By Maurice Msarsa (41 + Years Isshinryu)
Webster’s Dictionary defines a bully as “one habitually cruel to others weaker than himself”.
Most people, at one time or another, have known (or had some experience with) a bully. It could have been while growing up in the neighborhood, at school, while serving in the military, or even at the dojo. During my childhood years in Jerusalem I ran into many such bullies. I will relate one of my experiences. A Jewish family moved close to our house. The neighborhood was predominantly Christian with a few Jewish families. They had two children, a boy about 10 and a girl 13, about my age at that time. I never knew them well. They always kept to themselves. One day on my way home, I came across the boy and the girl being bullied by four 13-15 year old kids from an adjoining neighborhood. These boys were known for being bullies. I picked up a piece of a broken walking stick that was on the side of the street and approached the bullies. I yelled at them to leave the kids alone. They responded by turning on me. The odds were in their favor …4 against 1. Without hesitation I whacked the first one across the head, the next two across their bodies, the fourth one took off running and was followed by the other three. All four were yelling and cursing as they ran. The brother and sister thanked me and ran home. I did not see the bullies again in our neighborhood. I never got to know the two children. They waved from a distance and I waved back. A few weeks later the Jewish family moved away. That was just prior to the beginning of the turmoil in the Middle East.
| How about bullies at the dojo? There are not many of them. Most karate kas are honorable and not abusive. There are, however, dojo bullies that enjoy beating up on children or less trained persons under the guise of kumite. In my years at the dojo I observed two types of bullies… Those that do not know that they are bullies, yet they posses the same characteristics as bullies…and those that know they are, and enjoy hurting people. Were there bullies at Mr. Longs Dojos? The answer is yes. Mr. Long did not like bullies. He usually disciplined them and instructed them not to spar unless he, or another high rank black belt, was present. He had gone as far as kicking them out of the dojo. Let us not confuse dojo bullies with the tough/hard fighters at the dojo. Most of the time the bullies practice their bulliness when the sensei is not present. Dojo bullies know who they were and who they are. They are tough when facing children, beginners, those that are slightly handicapped, or the elderly. When paired with someone of equal or superior skills they become passive “good old boys”. The tough/hard fighters stand tall in the ring, taking whatever is thrown at them, delivering good techniques…no cheap shots. They try to be helpful rather than hurtful. They build an honorable reputation that lasts for many years. Bullies, on the other hand, are always remembered as “dojo bullies”. |  |
| Many years ago, one of the UT students that was known to be a bully, brought his girlfriend to the dojo. He wanted to impress her with his newly awarded black belt. He took me to the side and asked me to take it easy on him, and to make him look good in front of her. I nodded in agreement. Soon after we started, he became boisterous…throwing wild kicks and punches…along with verbal brags. That is not what I agreed to go along with. I asked him what was he doing, he responded with more of the same. The match did not last much longer. I finished with a couple of hard body techniques and a sweep take down. He got up all glassy eyed questioning what happened. He and his girl friend departed the dojo in a hurry. His behavior was more subtle when he returned to the dojo a couple of days later. What happens when bullies open their own dojos? These individuals have traditionally practiced their tactics to hurt and abuse people under the guise of being tough. Students sign up and shortly drop out. The “bully sensei” cannot understand why the students drop out…all the time believing that he/she are trying to toughen their students. He/she has very few followers and their lineage is very short. The end result is that they are very poor teachers, and their dojo eventually fails! |  |