On Feb 7, 2006, at 1:27 AM, keelman35 wrote:
> In modern martial arts, (karate, jiu jitsu etc) at the start of
> training a formal rei takes place, where the senior grade at the head
> of th line holds out his right hand inviting the rest of the line to
> the same and says "Sensei ne rei", meaning "bow to the instructor".
> Does anyone know what historical event this comes from?
> Apparently my Sensei at jiu jitsu knows and has set this as a task.
I'm not sure it's appropriate nor accurate to paint with as broad a
brush as to say 'in modern martial arts'. At the dojo where I have
trained, we do bow to the sensei, but there is no 'right hand inviting
the rest of the line' at all. Modern martial arts, while having some
similarities and borrowing from each other at times in terms of
organization (belt ranking systems, etc), are all different and the
'meaning' behind any particular custom is likely different depending
upon the received tradition.
Shannon