User:KyotoKenshu/sandboxUchideshi

Uchi-deshi (内弟子, lit. "inside apprentice") is a Japanese term for an apprentice who lives with a master of an art and assists the master on a full-time basis in the process of minarai (見習, "learning by observation"). Uchi-deshi is an aspect of traditional Japanese culture related to the Iemoto system that existed in a variety of traditional arts, including performing arts, fine arts, and martial arts. The uchi-deshi system has continued in modified form into modern times in arts such as kabuki, rakugo, shogi, go, and sumo. In modern Japanese martial arts, it has continued in a limited way, although the concept has evolved from its traditional one and the system has been partially supplanted by the kenshu system. The term "uchideshi" has also entered English as martial arts jargon, and generally denotes a student who lives in a dojo.

Terminology: deshi versus "student"

Although "uchideshi" is often described as "live-in student," the Japanese term for student is gakusei (学生) or gakudou (school child) or may be indicated by the suffixes -ka (家) or -sei (生). The concept of deshi (弟子) in Japanese should be translated as "disciple, adherent, follower, or apprentice". Deshi describes a special relationship with a master. Uchi (内, lit. "inside") is used in compound terms such as 案内, meaning "guidance" and 内内, meaning "secret", "private" or "family circle", so the sense of uchideshi is "one receiving private guidance". The contrasting term soto-deshi (外弟子), which is used in some arts to describe an apprentice who does not live with the master(REF shogi), is literally translated as "outside apprentice", but the distinction is perhaps more one of degree of closeness to the master. This is demonstrated by examples of "uchi-deshi" who did not live with their master: Gozo Shioda is described as an uchi-deshi of Morihei Ueshiba in aikido, although for most of his training, he lived at home, rising at 4:00AM every day to run to the dojo; the traditional Okinawan karate uchi-deshi system, which is distinguished from the mainland Japanese system by the fact that the student does not live in the dojo. The situation of actually living in the master's home or place of work is called sumi-komi (住み込み, "live-in"; lit. "inclusive of residence"). In martial arts dojos, deshi may be distinguished from seito (pupils). In modern times, the role of deshi may also referred to as tsukibito (付き人, lit. "attached person").

Transliteration

In the US Library of Congress transliteration, uchi-deshi with a hyphen is correct, because the "de shi" (でし) pronunciation of the kanji 弟子 is an alternative pronunciation of "te i shi" (ていし). In Wiktionary transliteration, which is based on the Hepburn system, the hyphen is correct under relaxed transliteration rules since the word is a compound. As English martial arts jargon, the term can be found written as "uchi deshi", "uchi-deshi" or "uchideshi"; "uchideshi" is preferred by the Tuttle Dictionary of Martial Arts.

Uchideshi system

Uchi-deshi in traditional Japanese arts

In traditional Japanese arts, uchi-deshi is a stage in the development of a professional's/master's education. For example, in Noh the uchi-deshi apprenticeship precedes the jun-shokubun (準職分, "associate professional") stage of education and may last for 5-15 years before the overseeing master promotes the uchi-deshi. Although the Iemoto system is often hereditary, it is not necessary to be a child of the master in order to train to be a professional. For example, Noh actor Michishige Udaka became uchi-deshi to Iwao Kongo II, the 25th Iemoto of the Kongo School of Noh.

Although the uchi-deshi system derives from arts with a history in the pre-Meiji period, it has also been used in younger arts such as Enka, in which singers sometimes enter the industry after acting as uchi-deshi to established industry professionals.

In modern times, the traditional uchi-deshi system of professional apprenticeship has survived to differing degrees within differing arts. It is still common in sumo, for example, but has almost died out in go and shogi, though it does still exist alongside the soto-deshi.

Uchi-deshi lifestyle

The life of an uchi-deshi in traditional Japanese arts is to assist the master. Assistance may include shopping, carrying luggage, sword-bearing, cooking, housecleaning, gardening, and chores, as well as duties related to the professional pursuit. Uchi-deshi may clean and eat alongside the family of the master, other uchi-deshi and the hereditary successor of the Iemoto.

Uchideshi in modern martial arts dojos

The cultural circumstances in which the uchi-deshi system was used in traditional Japanese martial arts no longer exist. However, the system has continued in a modified form in modern Japanese martial arts, in which the traditional apprenticeship concept has been replaced to varying degrees with the concept of a student who lives in a dojo. Although this is often referred to in English as "uchideshi", the Japanese term dōjōsei (道場生, "dojo student";lit. "dojo-living [person]") can also be applied. Differences between traditional uchi-deshi and modern uchideshi include shifts from the concepts of master to teacher, inheritance of a vocational tradition to learning an avocation, and membership in a guild-style organization to membership in a school or modern organization. Structural changes from the traditional uchi-deshi system to modern uchideshi programs also exist and may include payment for room, board, and instruction and short time-spans on the order of months or one year.

