Who were your teachers?

by Ivica Zdravkovic, MD

In my continuing series of articles focused on Budo elitism and all sorts of deviations that I see in "traditional" and "modern" budo, I will address one particularly interesting question that I frequently see on certain (notorious) forums and web sites. People who are frustrated for being marginalized due to their stubborn elitism, snobbery, or other selfish reasons, keep insisting on one same meaningless question: Who were you teachers?

If you, for example, appear "out of nowhere" with high rank in jujutsu - they will not be just satisfied with your respectful certificates, received from highly legitimate organizations and/or individuals - they will insist that you list all of your jujutsu teachers and their CVs (resumes). Then, if (when) you say that, for example, your jujutsu rank came as a result of life-long cross training in judo, karate and aikido, and that you actually did not learn jujutsu in any official organization, but have performed your art in front of jujutsu organizations and got the recognition from them that what you do IS jujutsu - well, that's where the trouble begins.

This group of armchair samurai will start accusing you that you lack "formal training" and that you must not claim jujutsu rank. They will also attack those who have certified you and will accuse them too of being ignorant, informal, non-legitimate, or who knows what else. They will say you learned your "lousy surrogate" from videos and books (as if it's a crime to look at video - I personally had more use of looking hundreds of times at some videos of some great sensei, than seeing one live demonstration on some seminar!). In short - you will be quickly dissected and crucified, and your jujutsu rank and activities will be labeled as fraudulent and disrespectful.

But what do these people actually do? They claim that it is not a diploma that makes you certified, but the teachers. Well, that is a very interesting approach. I am a doctor of medicine. I studied in Serbia and graduated on Belgrade University. I finished an additional 3 years of general practice/family medicine specialization. I have a total of 21 years of schooling. Then, if I move to USA, I would have to pass several exams in order to get my medical degree recognized there. But - at the end, if I finally receive an American medical diploma, will it be really important where I learned anatomy, physiology, or just about anything else that I know?

Back to martial arts. One can hardly see these members of "Budo Inquisition" doing any demonstrations at all. However, even if you see them, and you are able to reproduce everything, it is not enough. I will see some "koryu" expert doing something rather trivial. And what do I do? I recognize block and stance from karate, strike (atemi from karate or judo), a throwing technique also seen in judo, and a finishing lock that I learned ages ago in aikido class. So, I can do it all with same (or even better) efficiency and technical preciseness. But - don't forget! - I had no "formal classes" and I do not have a list of jujutsu teachers in my biography. So - I do not know jujutsu, or - even if they admit that I can do everything they do - I cannot claim to be knowledgeable in jujutsu and teach it to others.

This similar situation happens with my gendai kenjutsu grade, which was received from some very respectable people, - but - ALAS! - I was not training under any koryu kenjutsu teacher - so I am "raping" the name of "their" (???) art, and I am - once more and definitely - a fraud and an imposter.

We all know there is definitive and limited number of ways one can twist someone's arm or strike someone's head. There is "nothing new under the hat of sky" for centuries - an old Serbian proverb. Still - elitists insist that you are "not one of them" (although "them" in here stands for microscopic group of big mouths opposed to MILLIONS of practitioners of gendai arts: Karate, Judo, Aikido, Jujutsu, Chanbara, Kendo...).

If you drive a car, and the officer stops you, will he ask you for your license, or ask you who was your driving teacher? Some people really do have to awake from their anachronistic dreams and realize that - despite how hard they jump on their forums, small underground snobbish "taikai" meetings, and similar "masonic" places - the huge driveway of budo will be filled with more and more unstoppable well licensed drivers, who know everything they need to know, who are headed in right direction and will never get a ticket for any speeding or any other infraction of traffic rules. Not until they respect reasonable standards, and don't allow (event theoretically impossible) regression to feudal system where only "sacred cows" of "legitimate families" will have the right to move freely and spread their teachings - while all the rest of us will be placed in huge reservoirs for mind slaves.

The next time someone asks you who was your teacher in this or that art, just show him your certificates. If he is not satisfied, you might even show him what you know. But the best thing would be - just tell him to go to hell. People asking about the teachers instead of asking about the knowledge are mostly just that: people who have teachers and no knowledge. Therefore, they will always spit on everything you do, and rub your nose with their beloved sensei, soke or whatever. That is the only cure for their frustrations and delusions.

Ivica Zdravkovic, MD

Specialist of family medicine, budo teacher

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