Uchi-Deshi

Uchi-deshi (内弟子, lit. "inside student") is a Japanese term for a live-in student/apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis. I see dojo nowadays advertising Uchi-Deshi programs for a weekend, week, two weeks. In my opinion that is no more than a seminar or training camp at best, I would consider an Uchi-Deshi someone that spends 6 months or more living and training with a sensei, but this is just my opinion. As I approach 45+ years of training and almost 33 years of teaching and 28 years since I founded my own dojo, I look back over the students that I have had. The first Uchi-Deshi students that you could say I had were my wife and children; they were a captive audience and really didn’t have a lot of choice in training. Eventually my wife stopped physical training but she continued to help me in running the dojo office. My three sons on the other hand were immersed in karate, Kobudo and Jujutsu from birth, they all began formal classes at the age of four. My Twins: Curtis and Alec, lived at home until their mid 20s, training consistently during that time and were held to a much higher standard than the regular dojo students. My youngest son Nicholas lived at home until he was 18 and was trained in the same manner as his brothers. Sometimes I feel I may have over done the severity of their training. Nicholas trained with me for 14 years. Curtis and Alec continue to train with me to this day and have 24 years under their belts at this point. Aside from the family I had a student named Michael Ailstock that trained with me for a few years and even lived with my family for a year, training with me on a daily basis. Michael joined the military and unfortunately I lost track of him. The only other student I would consider an Uchi-Deshi would be Alec Dunn. Alec moved to town to attend college and began training at the dojo, after a year or so of training he found out that he would not be able to stay on campus during school breaks and would have to return home. He asked if it was possible for him to stay and keep training, so he moved into Nick's old room and lived with us for a little over a summer. I think he got more in depth and intense training than he expected. In fact Alec went with me on a trip to Okinawa and wore a white belt. My Sensei and dojo sempai were impressed with Alec and suggested that he test for shodan on that trip. Alec continues to train with me and even after some health issues that caused him to have to change colleges and re-arrange his life, he chose to get a job and rent an apartment so that he could continue to train instead of moving back home and finishing college online. I have had some excellent students make it to Black Belt in my dojo, I have some students that are extremely skilled but I have only had a handful that I consider Uchi-Deshi.