It has been common knowledge in the dojo that Doug Krohn would go without a haircut for several months until the shodan test where he would shave his head soon afterwards. (Check out the "before picture" in our group photo with Saotome Sensei.) Well, during this past Thanksgiving Gasshuku at Chicago, I agreed to shave my head as well after the test. And then Doug, Sensei, and I talked Douglas Cifuentes into joining the band wagon. And so Doug shaved his head the following Monday. Then on Saturday morning, he brought his clippers and shaved my head before class. Then three weeks later, Douglas finally fulfilled his pact. So do we have a tradition -- that every Chikyokan dojo member who achieves the rank of shodan will have his/her head shaven? As the Pharaoh Rameses, played by Yul Brynner, said in The Ten Commandments: "So let it be written, so let it be done."
-Andre (aka "Muketsu")
Hell, yeah!
ReplyDeleteI say you guys have established the tradition already!! "So desu" "It is"
Chuck
Muketsu -
ReplyDeleteWhat did shaving the head mean to you?
- Sensei
For awhile I have always wanted to shave my head to see how I would look like. There are some people who look good with their heads shaven (that of course includes you, Sensei), while there are others who can't pull it off. I've even seen women with shaven heads, and they look very angelic. And I thought to myself, what the heck, I think I have a nice looking scalp. So when I looked at myself in the mirror after Doug shaved my head, I thought - well, I'm glad my mom kept turning my head when I was lying on the crib.
ReplyDeleteBut upon further reflection, shaving the head to me felt like a rebirth. That I was entering a new phase in my life as well as my training. Also especially since Doug ("Taisho") and Douglas ("Katsujin") shaved their heads, I feel a special connection among us, that we together - under Sensei's guidance - trained, faced the fire (I admit that I was absolutely anxious coming into the test), and passed with flying colors.
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
-Andre ("Muketsu")