Viewed from the inside

Many students came to study with this teacher. He was very strict yet deep in his heart. He didn’t hesitate to criticize his student during the lesson. One day, the teacher asked a student to play for him. Unsatisfied with his performance, the teacher asked a female student next to him and asked for her opinion. She said, “It was machine like.” This teacher didn’t like how the student played the piece with no heart. This student eventually became a good player, even though this teacher’s opinion about this student did not change.

Another time, there was a foreign student who came to study with this teacher. This teacher kept reminding this student that he was not doing right on many points. The teacher finally asked another student to translate his advice into English so that this student could understand better. After hearing his advice in English, the student became grumpy and stared at the translator. The translator told the teacher: “I don’t want to get involved in this. You better ask those female students to do it, as he is not going to listen to me.” Since then, the teacher stopped giving detailed advices to this student. Even so, this student was eventually granted a shihan license. "Why?" Some of his students asked. The teacher responded: “Because he insisted that he needs a teaching license to get a teaching position in his country.”

Although this teacher didn’t like these students’ performances, they became good players. It indicates, however, that their spirits were different from what the teacher tried to cultivate in them.