ARN - Scarf meanings (was Cadets in Court)

[Robert Kern]

Toshiro, I know where you are coming from, to a point.  I have been fencing
for 18 years and have taught at LaSalle de Armes, a fencing academy in
Massachusettes.  One of my students took seventh in women's foil in the
Atlanta Olympics.  And yet (this was in the East) I had SCA fighters treat
me the same way.  Fact is: your personal rapport with your students should
overshadow that.  If they have faith and trust in you, what some idiot with
a scarf says shouldn't matter.

I choose not to wear a belt or scarf.  That is my choice.  I don't let it
bother me, why should it bother someone else?  There are idiots everywhere.
By the same token there are scarves VERY worthy of respect.  The same can be
said for those of us who choose not to wear a belt or scarf.  It is WHO you
are that is important.  Not WHAT you are.

Robert Wolfe
Rapier Marshall of Falconridge


> What it means to me is that I can't teach.
>
> Let me explain.
>
> For the last year and a half I've been the local rapier marshal for my
> group. I've been fighting for five/six years. Several years before that, I
> fought on the fencing team at my university. The instructor had been the
> coach for the junior U.S. Olympic fencing team. I also studied and taught
> martial arts at a local dojo. So I have teaching and fighting experience.
> When I teach someone what I know, I tell them to study everything
everybody
> tries to teach them. Once they've tried something, if it works for they,
use
> it. If it doesn't, then forget it. I teach them things I agree with and
> things I don't agree with. And I explain the whys of both. But I tell them
> to chose for themselves. That there is no ONE way. Everybody has to use
what
> works for them.
> There have been several times I was teaching only to have a Don or Cadet
> come tell me what I'm doing wrong. One Don told me, in front of those I
was
> trying to teach, I was wrong because I wasn't turning my wrist the way he
> did. Several years ago I had a motorcycle accident and I can't turn my
wrist
> the way he did. One Cadet interrupted one training session, disagreed with
> what I had just said, then said the same thing a different way. Sometimes
> I've been completely ignored after I was interrupted. Sometimes they've
made
> their statement and left. It impossible to be taken seriously by a student
> when someone of a higher rank just told them you don't know what you're
> teaching. Yet, I've seen scarves teach something I thought was not right.
> And others scarves walk by and say nothing.
> Don't get me wrong. Some Dons and Cadets have stood by and watched me
teach
> and said nothing. Then after the students were gone tell me I did a good
> job. Some have stood by, interjected something to explain or expound on
> something I said. Then step back and let me continue. To all of them I
said
> thank you.
> I want to become a Cadet because that will tell me I was good enough to
> impress someone of recognized expertise. I want to become a Don because
that
> will tell me I'm respected by my peers. But mostly I want a scarf so I can
> teach. I may not be completely right in everything I teach, but I'm trying
> to get better. I'm trying to teach the newer fighters all I can so they'll
> become better than me. And that will force me to become better than I am.
> Then I'll teach them that. And the cycle will continue.
> That's what not having a scarf means to me. I can't teach.
>
> Toshiro Koi
>
>
>
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