Senpai and Kohai

I consider Senpai and Kohai a beautiful worldview. In Japanese culture (and in Chinese and Korean culture, this idea descends from Confucian cultures), senpai means a person who has gone before, a senior person. Kohai means someone who follows after, a junior person. For any skill, U can think of people as your senpai or kohai in that skill.

When I first began my Ninjutsu training, it felt like I had a dozen teachers in the beginning, because everyone in the dojo took care to bring me up to speed. Our dojo had a strong infusion of senpai culture, every student had a willingness to share their knowledge. Now I find myself as a senpai relative to other trainees, and I repay the kindness my senpai showed me.

U can simultaneously see a person as a senpai to U in some aspects of life, and a kohai to U in other aspects. This brings a lovely reciprocality to life, both sharing and receiving.

I consider the following good attitudes for a senpai: kindness, humbleness, and patience.

A good senpai will continually watch for their kohai's comfort level and repeatedly challenge their kohai to stretch their capacity.

I consider the following good attitudes for a kohai: sincerity, gratitude, and curiosity.

One puny interpretation of 'kohai' reads as 'heart that says yes'. A good kohai will take up the suggestions of their senpai with courage and an experimental attitude.