The Embu-jo

In Japanese Dojo, or martial arts training halls the centre of the room is reserved for training and sparring. This tends to be reflected in most fencing clubs I've been in; individual and group lessons take place around the edges of the area reserved for the pistes. However, as with most things Japanese there is more than meets the eye. The central space is known as the embu-jo. jo translates as 'place', bu translates as 'martial' and em means 'to act'. So essentially this space is where it all gets serious and the place where the utmost respect is shown to your opponent and to the skills you are practicing. It is a place where there is no theory and only action. It is not a place for talking.
The reason I bring this up is that the other night I was in the salle and was observing a fight between an older experienced member of the club and a more junior member. The fight was being presided by one of my students and the older fencer was constantly challenging decisions, claiming the right of way and generally trying all sorts of psychological tricks to put the president under more pressure. Add to the situation that the fight was non-electric and it was all quite tricky for the president. Now I know my older colleague would claim that his actions were mostly in jest but the facts of the matter are it was a bit too much and not really appropriate for a senior club member. Nonetheless, the president did a splendid job under provocation. So, on the face of it am I only complaining about some behaviour I thought was slightly off colour? Am I simply being protective of a student of mine? Let's consider deeper. The piste is a place where actions count louder than words. By his behaviour my colleague was only achieving the opposite of his intention. The more he protested the more irate he got when he didn't get his way. It's also possible you could negatively influence a president against you although I am confident this wasn't the case last night. Also, and possibly most importantly, by emphasising the mind games my colleague was simply missing the point. His attacks were not suitable for non-electric fencing in that they were too complex and difficult to spot and also that as a dual foil and epee fencer he had sometimes completely fogotten the concept of the right of way! Perhaps more action and less vocalisation would have been a better use of the embu-jo!