Some say, sempai means upperclassman and kohai means lowerclassman. In some karate dojo, however, these words take on a shade of meaning that may not be desirable in the place where you may wish to train.

In Japan, the sempai is someone who is supposed to look after the kohai, to nurture and support the lower classman, and to give them a listening ear and a person to rely on. Sempai is often used as a term of endearment.

The kohai does not serve the sempai.

In some brutal school club activities this relationship is abused. The most extreme situations are when the freshman students are referred to as mushikera (insects or worms), the sophomores are referred to as dorei (slaves), juniors are elevated to ningen (human beings), and the seniors get to be called kamisama (gods). This kind of arrangement should not be happening in your karate dojo. The best karate schools do not rank students in such a manner and in fact are quite insistent that higher ranked students have a responsibility to their lower ranked classmates.

In the dojo, the sempai usually are seated in the most senior positions during training and are important to the culture of the training environment in their roles as leaders. Sempai students ought to be the best examples for newer and less experienced students, they may be called to assist the instructor in demonstrating the application of technique. Kohai students just get to learn, be observant, and do their best. They are not punching bags and not servants. They are students that need to be shown how to develop in karate.

If your dojo has a master-slave relationship between sempai and kohai, you have it all backwards. The sempai support the kohai, they help them, and they do whatever they can to encourage them upwards in improving their karate.

 

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