right? They train for a few years, growing closer to the instructors and seniors and even take on tasks that they can handle that will be “lime light” kind of positions, like running tournaments or organizing events that they can speak at, and they speak at EVERYTHING! They try and become the face of Karate for their Dojo or even organization by being THE PERSON to talk at every event!

Shortly after they get their black belt things begin to change a bit however! They are still the face of the Dojo/Organization but now they begin to take ownership of things when talking. No longer is it the “thanks you Sensei for all you do for us, and we are just humble students” to “well its been a tough year, but with your help WE have accomplished a lot” and the changes begin to show in the Dojo to as a “Assistant” instructor is a “co instructor” or someone that taught sporadically begins to act like they were the “other instructor” all along.

I know of one guy that joined up in a Dojo I was a member of who tried to take over completely and then left when the instructor asserted himself. The guy joined as a white belt and knew the instructor fairly well, he was loud and very extroverted and began slowly moving up the ranks as he started to take on some jobs around the Dojo here and there, slowly working his way up to brown belt and taking on a role as a administrator from the instructor. Then he got his black belt and the real issues began to occur. His attitude changed from “let me help you because I have spare time” to “ I am going to help but I run this show” and his attitude spread to the down town club. I left the club he was at but we all saw his attitude and issues as he showed up high and mighty to train at the headquarters like he was more important than others.

Eventually the issues of personality got out of hand and the instructor had to let him go from the club. It was nasty and the guy made big issues for that instructor as he felt he was part owner of the club. It was a horror show, and when the guy was finally kicked out he made a big stink and tried to drag “His students” with him and when that did not work he walked away in a huff and quit Karate.



Another guy I know of, whom I only trained with once, Worked out at a Canadian Dojo and traveled to Japan. He trained for a long time and worked very hard in the instructor class, but before he graduated he was given the boot for fighting with a instructor in the Dojo…a real fight from what I was told. Anyways he was 1 or 2 weeks out from graduation and a lot of people saw his 2 years of dedicated training and helping others as a sign that he had kinda graduated anyways. Truth is he is now very bitter because he has moved on and started his own club and organization…hell his own style of Shotokan that he teaches.

Now the guy is smart, and his Karate is good , so I am not going to bash him for that…but his teaching stinks because he is a malcontent! His classes that he taught us was a “Bash Canadians almost as bad as I want to Bash the Japanese” kind of event. The whole thing was “…IN Japan we would…..”kind of living in the past crap that does not help me right now. Or “those Japanse….(add bash)” and did not again help me at all when I was standing in front of him.

I went on his blog once, as I do read a lot of other peoples blogs, and their he was….and one of his new students…complaining that he was not on the main web site of the group HE USED TO BELONG TO! Why in the world would they include his name on the web site and give this sour soul free marketing? You don’t advertise for your former employees as past employees…especially when you essentially fired them! He is just bitter that all his hard work was compromised by a momentary choice to be a D-Bag!



A third Malcontent that I know of is a really sad story! Really sad actually, the guy was a artist and also a school teacher, and while his form of art was not my thing, he was relatively known in the indy scene as far as I was told. Anyways, before he went into education he took up Karate and started off in the organization. My instructor used to advertise for him and sent people to support his art whenever he was told the guy had a function. He even did his stuff at our camps to promote his skills and was encouraged by my instructor to do so.

So, he goes to school for an education degree and even though he is an adult, my instructor lets him pay the student rate, that is intended for young adults who are in school after high school as a continuation of the youth rate. He gets a HELL of a deal on classes and graduates from university, gets a job and is making good money…and still paying the old rate. I have a memo in my pay book at one time when I was doing the payments that he was to pay the regular amount, and when he did pay…he paid the student rate again. But I lost touch with this as I no longer collected money for my instructor and a year or so go by.

He was asked to teach a few classes when my 70 year old instructor was having car troubles and a few times when he was sick. Now the student was now a JKA Black belt and capable of leading classes, even if his understanding of Karate was still fairly new and he was not skilled in teaching Karate.

This went on for a few years while the little club my instructor taught at slowly lost members. My instructors main club was growing and developing and the smaller group was seen as barely paying the rent in the spot he was in and we were intending on closing it for a year or so. Finally the administrator came to me and said that this student had not paid his dues in months and they were getting either no communications with him or push back from him and at the end of the day we closed the small club as we intended to and move any student that wanted to train to the new club.

I found out he was training with another one of our clubs by accident when I showed up to teach and he was on the floor. He was not paying his instructor for the monthly dues but he was training for free with another instructor telling him he was in good standing….basically lying to the other instructor. After my instructor asked me to bridge this issue because he was not getting anywhere with the communications he was trying to establish I was told by the student he felt slighted by the whole situation and was upset.

And here is where he became a malcontent! After approaching him and watching him become very angry about the deal that my instructor was trying to cut with him to get him on the good books again (basically excusing all former payments and asking for only three months’ worth of payments) he went off on a tirade about how he taught for months and months for my instructor and was never paid for it his time…..which was a lie as I taught a handful of times and did all the scheduling for my instructor, he taught a handful of times only! Then he went off on how he should have been paid for his time…..No one gets paid to help out in the club, if anything they get a break on dues…which he had been basically steeling for several years by not paying and adult rate!

