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KAIZEN! Constant, Never-ending Improvement
for the Traditional Martial Artist
Sensei's Journal
Weekly thoughts on the martial arts for innovative traditionalists
from Kyoshi Tony Annesi
© 2012, Bushido-kai
Hypocrites
We are all hypocrites sometime, in some way; those of us with a generally positive character just try not to be and correct ourselves when we are. Having been brought up with church-guilt hovering over every move, I learned to be strict with myself—too strict, some would say, but at least it started me down a trail of self-discipline that ended up in traditional budo and kept me wary of falling into hypocrisy. As I began to think more for myself, I cut myself some slack here and there, still keeping a sense of right and wrong, fairness, and unfairness.
Absolutist ethics are easier to maintain if you don’t mind giving up personal evaluations and being a hard-bottomed cold case. Situational ethics seem easier to maintain, but are harder if one is to be honest with oneself and not slip into excuses for doing what you wanted to do in the first place. Absolutists seldom consider themselves hypocrites because they unconsciously reinterpret the reality around them so that they always come out seemingly consistent with their values: “I wasn’t really stealing from the supply closet, I was just getting even for the $10 of gas I spent getting to the off-site meeting.” But this very manipulation, in my opinion, is hypocritical.
The reasons that most people tend to avoid hearing both sides of an issue objectively is that (1) they would have to engage a higher consciousness to make a decision rather than function by memorized “rules”, and (2) they would risk leaving the comfort of ignorance hidden under the guise of impartiality.
When Ms. L broke up with Mr. L, she told him that she never liked him in bed anyway. Obviously the statement was intended to hurt him but was masquerading as a logical reason to split with her hubby. Similarly, when Chuckie Bimquist left his karate school, he complained that his sensei was a “control freak”. Translation? Chuckie wanted to have more control over what he studied. In other words, Chuckie wanted to wrest control from Sensei. Now, I find controlling oneself laudable, not hypocritical, but I don’t think Chuckie was about to become super strict in what he demanded of himself once having left his instructor—in fact, I suspect just the opposite: he was going to demand less of himself yet expect that the results would be the same. That’s unrealistic, perhaps, but not hypocritical. However, when he opened his own school, he insisted on strict Japanese formality and adherence to his curriculum. That, I submit, is coming a little closer to being the “control freak” he did not relish in his own sensei. So, the closer he got to controlling his students, the more hypocritical he seemed. Of course, he did not see it that way.
When we get into a hypocritical mood, the other guy is always wrong, and we are always right—or at least we see ourselves the exception to the rules. A aiki student of mine did not renew his membership in the kai, claiming that our aiki was too difficult to perform and held too high a standard. He was not being hypocritical when he lowered the standards and made his waza easier to perform. I disagreed with his choices, but he was at least being consistent. Later, a karate student did not renew her membership, claiming that our rules were enforced unevenly, thus implying that I was hypocritical. I cannot say I have never been hypocritical, but being rational and self-aware, I try to curtail or correct hypocrisy whenever I recognize it in myself. In this case, as far as I can discern, there was none. People need apparent reasons for their actions and she had come up with one. Ironically, however, the very person who bristled at my supposed hypocrisy wanted me to promote her to a rank for which she hadn’t tested nor fulfilled the requirements for. If I acceded to her wishes, she’d still be a member but would then have a legitimate case of hypocrisy (and uneven rule enforcement) to hold against me. If I denied her desires, she would, of course, move on, but her next rank would not come from fulfilling requirements or passing an exam, which seems, I submit, more than a little hypocritical.
We are all hypocrites sometime in some way; those of good character just try not to be. The rest pretend they have good character and that the other guy is wrong. Sometimes it takes people quite some time before they have the self-awareness to see things objectively, thus curtailing or correcting their own inconsistencies.
