Many years ago I wrote a post for my Face Book page on the topic of Giri. For those who didn't read it, it got great
response. I had some rather amazing
senior masters instructors who commented on that post with their insight. So I decided to rewrite the post into an article that most would appreciate. One of the instructors who I admire tremendously is Anshu Stephen
Hayes. I give him credit for starting my
Ninja journey many years ago. Anshu
Hayes said "Society is more of a Gimme rather than Giri Society." I quote him on that and loved it. I then asked his permission to use it while writing
this quick article about the topic.
One
of the instructors who I admire tremendously is Anshu Stephen Hayes. I give him credit for starting my Ninja
journey many years ago. Anshu Hayes read
my article and responded "Society is more of a Gimme rather than Giri
Society." I quote him on that and loved
it. I then asked his permission to use
it while writing my blog.
I
also had to take a quote from another amazing martial art master Pete Ticali
who has always treated me with respect and kindness. This is what he had to say - which is a great
explanation of the word Giri. Master
Ticali wrote "With Rank comes Privilege, and
some might understand with Privilege comes responsibility. With responsibility
comes Duty; and Duty evolves to a deep Obligation, which lays the foundation
for the culmination of Giri.... One might note that I have changed from English
to Japanese. I do so because I know no English word to properly translate the
word Giri and do it justice. In simple layman's terms, I would explain Giri as
the debt you gladly accept; even with the knowledge that you will pay this debt
till your last day of your life, and on that day you will know you haven't
scratched the surface of "paying enough".
Giri is what one might owe their parents,
their grandparents; their country and those that they honor as their
Sensei. As a footnote, I firmly believe
that as Sensei, part of our Giri is to teach those thousands (if necessary) to
find the few with whom our Giri can be entrusted (passed on) to. I believe that
those who follow the way, can understand."
Master Ticali has spells out for us the truth of martial
arts and the way that I was brought up in my martial art training and the way
it should be taught and practiced. Unfortunately
for many, these lessons are nothing but words, strung together into sentences, things
that go in one ear and out the other. I
do not blame anyone because this concept isn’t taught as much any longer and is
not a part of the culture.
There was an ancient time, when someone made a commitment
verbally and their word was as good as anything. People would work till their dyeing day to
fulfill their word and what they call an obligation. It used to be admissible in the court of law,
nowadays even a written contract is not adhered to by many judges. They find it in their mind to interpret the
written word to suit their own needs or the dialog that is going on at present
time.
I have found teaching and running a school with hundreds
of students over the almost 3 decades that not even 1% of the people I deal
with can even comprehend the word Giri.
I think maybe the modern adaptation we can call it convenience
"Giri!" The reason I say this,
is most students, parents and people you deal with are loyal when it best suits
them. Anshu Stephen Hayes said it
perfectly when speaking of the topic “Gimme rather then Giri.” While others do not even attempt to
understand, they look at the martial arts as more of a commodity.
Something purchased something due to them
because they have paid tuition. I want
to shake them and all the readers into the realization that the lessons are
never the same without the true understanding of dedication, loyalty and
honor. In fact, I have argued till I am
blue in the face with martial artists, coaches, and Martial Art Industry heads,
that by taken this lesson out of the martial arts, the student isn’t even
learning true martial arts. They are
only practicing the physical (the martial) and without these traditions, the
martial arts are nothing more than just fighting techniques. Simply though with the mental, spiritual and
lessons of old, the martial arts are limitless and they shape the student in
ways unimaginable.
Is this possible any more in our society for us to learn
GIRI or is it only going to be "Gimme?" My personal feeling and this
is based on my past 50 years of martial art training. There are only a select few that will truly
understand the meaning and will act on it and make it a part of who they
are. I continually teach hoping that as
I get better, I will also get more people who understand the concept.
To dive in a little deeper let me share a story of a
conversation with one of my black belt students. This student trained with me for about 8
years and received his black belt. He
then went on to open a gym of his own, and stopped his training. He was obligated to me financially for
another two years, signing a contract that spelled out his financial obligation
but decided he was going to cancel that by stopping payment on his credit
card. When I asked him about it, he said
to me, “when is it that the student gets Giri from their teacher?” I thought
this to be a rather interesting conversation to have so I entertained the
question. However, I knew the minute he
asked that question, he didn’t have a clue about the word and what it
meant. He went on to say, ”he was
dedicated and trained hard to be where he was and he gave me his loyalty by
helping at the school and teaching and was wondering when I would show giri
back.”
I tried to explain the concept of Giri many times in face
to face conversations, and I think in the literary sense it is even more
difficult. If a student has Giri –
Loyalty and feels obligated to their teacher, then the obligation has already
been met by their sensei. In other
words, the sensei has already earned Giri. They have taught, trained, nurtured,
guided and raised that student up through the ranks, gave selfishly of their time, effort, a dojo to train, lessons to learn, personal talks (during class and I
am sure outside of class).
Through the
dojo friendships are made with like minded people and relationships are forged
all due because of their affiliation with that teacher. They as an instructor have already done their
part, changing the very fiber of that student over many, many years of hard work. The very essence of who that student is, has
been influenced by these lessons and that sensei. No
matter whether that student continues to train, leaves their teachers side and
opens up on their own martial art school, continuing to teach the martial arts,
they have a debt that can never be repaid.
As Master Pete Ticali said “Giri is what one might owe their parents, their grandparents; their
country and those that they honor as their Sensei. As a footnote, I firmly believe that as
Sensei, part of our Giri is to teach those thousands (if necessary) to find the
few with whom our Giri can be entrusted (passed on) to. I believe that those
who follow the way, can understand."
With our society becoming more of a WIIFM – "What’s in it
for me society," we are slowing losing a very beautiful part of human
interaction. We are slowly being brain
washed to believe that everyone owes us something. We look at most interactions as transactions
with equal parts. When the reality is,
many interactions are much more than that.
I teach my students no matter how rich you become, how successful you
become or intelligent through school and life experiences. You are never your
parents equal. You can never repay them enough to walk away and say this
obligation is complete and has been met.
Without them giving you so much, even if it is just giving birth to the
child. That debt could not be paid.
Without them, you would not exist.
Within my martial art journey I have had many students
leave my school, and move on. Some quit martial arts entirely while others
trained elsewhere. Even a handful of them have moved on to open their own
schools. Very few have given me credit
or came back to thank me. This is not
necessarily a bad thing because as a Sensei we do not need the thanks. However, it does show that Giri has never
been established and is something that a very small percentage of people
understand. I guess it goes back to
that one statement of the student asking when does an instructor show their
student Giri – the WIIFM – what’s in it for me mindset. The journey is yours, who has touched your
life enough for you to be indebted to? That is your life’s question. Do you understand what Giri is? Enjoy the journey........
