Should political/religious discussions be allowed inside the training place?

Question

Most schools do not allow discussions about current political events/people and current religious events/people as a matter of fact: things can get ugly if people can't keep their opinions in check.

I wonder: should those discussions be allowed? Should they be a necessary part of the training? Are schools which forbid these discussions keeping their students from an important part of the growth process? Will they sow dissent in the school and eventually lead to its dissolution? Are they healthy to have?

Clarification: I do not mean students chatting during training sessions. I mean students chatting between themselves.

My concern is about the dynamics that can result inside a school - not from the point of view of the students, but from the point of view of the school.

Answer 1

I think schools can have whatever rules they think is best. The idea people "should" do a particular thing is a bit bogus, it's really whatever they want. They could require everyone to wear pink and speak klingon if they like.

You just don't have to go to those schools if you don't like the rules.

I personally have never been to a MA school which has the particular rule you are talking about.

Answer 2

I view the dojo as a place to train and lean a martial art. Therefore anything that is not directly related to this, I will either ignore as a student or stomp on as an instructor. I include in this both politics as martial art organisation(s) politics and religion as in boogly and magic stuff.

Now, after class and in the pub/bar, it is the perfect time to talk, debate, and re-make the world. Those conversation should be happening. We have earned at a terrible price the freedom of speech and opinions. Do not see it wasted. You never know what you could learn by just listening. Maybe even apply your martial art principles to debating?

There is a place and a time for everything.

Answer 3

Keith's answer hits the ultimate essence of the issue - it really doesn't matter because you can always look for a new dojo.

That said, no matter what, political/religious thought should not be interleaved with training. If that is the case, you are no longer in a dojo, you are in a religious/political school that is teaching you martial arts as well.

Before or after class it doesn't matter, but during class, if you're being given lessons on political or religious thought, you're being turned into a weapon for someone else.

Answer 4

I don't think the problem should come up.

If people are talking so much that it's disrupting the class, that's a problem regardless of what the topic is. It doesn't matter if it's about their hair and nails, politics, religion, bowel movements, the fights on TV last Saturday, or their charity work.

I like a rather loose class dynamic with a lot of socializing. I'm often the guy talking about the fights last Saturday. But if it's more than a few back-and-forth sentences while waiting in line for forward rolls, something is wrong. That something is not what is being talked about (though general etiquette should be mandatory) but the fact that people are gabbing during class. Training harder is the solution. Failing that, discipline should be expected. Natural consequences are always best--people have a hard time pontificating about their favorite skinhead band when they're in jigoku-jime.

That said, although I don't agree with the political views espoused in many training facilities I've been a part of, I absolutely think that politics and religion and philosophy and sex and life and work and money and hair and nails and bowel movements should all be fine to talk about, within the bounds of etiquette. Such talk should be minimal during class, but copious before class, in the changing room, and at the diner after class.

Answer 5

I don't think the instructor should be promoting his/her political/religious beliefs to the students, especially as a part of classes. As an instructor, you are in a position of authority and shouldn't be using your position as a "soap box" to influence the beliefs of your students in this manner.