This is where the martial arts analogy shows some of it’s power.
I do Aikido. My dojo enjoys a nice diversity of genders, ages, and body types. We don’t all practice the same; our styles are as diverse as our backgrounds.
However, it’s not a free-for-all. Some people in the dojo are clearly better at this than others, and people find others to look up to, people to follow. And there is a very strong agreement on who the best people in the dojo are.
This strong agreement comes from the fact that Aikido is a martial art, and we train with each other. On a regular basis we throw each other around and this constant interaction is how we learn from each other.
So while my Aikido is probably a bit more male, I learn from the women every time I practice with them, and I can point to parts of my practice that are more feminine and even tell you which women I learned those bits from. And the converse for the women I practice with.
It’s okay for a teacher or leader to express their identity in the practice of the art. It is up to the student to integrate that style into their own practice. This requires judgment, so we usually tell beginners “Don’t try to interpret just yet. Just mimic Sensei as closely as you can. You’ll branch out and improvise later”. This is a common teaching in many practices, I think.
So then, ideal is a diversity of teachers, so students can see a diversity of styles, and integrate them into something suitable to them.
This is where the martial arts analogy shows some of it’s power.
I do Aikido. My dojo enjoys a nice diversity of genders, ages, and body types. We don’t all practice the same; our styles are as diverse as our backgrounds.
However, it’s not a free-for-all. Some people in the dojo are clearly better at this than others, and people find others to look up to, people to follow. And there is a very strong agreement on who the best people in the dojo are.
This strong agreement comes from the fact that Aikido is a martial art, and we train with each other. On a regular basis we throw each other around and this constant interaction is how we learn from each other.
So while my Aikido is probably a bit more male, I learn from the women every time I practice with them, and I can point to parts of my practice that are more feminine and even tell you which women I learned those bits from. And the converse for the women I practice with.
It’s okay for a teacher or leader to express their identity in the practice of the art. It is up to the student to integrate that style into their own practice. This requires judgment, so we usually tell beginners “Don’t try to interpret just yet. Just mimic Sensei as closely as you can. You’ll branch out and improvise later”. This is a common teaching in many practices, I think.
So then, ideal is a diversity of teachers, so students can see a diversity of styles, and integrate them into something suitable to them.