by Phillip
Starr
*Partially
excerpted from “The Making of a Butterfly” by the author
Contrary
to what many people believe, China is not “the land of bowing.”
That title is reserved primarily for Japan. This is not to say that
the Chinese don't bow; they do, when they intend to show deep respect
or thanks. It is a beautiful convention that has, unfortunately,
been forgotten in the Occident where it was once fairly common.
In
Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean martial arts schools it is customary
to bow when walking onto or leaving the training floor, when
addressing a teacher, and many schools do it when the instructor
enters or leaves the training area.
I
remember a day many moons ago when I learned the real significance of
the bow. My classmates and I trained in the basement and backyard of
our teacher's home and although Chinese martial arts schools
generally don't require students to bow to the training area, I did
(mostly because I also trained in Kyokushin and Shito-ryu karate and
I was accustomed to doing it). It had become an unconscious habit
that my teacher, W.C. Chen, eventually came to appreciate.
As I
stepped from the basement stairs onto the floor, I quickly bowed and
walked in. Being in a bit of a hurry to start warming up, I actually
just nodded my head. Before I'd made it ten feet, my sifu motioned
for me to approach him. As I did so, he said, “You did not bow
when you entered the room.”
I
thought that maybe he'd missed it because it was quite slight. “Yes
I did, sifu.”
He
became stern and replied, “That was not a bow. Try again.” He
waved me back to the stairway. I bowed more deeply this time but it
didn't satisfy him. “That's not a bow”, he said.
Okay.
I was a bit confused. WHY wasn't the deeper bow correct?
He
motioned for me to approach him again and then swept his arm across
the room. “When you bow, you are honoring those who have gone
before you and who have given us this art. This is where you will
develop yourself and grow (up).”
Turning
to face me, he continued, “You must be reverent because this is
where you will learn to save your life! You must always train
seriously, as if your life depends on it...because it does! So, you
must always be serious when you bow.” I was taken aback a bit.
I'd never looked at it that way.
He turned back to me and continued, “You will teach this art someday and you must be even more serious than your students. You must be more humble, too. A real teacher is this way because he knows the why and not just the how.”
