Any dedicated student who truly appreciates what he/she is learning feels that they owe their sensei. Why? Hopefully because they understand that what they are being taught surpasses any monetary value.
Miyagi Chojun understood this very well. His instructor, Higaonna Kanryo, did not accept any kind of monetary payment for instruction. Once in a while, he would allow his student to present him with gifts of food or other non-monetary gifts, but this was not too often. The thought behind this was that paying for instruction pulls the art out of focus. Karate is not about “you pay for it, you get it.” It’s about “I accept the role of offering you unlimited life lesson in the form of combat models to which you repay me by working hard and following instructions.”
I have heard stories of Okinawan masters informing their students that they need not pay for instruction because the good students they had become was more than payment enough. At first this seemed, to me, as simply an overly gracious instructor coping with difficult economics. Instead, though, I have found that this really is the case sometimes.
As a simultaneous student and instructor, I constantly feel as though I owe my sensei an infinite debt. However, I also feel that my students owe me nothing. It’s strange how this works. Laughable, in fact.
Of course, now monetary payments are essential for the constant upkeep of the dojo itself, land taxes, etc., but we should all remember why it is that this will never be enough. What we are learning in the dojo is of infinite value which is not even remotely comparable to a monetary value.
My personal debt to my sensei will never be paid, my students owe me nothing but hard work and obedience. I hope you feel the same.
