In the Western martial traditions the master of a school was an employee of the student. In an art where a successful instructor was teaching many above his social station, the bowing and scraping went the other way than we may see in other cultures.

Having come from an Eastern martial arts background, this is something that I very much love about the Western arts. It communicates a requirement for agency onto the student that I think is important for long-term learning and growth.

As agent in your own learning, your power as a learner multiplies the effect of the instructor. You are now not only open to receive but also seeking to understand, challenge, and actively participate in your educational environment. Ideally a student is seeking to build their own understanding and using me, the teacher, as their resource.

In the opposite environment, where a student passively receives from the instructor and mindlessly performs action without agency, the student never truly owns the art they are practicing. Eventually the art must become your art.

So if you find yourself as a student being frustrated with an instructor or a training partner, ask yourself, “What can I get from this?” then take some ownership and get it. If you don’t know the answer to this question, avail of your instructor as a resource to help you.

The instructor and student are a team, not a hierarchy.

Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques.
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