Uchideshi in aikido

The majority of uchideshi programs in modern martial arts exist through aikido dojos. Unlike most modern martial arts, aikido has retained some elements of the Iemoto system, such as hereditary leadership and the title of O-sensei (grandmaster), although the art's international scope and incorporation make it unlike a traditional bujutsu ryu. Aikido's founder, Morihei Ueshiba maintained an uchi-deshi-like relaionship with his primary teacher, Sokaku Takeda, and offered students the opportunity for such relationships with him as well. Many of the first generation of aikido teachers to disseminate aikido inside and outside Japan were Ueshiba's uchi-deshi or uchideshi in the aikido hombu dojo. As a result, training as an uchideshi has come to be regarded by some as a tradition of aikido.

Just as the circumstances in the broader Japanese culture changed during the 20th century, the uchideshi system in aikido changed as well. In the pre-WWII period, aikido uchideshi were closer to the system practised in traditional Japanese arts--for example, in the autobiography Aikido Jinsei, Ueshiba's uchi-deshi Gozo Shioda relates how the uchi-deshi would read to and massage Ueshiba in the evenings and how uchi-deshi worked alongside Ueshiba on his farm in Iwama in the immediate post-war years. In 195x, the aikido hombu dojo moved to Tokyo, while the Grandmaster stayed in Iwama. Following this move, aikido "uchideshi" became live-in students at the hombu dojo rather than "attached" disciples of the Grandmaster. Whereas the pre-war "uchi-deshi" Shioda studied with Ueshiba for x hours per day for X years, the post-war hombu uchideshi usually studied less than 5 years and, rather than observing a master during that entire period, were engaged in a type of instructor training that frequently involved being dispatched on semi-autonomous assignments to assist at or start aikido dojos around Japan and the world.

Paragraph: summarize uchi-deshi life from Aikido Jinsei; then summarize uchideshi life circa 1950s from Black Belt mag article.

From their learning under Ueshiba or at the aikido hombu, aikido teachers carried the uchideshi system into their own schools or substyles of aikido. One of Ueshiba's early uchi-deshi, Gozo Shioda, maintained a number of uchideshi at his Yoshinkan dojo in Tokyo, Japan, while Ueshiba's last "uchi-deshi" in Iwama, Gaku Homma, maintains an uchideshi program at his NipponKan dojo in Denver, CO, USA. Also, Auge and Yoseikan aikido uchideshi. The Aikikai hombu dojo also continues to maintain an uchideshi program, and uchideshi/sotodeshi at Iwama.

Uchideshi in other budo

An uchideshi system does exist in some other modern Japanese martial arts as well, notably in karate, although the meaning of uchideshi is less similar

Uchideshi lifestyle in modern dojos

References to numerous websites

Current uchideshi programs

aikido

• Yoshinkan Aikido Ryu (Yoshinkan aikido) near Tokyo, Japan
• Nippon Kan (aikido) in Denver, CO, USA
• Aikido of South Florida (aikido) in XXXXX, FL, USA
• Aikido of San Leandro (aikido) in XXXXXX, XXXXX
• Aikido of Berkeley (aikido) in XXXXXX, CA, USA
• Aikido Association of America (aikido) in XXXX, XX, USA
• Aikido Heiwa (aikido) in XXXXXXX
• Shinjinkai (xxxxx) in Chicago, IL, USA
• Aikido Shudokan (Yoshinkan aikido) in XXXXX, Australia
• Asociación Sudamericana de Aikido (aikido) in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• México Aikido (aikido) Mexico City

other budo

• Kyokushin Karate Goki-Ryo
• Fundoshin jujitsu

Kenshu system

Kenshū in modern arts

Other terms include senshūsei (専修生 "specialized student") and kenshūsei (研修生, "intensive training student" or "research student"), although these terms are more general and do not necessarily indicate a live-in apprentice. Senshūsei and kenshūsei often refer to set training programs or goal-oriented training rather than students who have a special relationship with a teacher. For example, kenshūsei of the Kodokan dojo began training for Olympic Judo competition in 1960. The term renshū-sei (練習生) is used in Japanese pro wrestling.

Kenshu is distinguished from ippan (ordinary)--referring to students who do ordinary study or training.

transition from uchideshi to kenshu seen in "out-siding" hombu dojo's uchideshi (BB mag) as well as in whole families living at Iwama changing to soto-deshi system

change in Yoshinkan uchideshi is indicative of changing times as Shioda offered live-in training to students but these students did not all develop relationships with him or even train with him and he also instituted the Senshusei program which is a special training program designed to fit with modern lifestyles

difference between Kodokan's uchideshi who were studying old martial systems and its kenshusei who were preparing for Olympic competition

Current kenshu programs

• Yoshinkan International Senshusei Course (Yoshinkan aikido) in Tokyo, Japan
• Mugenjuku Kenshusei Course (Yoshinkan aikido) in Kyoto, Japan
• Burnaby Kenshu classes (Yoshinkan aikido) in Burnaby, BC, Canada
• Kodokan School of Judo (judo) in Tokyo, Japan
• JKA Instructor Training Program (Shotokan karate) in Tokyo, Japan
• Chamberlain Studios of Self-Defense (mixed budo) in Dallas, Texas, USA

External links

• Augé, P. "Becoming an Uchideshi: How to Train Seriously in Japan" AikidoJournal.com
• Homma, G. Aikido Sketch Diary Trans. Yutaka Kikuchi. Domo Productions, 1994.
• Skoss, M. "Training in Japan" Koryu.com, 1996.

See also

• Senpai and kōhai
• Sensei
• Gurukula