Etiquette for purchasing items

[bullet08]

i've been called worse lot than an ass before, so here i go.

common sense will tell me if you find a good deal for your sensei or dojo, you would go speak to your sensei privately to let him know that you found great deal for same iaito. if you do not trust your sensei enough to do that, i would think you do not trust him enough to learn from him.

relationship between the sensei and the student is one of father and son. you have to trust him. it seems that you alrady have doubts about his judgement. like mike w said, i'm glad you are not in our dojo.

pete

[Paikea]

Wow, lots of asses here..,

You called for an ass, m'lord?

[b8amack]

Wow, lots of asses here..
Instead of asking I see some of you have assumed much so I will explain more.
My sensei is far more experienced in Iaido than me, I have only been training for months, he has been training for years, but when it comes to swords I do believe I know more than he does (if you do not believe this I can give you plenty of examples but please be courteous).

Second, the sword he showed me was a fairly decent beginner iaito. However I went to the site of the company that made the iaito and found it for 100 dollars less than what he showed me, for the same sword. I am not an idiot, and I dont mind buying a 300 dollar beginner iaito, but not when the makers of the blade charge 200 for it. This is why I became suspect and why I asked here to get some mature advise. I respect my sensei, but this is all too fishy.

Lastly, I always have my mind made up, I wanted to see if this was a common issue with other students before I took action. Thanks again for those of you who did provide valuable input.

Personally, I think it's sort of on the jerkish side to get your instructor to pick out something for you, then google your way to a cheaper price of the exact one he picked out. Better just to get a completely different one, imo. I would be pissed, were I your sensei.

Also, you say you respect your sensei, but you're calling him fishy? Pretty sure you meant SUSpect, there....

[MikeW]

Wow, lots of asses here..
Instead of asking I see some of you have assumed much so I will explain more.

Yes, you are correct that each of us does in fact have an ass. I am assuming nothing, I am going by your own words ...
Originally Posted by Okamou"If it offends him he will forget it soon enough."

This is not the attitude to take. If you truly disagree with your sensei you need to discuss it with him/her straightforward. Comments like yours about your sensei only shows you know nothing about reiho.

[Okamou]

Yes I said he will forget soon enough, and I am sorry if it seemed harsh, I am not perfect. I did not ask for a sword or ask him to pick one out. He came to me with it. And I have a father, I don't need two, the sensei is my teacher. If thinking something is fishy is disrespect then what do you call blind trust? Respect is my attitude and action towards him, not my thought about his intention. thank you mr picard for the laugh, glad to see someone isn't being too serious. I am not interested in reiho, in all honesty. I am interested in getting better at the art, that is why I joined. It did sound quite jerky though, my apologies. "I am glad you're not in my dojo" -- I am sorry you feel this way, maybe I could reconcile somehow?

[atgm]

If you are not interested in reiho, then I feel like you are asking questions in the wrong place and looking at the wrong art.

[Paikea]

thank you mr picard for the laugh,

Don't kid yourself sonny. I've got zero respect for your "attitude and actions". Sounds like you need a sound spanking.

[b8amack]

Okamou, looking for a bargain is not a bad thing, although it's not "fishy" that buying something directly from the manufacturer would be cheaper than buying from a third party. But your attitude to everything and everyone else.... you sound pretty unteachable, as you seem to think you already know everything.

[ShinKenshi]

I am not interested in reiho, in all honesty.

I beg your pardon?? If you're not interested in reiho, then you're not interested in a vast majority of what iaido is about, or budo in general.

I am interested in getting better at the art, that is why I joined.

You're not going to become better if you ignore reiho.

It did sound quite jerky though, my apologies. "I am glad you're not in my dojo" -- I am sorry you feel this way, maybe I could reconcile somehow?

The only way you can do this is if you accept and observe reiho, discard your ego, and understand why reiho is such a critical part of budo. That and think carefully before you post.

