A Good Dojo Isn't A Comfortable Place

[pboylan]

I was thinking about what goes into a good dojo, what kind of atmosphere and training. I decided that a good dojo isn't quite comfortable. I wrote my thoughts out in this blog.

http://budobum.blogspot.com/2015/04/...ble-place.html

What do you think makes a good dojo?

[P Goldsbury]

Hello Peter,

A question: Have you ever had to deal with psychological traumas or crises? I mean the kind of traumas where those experiencing them would be better off with some sort of professional help. I have two types in mind here: one is where the person is being punished, by the teacher or by himself/herself for not being at all happy with the image seen in the mirror; the other is when the student hero worships the teacher, who does not really know how to deal with this. I have been a bystander in cases of both types. This made the dojo an uncomfortable place to be, but not perhaps for the reasons given in your blog.

Best wishes,

PAG

[cxt]

That might just be why there often seem to be so few "good dojo's."

People are often looking for things beyond the scope of the martial arts---they are chasing a fantasy and the dojo, the good ones anyway, are not the place for fantasy.

Some schools of course cater to the fantasy.

As someone smarter than myself once said "I'm just a martial arts teacher." Not a guru.