The Jan de Jong school prided itself on not mindlessly and unquestioningly following the teachings of an instructor, including that of Jan de Jong.
De Jong taught principle in addition to tactics and techniques. He was a good teacher; I was a great student. During one black belt class he was teaching a defence that did not conform to the principles he taught. I questioned that inconsistency. I was taken aside by a senior instructor of the school (who now has his own school) and told never to question de Jong's teachings.
As it turns out, I was right. De Jong was focused on one aspect of the defence to the detriment of another which he was teaching in error. Against the senior instructor's 'advice,' I raised the issue with de Jong who acknowledged his error, explained it, and corrected it at the next black belt class.
Martial arts instructors and students need to adopt an auditor's attitude. Management teachings often look to the martial arts for guidance, the martial arts can benefit from doing likewise.
Auditors must exercise professional judgment, which requires professional scepticism.
What is professional scepticism? It means having a questioning mind, being alert to anything that may indicate misstatement due to error or fraud, and critically assessing audit evidence.
What drives professional scepticism? Personal attitudes and ethical values; levels of education, training, and experience; the actions of the firm's leadership; and the culture of the firm.
It's easy to see why there is a distinct lack of professional scepticism exercised in the martial arts.
How can I boost professional scepticism? Have the self-confidence and strength of character to maintain an enquiring mind; suspend trust, rationally and logically consider all the likely options, not just the one that is put in front of you; resist the temptation to just accept the easy answer.
There are errors in de Jong's jujutsu grading system. Those errors are mostly being perpetuated by the instructors teaching de Jong's jujutsu grading system because they do not exercise professional scepticism for a variety of reasons.
To correct de Jong's errors or not? That is the question.
A GREAT deal can be learnt from these errors. If we lose those errors we lose those lessons.
The next post will explore what can be learned from de Jong's mistakes in his jujutsu grading system. Before the well-intentioned misguidedly leap to de Jong's defence, this exploration is in the best tradition of de Jong's teaching.
No comments:
Post a Comment