Is it common to witness a sensei (instructor) get upset at a student?

Question

I have been in martial arts for almost two years now and this week I witnessed my sensei get upset with another student for the first time. The student had been working hard for two hours as a Uke (reciever). His defense was being tired. The Sensei wanted his actions to be convincing, then he told him with profanity that he wanted no excuses and walked out of the dojo with no closure, just up and left.

Answer 1

The role of the sensei is multi-faceted and very complex. They have to be friend, teacher,father,drill instructor,business manager, counselor, entertainer,motivator....
Sometimes the only way to motivate people is to be harsh with them. Perhaps this was the case. Or perhaps he really was upset with the students performance.
Common? If the students are not doing what they should than an upset sensei would be the norm.
Sensei's tend to take pride in their students, if a student do what he he has been trained to do then the sensei will get upset. He may be re-evaluating his training methods thus the walk off.

The important thing is that after getting his rear-end chewed off a student should keep his head up and try harder not slink away with his tail between his legs.

Answer 2

Well the role of an instructor is a tough one, and yeah he should be reasonably tough to boost the student up; but to cuss the student out, that's wrong in my opinion. I've seen worse things happen from such things.

The instructor should apologize to the student and then the whole class for flying off the handle like that, or he may've lost a lot of students. If the student is tired then the instructor shoulda given the student another role or let him rest so he perform better later.

that's what the student is there to do, learn. It doesn't help if the instructor is cussing him out; especialy in front of the other students and moreover any one that is watching the class who may be prospective students.

I hope the instructor does realize what he did and apologize to everyone for that, he may've had a lot of personal dealings that were compounding the problem too, but that's still no excuse for taking frustrations out on a student.

Answer 3

In 12 years of Judo training I have seen and heard it all. But generally not from true masters of the arts. Martial arts are about dicipline, so yes the sensei has a right as your master to ensure you are upholding the rules/policies of his dojo as well as those of the art itself. However it is not appropriate to do so in a mannor that in it self is not in keeping with those rules. Your Sensei should have used other means such as having him kneel in a corner for the remainder of the class and or stay late to discuss with him his concerns. It is not uncommon or unacceptable for a Sensei to have the student do an extra workout or in this case maybe stay in the position as Uke for longer to teach him patients and that learning how to defend or receive a strike, throw or arm/leg bar is far more important than learning how to throw the punch. I wouldn't encourage leaving the Dojo but like the other person suggested approach your Sensei before the next class and discuss your concerns.
Do Not! Interupt the lesson to do so. That would be very disrespectful to the Sensei and the other students. Unless of course your Sensei is puting you or another student in a position to get seriously hurt.
There are some Senseis that feel that their position is one that gives them the right to act out their frustrations how they wish on their students a good sensei knows how to seperate his life from his dojo. As I'm sure he expects you to. But he should also be open for you to go to if you have issues you need to talk about in your life, but again before or after class.

Answer 4

The sensei should not have lost it in front of the other students. But on the other hand he is human. I know for a fact that there is not any saints out in the world Or at least no one with out a sin. but the sensei needs to have a talk with the class to discuss what happen. He is the teacher not the other way around.

Answer 5

Who do you think you're learning from, a monk? Martial art is a fighting tradition. It may be much more than that. But 'fighting tradition' is the irreducible minimum. You know, the part that makes it 'martial' rather than just 'folk dance.' In a fighting tradition, there will be conflict. Expect it, greet it as it comes, and handle it.

Now as to whether the behavior you saw was rare: depends on the culture of the art. I gather from your Japanese terminology that your art is Japanese. In that culture, yes; it's considered extremely bad form, so it happens quite rarely. Traditional Japanese sensei regularly abuse students, but in other ways.

By way of contrast: in pre-nationalist Indonesian silat traditions, it's common indeed to hear of an instructor knocking a student out or injuring him in order to teach him a lesson. And it's not unheard of for an instructor to kill an uppity student outright. Getting yelled at is just a matter of course. It's considered part of the training. "It's confusing and stressful, but so is combat. That's what you're training for, yes? If you want a hug, go home to mama." That's the attitude.

In the Western world, the fun begins, because nothing is in its traditional context. We tend to expect our martial arts teachers to conduct themselves in a 'professional' manner. Screaming at a paying customer is 'unprofessional', an obstacle that interrupts the smooth flow of services to the consumer and money to the producer. At the same time, however, what the consumer is paying *for* is an artifact of another culture. So what you get is a weird blend.

My advice: If it really bothers you, find another teacher. But know that if you stick around in martial arts, a teacher yelling at a student is the very least of the conflict you'll encounter. That's ok; you're there to learn to be graceful under pressure. Think of it like lifting weights: not enough resistance and it's useless, too much and you get badly hurt. But somewhere in between is very, very useful for developing the qualities you want.

Answer 6

Sounds like this person should not be teaching anyone. There is no excuse for loosing control over emotions for an instructor. Upset over something minor? Even if a student deliberatly and obviously damaged another person, the instructor should be in control of himself and deal with it calmly. In my opinion, your instructor does not deserve the title of sensei!

Answer 7

Lots of good reasons for an instructor to be upset with a student. Even to the point of yelling sometimes.

If my understanding of this situation is correct, this isn't one of them.

Being uke is way more tiring than being nage, both physically and psychologically. This instructore sounds like he is either incompetent or inexperienced. In the latter case the problem will likely take care of itself.

Let's hope so.

Answer 8

Sounds to me like they were both getting a little tired! However I hope the Sensei will apologize for his actions. He is after all the teacher and you can't give a good example by loosing your cool. He should apologize to the class as well as the student.

Answer 9

he shouldn't have gotten mad at the other student in front of people- he should have taken him aside and said something then. But if the other student wasn't giving proper resistance then he is at fault.

The other student is ultimately to blame though. He is not only wasting his own time, but everyone else in the class who is working out with him. The other students would be right to demand that this jerk not waste thier time or demand money back for the wasted class.

Answer 10

To master others is easy, to master one's self is the true challenge.

Masters/Instructors are just people, like anyone else they can have good days and bad days. However, a Master/Instructor who loses control of his temper and spouts profanity inside the dojo/dojang probably has something else going on in his life that is causing him/her a problem.

I hope your Master/Instructor has seen the err of his/her ways and apologizes to the entire class for the outburst & especially to the student to whom it was directed.