After that he suggested that because he was a school teacher he was more qualified because of his degree to teach than others and as such should have been paid for his time….which in my mind this malcontent should have requested before accepting the gig to step in and teach the odd class for my instructor…we would have simply cancelled! I was in shock and I did not even know what to say, so I passed on his issues to my instructor who was VERY upset about the whole thing. Not because the student was acting like a self-important horses ASS but because he put so much time in to this guy and that is what you get at the end of the day. He was also sad that this guy turned out like this as he liked the guy and did a lot of one on one classes with him when class time was small and instead of feeling in Senseis debt…he felt like he was owed something.

After all of this this embarrassment of a student even went the length of emailing several people and giving “his side” of the story or rather saying “yah, I was slighted by them and left as I was insulted” with no information given and just assertions he was owed something or hurt in some way. The grown up thing to do was not stamp your feet and try the pity party approach, but to man up and have a friggin’ meeting with the instructor to work things out. But instead he will spew his issues with whomever listens…the sad thing is my instructor would still take him back and work with him to help him in Karate and probably would still entertain the forgive and forget attitude!



My instructor has brought a lot of Black Belts up through the ranks and has piloted their higher belt rankings as well. He has trained people that hold fifth and sixth Dans ….but not in our organization. It seems that at Shodan there is a issue that comes up with students about entitlement and authority and then it happens again at Sandan/Yondan were people forget they are still students and start thinking of themselves as INSTRUCTORS only. They forget that they have a job to do in the organization and those working WITH them need to be recognized for the hard work they do and not focus so much on “what I did back in 1982” or whatever!

Having been around since the early 80’s…well late 70’s really, I have see a big group of students start Karate…train and then leave trying to find greener pastures were they can rule the roost! Or get “evicted” from the island for acting like an ass! The thing is they are not bad people….they just don’t get it! We are here to promote Karate not ourselves! We are here to push our students, peer and even our instructors to be better! Not to self-promote, feel entitled to a chunk of the organization and try to dance our way into the lime light as often as we can! Far too often in the past I have seen instructors that leave and take students with them and blame the organization when in fact it was their own fault for not being members of the group anymore. We are all human and we all want to be important, but the truth is our votes often don’t count! But it’s the act of making your point and then sticking with the consensus that makes us a stronger group! I may not agree with you on a particular situation and my ideas for a better outcome, but I am willing to state my case and then listen to yours, we all vote and then whatever happens happens! Leaving to get a better power grip on the situation does not help anyone. And then complaining about it just shows your weakness of conviction to Karate.



I tend to turn most of my issues in Karate to the Niju and Dojo Kun. If I have a political issue or if I have a issue with a student or instructor I look to the tenants laid down by much more wise men than me! The five tenants of the Dojo kun teach us how to behave and form our character in Karate. Like the anvil and hammer of Karate training we forge our characters and if used properly the Dojo Kun can help us avoid the issues we see with students.

“Seek perfection of character” is a major part of avoiding the pit falls of this kind of behavior. First off if you feel that you have ownership over something make sure you are not taking away from others. If you need to own something…make it yourself! And do so with grace and class! These people that try to steel students or lie about rank and take issue with those above them “holding them down” probably need to remember that Karate is a activity to build up your physical ability as much as it is to forge your character…not a way of making money or gaining power over others.



“Be faithful” This means to your instructors, students and yourself. Trying to wrestle the club away from others, charging your instructor for teaching the odd class for him or helping to run events. The whole point of being a group in Karate is allowing us to work as a unit to provide options for training, for the students, instructors and our peers in Karate. Its about being loyal to each other and not leaving because you are going to throw a hissy fit and take your ball and go play by yourself!



“Endeavor to excel” When you stop being a student its time to walk away! Even my instructor watches me teach and tries to figure out what life experiences I can bring to the table that he may not have had. Its about pushing yourself to learn and not asking for much in return other than loyalty and equal amounts of hard work.



“Respect others” BIG one here. If you don’t agree with something we say or if your vote is shot down, don’t just leave…and If you do leave respect the past work that was done for you and the work you did. By acting high and mighty and entitled you spit on the work that was don’t to get you to where you are! Respecting someone does not mean you stay with them forever, you are just mature enough to not bad mouth them and to not make public pity parties part of who you are.



“Refrain from violent behavior” , To me acting like an arse and trying to steel students or sour others training experience is violent non-physical actions to prove a point that does not need to be proven. Your time should be spend learning and experiencing, not plotting and trying to get ahead!



To end this not so brief rant….I know of a lot of students that train for the right reasons and represent the true spirit of Karate, but others just don’t get it. They make themselves bitter by acting inappropriately in their Karate training and Karate dealings. And they sour the true spirit of Karate in doing so. Be happy in your training or move along quickly to something that does make you happy. Live in the moment in the Dojo and make every practice a experience separate from others and be the kind of student that honors the instructor in their actions.