[Fukuryu]

I am not interested in reiho, in all honesty.

"Reiho - This is vitally important, people must learn to do the Reiho properly and for this they need to understand the reasons and feeling behind each Reiho so that they do not make blunders. They must learn the correct Reiho for the Kami Za, sword and opponent, and show respect to them all."
- Iwata Norikazu (from an interview in The Iaido Journal)

[MikeW]

I am not interested in reiho, in all honesty. I am interested in getting better at the art, that is why I joined. It did sound quite jerky though, my apologies. "I am glad you're not in my dojo" -- I am sorry you feel this way, maybe I could reconcile somehow?

I think you'll find that most iaidoka and kendoka are fairly serious about their art. As others have posted reiho is fundamental to understanding japanese martial arts (and martial arts in general). You mentioned that "Respect is my attitude and action towards him, not my thought about his intention...". What this means is that you do not truly respect him. As I see it you have 3 options really, 1) give up martial arts as you don't seem to have the mindset to be truly successful, 2) If you do not, cannot truly respect your sensei then find one that you can and not go to practice then talk badly about him behind his back, 3) adjust your attitude, talk to your sensei about the iaito and just let him know you are on a budget and you had noticed that you can get it at the manufacturer site for less, is that ok with him.

Both options 2 and 3 are going to require you change your attitude about reiho. I realize you are a beginner and have much to learn but to do so you need to cast aside your attitude. If you do not want to and all you want to do is swing a sword then I suggest you check out www.sca.org instead of pursuing a traditional martial art.

[LarsCW]

When you join a dojo it's not just about swinging swords, hitting each other on the head and such.

It's about personal development.

There are arts based on hundreds of years of experiance. They might have changed more over the past 100 year then they did in the years before but keep in mind that if you aren't interested in learning the foundations you'll never graps the more complex parts, you'll become bored and we'll be seeing you twirl swords jumping around through a forest in a black ninja outfit on youtube.

Ah well atleast that would give us all a great laugh.

[Jonathan]

We use the term reishiki in my group, and I've seen the value of it. In addition to personal dignity that comes along with maintaining it (which is reason enough), others see it and recognize it. My group is starting to branch out a little more and host seminars, and showing our guests the proper respect makes them more willing to share their art with us. Maybe you're a natural prodigy with the sword, but chances are people that have been studying it for decades probably know a thing or two that can make you better and possibly save you some time. I know when I'm helping my sensei with the new students, the ones who earnestly pay attention and act respectfully will get more enthusiastic assistance. No one likes to work with a jerk.

On the gear question.. I can kind of relate to your position. I would much rather know what the requirements are and have options. If I am going to be paying for something especially, I'll want to get something I'll like whether it is the ito color or wrap style, or the tsuba, or what have you. If it is standard issue and covered by my dues, well whatever ok.

On the flip side though, the more experienced I get, the more I want to get expert guidance. Now I'm not just wondering about easy stuff like how long should the blade and tsuka be. Questions like what is the ideal size for fuchi and kashira with my hands, what kind of thickness tsuba should I be looking for with this next blade that will give me the light handling I want without feeling weird, and so forth. The more I learn, the more questions I find I need to get answered. Questions I never would have even thought about two years ago.

If I blew off my sensei's suggestions on the basic stuff, why would he even bother trying to help me with the harder questions that require a little thought?

[Hai_hai]

I preferz ninja swordz for iai because they are the bomb.

http://www.tozandoshop.com/Ninja_Sword_s/207.htm
http://www.swordsdirect.com/ninja-swords.html

[Jonathan]

Aesthetically, if you like 'em why not.

From a sheer logical standpoint, if you are a secretive ninja, why would you ever strap a type of sword to yourself that is profoundly different from what everyone else is carrying. In a society where pretty much everyone is walking around with a curved blade or two stuck in their belts, the one fellow is going to stand out just a wee bit.

Blah, shouldn't burn CPU cycles like this...