THE STUDENT

 by Phillip Starr

The student. You. A student, in Chinese, is xuesheng. It is generally used to describe persons who are enrolled in some formal education institution, from kindergarten to graduate school. In traditional martial arts, the student was once called shixinren (始心人), which means roughly “beginning mind person.” The word implies that one is part of a family or at least seeks to join. The wise student remains a shixinren all during his training; his mind is always ready to accept that he hasn't seen it all, no matter how much experience and talent he may acquire, and he's always ready to learn.

The image it presents is that of a person standing before the “door” to the training hall for the first time. It will be entirely up to him just how far past the door or gate he travels. Looking at him, there's no way to tell. Oftentimes, the one who is ambitious and/or very physically fit gets bored quickly (especially after the endless repetitions of the same thing) or just realizes that this stuff isn't for him...and he leaves. Conversely, it often happens that the one who just peeks in and is rather tentative is still there decades later, totally immersed in the art. But all of them will eventually have reason to pause, just as you and I have done, to consider just how we happened to be here.

New students often find the path before them to be quite steep and narrow at times. There's no room for lugging around extra “baggage”; it will only weigh you down and may well cause you to give up. Those who aspire to become martial arts “heroes” like those depicted in Hollywood will be sorely disappointed. They likely won't get very far past the gate. I think every new student is initially confused and even intimidated by the behavior of his seniors and they should assist him in understanding how and why things are done as they are. After all, these are martial Ways of a wholly different culture than his own.

Perhaps one of the most difficult lessons to be learned is that there isn't going to be a “graduation” from the Way; it's a lifelong journey for those who have the enthusiasm and stamina to continue. For many, perhaps most, Western students, this notion of doing pretty much the same thing week after week, year after year, is just too odd – too foreign - and, too nonsensical. As you continue along the path, you'll think of it like climbing a tall mountain; many of your companions will lack the strength or capacity to live at the higher altitudes that you must reach. Others find that they are perfectly happy where they are and don't want to climb further. Bidding them farewell, if you plan to go further, is a hard thing to do and may cause you to question your own journey.

There will be others like you, others who are still climbing. If you ask them why they're still climbing, most will have a difficult time giving you a simple answer. What is it that keeps them coming to the training hall? Why have they stayed when so many others have quit? The sacrifices we make, the challenges and demands of the martial arts eventually cease to be of much concern. We follow the Ways because they have become “our Way.” We can't imagine NOT following the paths along which they have led us. We have not mastered the art; what we have done is gone through the gate. We have become students.