JKA Vic Article - Group Thinking

Articles

Group Thinking
By Dion Risborg - Instructor, Adelaide Metro Dojo, South Australia.

....we all benefit from being connected with the JKA...

Why should we expect JKA to bring credibility to our Dojos if we are not prepared to contribute to the function of JKA in Australia? It is true that we all benefit from being connected with the JKA, but what are we doing about ensuring that this benefit will exist into the future. Should we just "wait and see what happens?” Are we courageous enough to make the effort to contribute in the knowledge that we may fail and attract criticism and ridicule? Or is apathy a safer and easier choice?

Ask the questions...What if all Instructors only thought of themselves, and rather than risk broader criticism or ridicule, they chose to stay within their own Dojo? What if all of our senior Instructors took the approach: “I’ll just look after my Dojo and make it the best Dojo I can?” What if all the other, less experienced Instructors were left to themselves, to falter on their own. We would have a small handful of excellent Dojo’s and the rest, through lack of experience, would all be left to struggle.

Would this make our Organisation better or more reputable? 20% excellent & 80% ordinary. Being the best Dojo of a group of ordinary Dojos makes you only slightly better than ordinary! There are a lot of very ordinary karate clubs throughout Australia. Are we really better, or are some of us better and some not?

Without “the group”, we will fragment and become a collection of separate Dojos doing our own thing, running things our own way, but operating under the same banner. We will become weak. Are we recognising the VALUE of what has been made available to us? People from other countries know the value of being recognised as JKA.

What if there was NO GROUP?

What if there was NO GROUP? Remove the group structure. Organise your own insurance. Remove the guidance of the Chief Instructor. Take away the National Titles, Australasian Titles and World Shoto Cup. Take away the opportunity for your students to fight for Australia. Stop the regular visits by the Chief Instructor, then give your students belts that are not recognised anywhere except your Dojo:

• What have you got to offer?
• How would you further yourself and your students? Your opinion vs. the knowledge & experience of the JKAWF Technical Committee.
• Who would be your reference point?
• Are you so good that your Dojo will be successful just because you run it?
• How would you go without the internationally recognised name?
• How far do you think you would get before you sought another alliance or just gave up?

Individual Thinkers
There are three types of individual thinkers:

1. The person who thinks that he personally is the only reason the whole Organisation is successful. If he were to leave, everything would fall apart and fail. Eventually these people start to believe in themselves too much and they do leave, believing that they will become more successful and the rest of the group will fail. But everyone is replaceable, the group moves on! The truth is the members of this group are usually stupid, or unbelievably brave. Some of them have become very successful in their own Dojos, which shows that they do not all fall into the first category.

So what is wrong? - No group thinking! What if those people weren’t so caught up on how important they were and only thought of the group? They could have contributed to the success of something that is always going to be bigger and stronger than anything that they will create on their own. That is an opportunity they have missed because of their own ego.

2. The person who is happy to hide away in the background and benefit from everyone else’s hard work. He thinks in terms of what he WANTS to do, rather than what NEEDS to be done. This is a problem within JKAA. The fact is that our senior Instructors were not taught to be seniors; they had to develop this ability. Don’t think they never got it wrong either. If you’re not prepared to get it wrong, how will you ever learn to get it right! The difference is, that these Senior Instructors are committed to the group, so they do whatever NEEDS to be done, even when they’re not all that comfortable with it.

3. The person who believes that he is the only one in his group that is right and everyone else is stupid. The “I don’t care how bad everyone else is going, when Sensei visits he’ll see how good my Dojo is going and at least he’ll be happy with my club”, mentality. If you’re so good, why don’t you help the others in your group and raise the standard of the group. Or is it that you’re not as good as you think you are?

Getting Involved in The GROUP
Fortunately we have some very giving and patient Senior Instructors in JKAA, who spend a lot of time away from their families to run seminars and help us all to evolve our knowledge and experiences in karate. Without them we would have to teach ourselves. Senior Instructors take the time to organise group training away from their normal Dojo activities. These sessions are designed to help with the progress of other members of their local group. But, for one reason or another, the very people that would benefit the most from a group training session, are the first to come up with a reason why the can’t attend. These same people are always ready with criticisms of the group’s failures when thing don’t go well.

Don’t spend too much time looking at what you’re doing wrong – address it and move on. Lead with positive development, not criticism. The problem is that these short sighted Instructors don’t see the benefit of developing the group as a whole. They do, however, continue to promote themselves as individuals within the group. Are they really part of the group? Or are they just using the name? If you enjoy the benefits that come from being a part of the group, then TAKE AN INTEREST. Do what NEEDS doing, because it has to be done! Worry about the criticism and ridicule later. If the people who taught us had such a lack of commitment, how far would we have come?