shihan

Abstract

In Japanese martial art, the title of master or sensei represented the highest martial hierarchical level, which committed the person to having a disciple or student who was formed in the image and likeness of his teacher, undoubtedly creating a dependency linked to the moral values of the teacher; a good teacher made a good student but a bad teacher made a bad student.
This is how you can see in old martial films that balance between good and evil, where there was a dispute between masters in white suits who gave good teaching, and masters in black suits who taught to kill and punish anyone. We saw this again in modern cinema in movies like The Karate Kid, where Mr. Miyagui tried to teach Daniel San the art. In the end, the good guys always won.
This figure has changed in Western martial arts, that traditional hierarchical pattern has been devalued for various reasons, ranging from the same culture to people who call themselves that, without having the respective merits.
But there are terms that have not yet become popular, and that maintain that dignity.
One of these terms is the Shihan which is formed from the prefix Shi. (.) meaning professor or expert, and the suffix Han. (.) which means example or model.
A shihan becomes so representative that even after he is no longer with us, we continue to listen to his advice and remember his teachings, in the movies they even appear in various forms ranging from dreams to dense figures that are shown floating in the air.
You hear him recommend what is better, and what is worse; in the surgical field, where should scissors be used and where the scalpel; who should you mesh and who not; You hear him hypothesizing the pathogenesis of pathologies that only someone who has experienced a lot could come up with.
You keep learning from him, because suddenly someone appears and tells you once I saw the teacher do this, and he performs a new, useful maneuver that helps you operate, it's as if he were present.
You continue to copy behaviors when you demand the utmost respect for the specialty from your friends and strict compliance with yourselves from others
principles in the workplace and outside of it.
And every time and when you meet and recognize more disciples that during his teacher's life he was sowing and reaping, and where he left that common feeling of eternal gratitude, for everything he could give you in life.
The Shihan undertook his journey, he has left us a tremendous earthly void, but his teachings will endure, his example will endure, and his soul will endure.
Dedicated to Shihan Ignacio Hanna Musse