Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
In a recent post to Facebook a martial artists asks a question, “Aging and Arthritis,” as it pertains to training in the are of karate. As with most things, many karate-ka spoke up with advice, after all advice was asked for and gotten but one issue about that advice kept cropping up.
“They, most of them, were actually providing advice better provided by medical professionals rather then from the personal feelings of non-medical professionals. This speaks to one aspect of teaching that comes up frequently especially in sport or martial oriented teaching, “The desire to help others.”
We all come to close associations with others in the martial arts and that is a good thing. We want to be helpful and provide appropriate advice, lessons and experiences often past that appropriate level into areas one should not go like giving advice of a personal nature or in this case, “Medical.”
Here is the crux of it, we are martial artists/karate-ka and our professed proficiency is in that discipline, not medical or psychological or emotional, etc., martial - that is it and honestly most are not all that truly qualified to teach anyway let alone teach or advise on matters outside the martial art/karate discipline.
Here is another way to look at it, advising someone on your personal thoughts about a subject like or similar to both aging but most important arthritis where misinformation of such potential for harm is a bit, unprofessional and inappropriate but most of all open to litigation if your advice causes more harm than good.
I don’t give advice on personal matters or psychological or medical because my expertise is martial in nature and those other areas are outside my professional understanding, expertise and experience. Now, if you want to know how to damage a person, that is another matter.
Most of the advice was well-intentioned but proper or advisable is another matter all together. This falls into the same category as teaching self-defense because in both the chances are a bit remote that one will encounter a need to use it in self-defense and it is remote that your medical advice will result in more harm than pain, discomfort or another injury, etc.
What if the advice caused grave harm and disability, would you the well intentioned advisor be liable. Yep, you betcha and believe me over the last forty years of life I have come across instances where the liability resulted in economic ruin and even jail time.
Yes, the probability may be small but do you really want to gamble on your entire livelihood and economic stability by venturing out into area’s where your expertise is strictly a personal feeling rather than based on hard education, experience and understanding?
At least, if you have come to this sentence, “Give this some thought, consideration and then decide if you are ok to go.”
My personal Martial Philosophy: I am their Sensei, not the personal confidant; not a family member; not a doctor or lawyer; not their therapist; not their self-help advisor or guru. I am their martial arts/karate Sensei to which I hold a personal obligation to teach them the best I can, to lead them toward their own way in the discipline and to provide guidance in pursuing the martial way, i.e., sport, way (philosophical way), or defense-protection - all other ways I only recommend they seek out professionals in those disciplines such as licensed and experienced doctors, therapists and psychologists, etc.
There is always a certain level of professional distance everyone must adhere to under these types of circumstances. It is our discipline and understanding that best suits leading others in a discipline and our responsibility to ourselves, our students (Tori-uke; Senpai-Kohai; students and practitioners), and the dojo to adhere to a certain professional status to keep stability in the Sensei to Deshi relationship.
Bibliography (Click the link)
No comments:
Post a Comment