After spending some time within the martial arts, multiple terms start to appear more often during one’s research and conversations. Such terms begin to define what certain concepts mean or where techniques originated, or even how one should approach newer students. One such term, spoken by many high-ranking practitioners, is shuhari, or stylized as shu-ha-ri, where it is a cycle or linear path (depending on who you speak with) that martial artists walk from beginner, explorer, and independent scholar. Determining where oneself is on such a path can be difficult. It becomes harder still when the environment of such practitioners place obstacles in their respective paths to limit or provide a subjective assessment of their training. When does a practitioner truly know when they have entered into a new realm of the shuhari process? It is only after copious amounts of soul-searching, brutal self-honesty, and frank feedback from trusted peers and instructors. But how does this process of shuhari affect the practitioner when they become an instructor or when they interact with the larger community or political entity of their chosen martial art? What happens to the practitioner’s shuhari process when taken out of the normal sense of being a rote student? Let us find out.
Before moving forward, a defining of each stage of the shuhari process is in order. Shu is where everyone starts when beginning something new; students repeat what the instructor does because they do not know anything else. The shu stage is where the neophytes learn the basics and fundamentals of their chosen system. Ha is the second stage where the students know the basic skills well enough to implement modifications and innovations, i.e., how those skills work best for themselves, not just for curriculum’s sake. Ri is the third and final stage, where the skills are natural expressions within the student and the student rarely needs to ponder the fundamentals when planning on doing something.
To place a metaphorical belt system on this concept, a white belt falls within the shu, the immediate belts before black belt and black belt itself make up the ha, while the higher echelons of black belt make up the ri. While these comparisons are not a true one-to-one ratio, it helps to understand where along a martial artist’s journey they “should” be when progressing through shuhari.
When a practitioner becomes an instructor, whether on their own or under the same roof as their own instructor, they, in a way, restart the process of shuhari. Most, in their first years of experience, mimic or copy how their instructor taught classes, answered questions, and provided individual corrections. They are in the shu stage. These newer instructors essentially learn through trial and error or they incorporate a proven model (from within the organization or from outside of the organization) to make their way into the ha stage. Achieving the ri stage as an instructor may not be something a teacher proclaim themselves, but rather from others, either students, former students, or peers and senior instructors. Hence the existence of titles, such as shihan, kyoshi, hanshi, and others throughout the martial arts world given to those who technical committees and organizations feel the selected practitioners have achieved a certain level.
The question then beckons, how does this new instructor – who is still a student in many ways – continue their own shuhari process? These instructors transition from training from one or multiple teachers to being a primary source of information for newer and younger students and ranks. Their main focus becomes either running a school or bringing others up to a certain level, which is an entirely different training in of itself. For most of these instructors, it can be difficult to see what methods and approaches are correct for them when they are no longer under direct tutelage from a teacher.
In a sense, this new teacher has restarted their shuhari process, but not entirely. It may be easier to conceive that this practitioner is progressing along on their student shuhari gauge while beginning anew on their teacher shuhari gauge. At some point in time, in the future, do these two gauges combine and the practitioner begins participating in both the learning and the teaching; the “vocation” of being a student and a teacher becomes one and the practitioner transforms into their own teacher and their own student, learning from their experiences and experiments.
Such achievements are not obtained by approaching both training and teaching with a haphazard mindset, but with a mindful focus and frank honesty. One must be honest with themselves and realize the shortcomings within themselves so that steps can be taken to become better. Reflecting on the training or teaching, adjusting based on what was experienced, and attempting something different in response to those stimuli are part of being honest with oneself and being one’s own teacher. This process of self-education is part of the ri stage. At this stage, one does not need any sort of outside validation for the research and training one partakes.
To widen the scope of shuhari, how does this concept function within an organizational setting? Every organization, no matter how it is structured, has some kind of criteria, curriculum, or standard that students and teachers are expected to follow. These standards often create an objective baseline for testing and ranking. But it becomes difficult to judge when someone has moved beyond needing to follow the curriculum so strictly.
At what point does one stop reciting the curriculum verbatim and begin expanding beyond it? There is a difference between simply performing the techniques that make up the curriculum and using the principles of those techniques to find solutions in real or different situations. If one is always waiting for outside validation – for someone to tell another that they can move on – then there is limitation on potential. The curriculum should not be discarded as it provides the fundamentals to explore, expand, and create new ideas, drawing inspiration from said curriculum. At the higher levels, this curriculum should not become a boundary. Unfortunately, many organizations expect practitioners to keep performing what’s written in the curriculum, no matter how advanced they are, which can stifle growth. If organizations only aim to maintain a baseline rather than nurture individual evolution, is this a disservice to their members?
That said, organizations still have value. If one is paying dues, the organization should give something back — opportunities for research, development, and the continued exploration of the art. Ideally, that’s where shuhari comes in: the ri stage is about looking beyond the curriculum. The curriculum represents idealized situations – clean examples to demonstrate principles clearly. But once one reaches ri, the curriculum becomes a starting point rather than the end goal. Some organizations, however, do not recognize this aspect. They view any deviation from the curriculum as invalid. That attitude can stifle evolution and the natural expansion of the art. If a sixth dan, for example, is not trusted to conduct a black belt exam without a technical director present, then what’s the point of having that rank? At that level, should they not have earned a degree of independence and trust to pass on the standard curriculum?
When someone feels they have reached the ri stage – sometimes after a lot of honest introspection and guidance from trusted peers – the practitioner often drifts away from their organization. Some become independent, some form their own groups, and others remain affiliated but operate on the periphery, doing their own research. Unfortunately, the achievement and realization of the ri stage often becomes political between organizational members instead of being recognized as a sign of growth. Instead of supporting that evolution, organizations may see it as disobedience or rebellion – as political upheaval.
In the end, the shuhari cycle begins as an external process, with a teacher telling a beginner what to do and how to do it. Over time, shuhari becomes an internal one, where the practitioner holds themselves accountable and guides their own individual development. That internalization process of teachings and principles is hard to judge from the outside of such progression. Without an ability to quantify, the latter portion of shuhari makes it uncomfortable for many organizations. It is easier to keep doing what is expected – to stick to the curriculum and show what people want to see; but doing so can prevent real, personal evolution.
Ultimately, shuhari is meant to both preserve and expand the lineage. It is about taking what one has learned, integrating it, and evolving it, to create something that carries both the teacher’s legacy and one’s own insight. Such a method produces competent practitioners who grow and understand the art in their own way. Without that, we risk creating generations of practitioners who are stuck at the ha stage, repeating what they’ve been told, rather than truly transmitting and advancing the art.
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 