These instructions we hear during the Opening and Closing Ceremony of a Karate Training Session...
To know what they broadly mean, lets first go through the Brief Translations for these words (This interpretation is with Respect to Karate - they may have other meanings too)
Shomen - The Front of the Dojo, Which is the place where the Picture of The Founder of Shotokan Karate must be kept.
Kancho - Supreme Grandmaster
Sensei - Master/Teacher
Ni - similar to the meaning of 'To' in English
Rei - Bow
So these instructions roughly translate to
Bow / Pay Respect to the Founders of Karate (In Shotokan Karate-Do - Meijin Gichin Funakoshi).
Bow / Pay Respect to our Supreme Grandmaster - (for SKIF followers - Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa.)
Bow / Pay Respect to our Sensei - (in our School - Sensei Rajeev Sabharwal.)
Bow / Pay Respect to our Senpai - The Senior who is training us under Sensei's Instructions.
For a Dedicated Karateka these simple ceremonies have a more deeper meaning...
People are born with many shortcomings like Anger, Ego, Jealousy, Greed, Aggressiveness, Negative Competitiveness, Selfishness just to name a few... Its during these ceremonies that we remind ourselves that we are Karatekas and that we are here to attain our goal of over coming our short comings in order to achieve a Higher Goal of "Perfecting ones Character and Spirit"...
We remind ours selves that Karate is not about fighting with others... its about fighting with our selves... against our weaknesses...
By bowing we give up our egos and pride and pay respect to others, to their knowledge, to their dedication, to their spirit... it doesn't matter who is small or big... who is strong or weak... who is young or old...
Its with the loss of Ego that we loose every other vice that is caused because of it...
When we bow to our Meijin (Founder) we thank him for all the knowledge that he painstakingly gathered... refined... and perfected in the art form that we so passionately practice...
By bowing to our Senseis (Teachers) we thank them for the willingness to share with us their hard earned Knowledge and teaching us like we were their own children... and helping us getting better at it... and for selflessly trying to make us better than themselves... We express our willingness to give our selves whole heatedly into their hands to be molded in the right way without questions or doubt... We beg forgiveness for our faults... Finally we promise that we will never misuse the knowledge they have given us, in our lives neither against Them nor anyone else...
By bowing to our Senpais (Seniors) we thank them for taking care of us and teaching us what ever they know without jealousy or selfishness... for taking the place and heavy responsibility of the class when our Sensei is not around... for clearing those silly doubts that we would otherwise always shy away from asking our Sensei... encouraging us and boosting our morale when we are on the verge of giving up... and Finally for respecting our limited knowledge and protecting us like a big brother when we are in danger...
By bowing to our equals we thank them for being a support during our struggle to attain our goal... for selflessly being our Partners and filling up those gaps that we accidentally missed while learning from our Senseis and Senpais...
By bowing to our Kohai (Juniors) we thank them for the immense respect that they give us... we in turn promise to take care of them... guide them... protect them... and help them in every way possible...
To know what they broadly mean, lets first go through the Brief Translations for these words (This interpretation is with Respect to Karate - they may have other meanings too)
Shomen - The Front of the Dojo, Which is the place where the Picture of The Founder of Shotokan Karate must be kept.
Kancho - Supreme Grandmaster
Sensei - Master/Teacher
Ni - similar to the meaning of 'To' in English
Rei - Bow
So these instructions roughly translate to
Bow / Pay Respect to the Founders of Karate (In Shotokan Karate-Do - Meijin Gichin Funakoshi).
Bow / Pay Respect to our Supreme Grandmaster - (for SKIF followers - Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa.)
Bow / Pay Respect to our Sensei - (in our School - Sensei Rajeev Sabharwal.)
Bow / Pay Respect to our Senpai - The Senior who is training us under Sensei's Instructions.
For a Dedicated Karateka these simple ceremonies have a more deeper meaning...
People are born with many shortcomings like Anger, Ego, Jealousy, Greed, Aggressiveness, Negative Competitiveness, Selfishness just to name a few... Its during these ceremonies that we remind ourselves that we are Karatekas and that we are here to attain our goal of over coming our short comings in order to achieve a Higher Goal of "Perfecting ones Character and Spirit"...
We remind ours selves that Karate is not about fighting with others... its about fighting with our selves... against our weaknesses...
By bowing we give up our egos and pride and pay respect to others, to their knowledge, to their dedication, to their spirit... it doesn't matter who is small or big... who is strong or weak... who is young or old...
Its with the loss of Ego that we loose every other vice that is caused because of it...
When we bow to our Meijin (Founder) we thank him for all the knowledge that he painstakingly gathered... refined... and perfected in the art form that we so passionately practice...
By bowing to our Senseis (Teachers) we thank them for the willingness to share with us their hard earned Knowledge and teaching us like we were their own children... and helping us getting better at it... and for selflessly trying to make us better than themselves... We express our willingness to give our selves whole heatedly into their hands to be molded in the right way without questions or doubt... We beg forgiveness for our faults... Finally we promise that we will never misuse the knowledge they have given us, in our lives neither against Them nor anyone else...
By bowing to our Senpais (Seniors) we thank them for taking care of us and teaching us what ever they know without jealousy or selfishness... for taking the place and heavy responsibility of the class when our Sensei is not around... for clearing those silly doubts that we would otherwise always shy away from asking our Sensei... encouraging us and boosting our morale when we are on the verge of giving up... and Finally for respecting our limited knowledge and protecting us like a big brother when we are in danger...
By bowing to our equals we thank them for being a support during our struggle to attain our goal... for selflessly being our Partners and filling up those gaps that we accidentally missed while learning from our Senseis and Senpais...
By bowing to our Kohai (Juniors) we thank them for the immense respect that they give us... we in turn promise to take care of them... guide them... protect them... and help them in every way possible...
